"I'm sorry, ma'am. No pets allowed, again. I ain't got no damn clue how you managed to get it through the front desk the first time, but as very clearly stated plenty of times to you now, by me first and foremost, you need to leave it outside. I am the attending physician for the patients you've requested a visit for, so my word is law for whomever requests visiting hours outside the family. The King and Queen have given you access on their side, but I still have veto due to medical reasons."

Awake?

Is Aofil awake?

"Would you be so kind as to not cause any more friction, please, Miss Muffet? The King and Queen's influence stretches as far as wavering visiting hours, but not hospital and patient security. Your pet has already eaten one potted plant, need I remind you. I ask of you again to please obey this hospital's rules lest I need to contact the Dreemurrs again at this hour. Yes, some spider coffee would be nice, but it won't change my mind on allowing your pet."

Faint hints of the gentle and savory smell of freshly baked spider pastries tickles at Aofil's lungs like warm sunshine. Their eyes flicker open slightly over the course of a handful of seconds as their awareness return to them. They're not yet aware enough to be frightened by the thought that for something to come back it must've gone away in the first placed, aided much by the somewhat fruity aroma of fresh frosting. It's something wonderful to wake up to, even if Aofil feels a slight hint of wrong underneath the protective frosty layer.

Blood pie, most likely.

"I strongly doubt that your pet doesn't carry any allergen considering that you ostensibly keep it inside your bakery. Even if that's the case, it's slobbered a trail of saliva that's posing a high risk for our patients. Magic saliva, while sterile, is still very much slippery. I'll meet you and bring the bakery into the room if that's a priority for you. Then you can come and visit when your pet is outside, alright?"

A deep sigh flutters through loose lips after a long couple of seconds before the harsh hiss of a slide-door being rapidly open. "Why don't you move to Ebott's hospital?" comes out with a mock idiotic voice. "You can just watch Mettaton all day since they're quite a lot of monsters there now. Not a lot of need for human doctors with healing magic at every corner."

The door hisses even harsher as it's closed, and heavy steps are muffled through it. "Woshua? Can you come with me, please?" A few steps later it becomes quiet again.

It's quite loud though, this quiet. Beeps, half-snores, gentle commotion from the slightly ajar window, and the distant sound of traffic. It's not a quiet that Aofil's used too, so guess they're awake now.

But where?

A sharp and stinging pain rings out from their chest as they try and sit up, and they fall back onto their sterile-white bed with a guttural groan. It awakens the pair of ungracefully sleeping blue and yellow monsters leaning on each other's head on a couch across the room. Like the last dying whirs of an old and rusty engine, Alphys inhales a startled snort that has her flinching even more. Her tail instinctively curls around her body, knocking off Undyne with a confused yelp and flailing arms. She lands on the cold hospital floor face first, and glides on it for a bit before stopping with her legs first almost folding over her back, only to come slamming down onto the laminate with a rough pair of slaps.

It's very much the complete opposite from what last Aofil can remember. That soothing warmth and serene tiredness that washed over them when they and-

Oh no!

"Frisk!"

Are they still hurt? Their head was bleeding! Aofil needs to-

The pain again screams at Aofil as they throw their blanket off. They barely manage to turn their shoulder around before the cutting pain grips their entire body and tosses them on their back again. It's not long in their hurt writhing that they're held firm by a blue hand on one shoulder, and a less firm yellow hand on their other shoulder.

"Frisk is fine, Aof," Undyne says almost like a scold as she squeezes down on Aofil's shoulder. She stares hard into their eyes before her stern expression softens into a relieved exhale. "You're fine too, thanks to them. You'll have to wait a bit to say it though since they're sleeping now. We can talk though since I don't think even an explosion can wake them now." With a quick throw of her thumb over her shoulder, she realizes a caveat that she should add quickly. "Won't wake them in a good way, that is. Last time I checked they still had a smile on their lips while sleeping. They've had it on them all the way from the Underground, and it hasn't faded yet. They're gonna have some sore cheeks when they wake up, but I'm sure they won't mind that. Would be like complaining about one under cooked noodle in Pap's apple sauce with meatballs."

"T-they r-really n-need their s-sleep, yes," Alphys adds with a more...unorthodox...squeeze on Aofil's shoulder. She realizes it immediately, and removes it with an embarrassed giggle. "F-First time u-using magic and all. S-same thing happened to m-me. I s-slept for alm-most half a d-day."

Magic…

Magic?

Magic!

Undyne scoffs friendly at Aofil's surprised face. She pats them on their shoulder as she stands up straight to reach for a nearby chair. There's one just behind her, but she pauses her reach for a while as she casts a glance against the sofa. She shakes her head at the idea, but only after some thought to it. With one leg swinging over the backrest she drags to her facing the hospital bed, she sits down with her folded arms on the top of the chair. "Yup," she says with a loud smack of her lips.

The chair squeaks a bit as she turns it from side to side on its weathered plastic wheels. "Seems like you humans learn magic when you become adults now that the Barrier's broken. It's gonna be very interesting from now on." It balances with great effort on only one of its bending wheels as Undyne leans in to Aofil with an eager grin. "You have no idea how jealous Asriel is," she squeals through a whisper. "I will try my damnedest to turn that into motivation for him, mark my words."

"N-n-n-not...r-really," Alphys cuts off a bit too late. "It's about F-Frisk's s-s-soul," she continues after a long second. "It's f-fused…kinda."

Undyne's jaw hits the floor. First figuratively from Alphys' almost reluctant reveal, and then literally as the leg slides out from underneath her, sending her tumbling down with her confused expression shifting tone from inquisitive to startled.

Aofil gives her a courteous look to make sure she isn't too badly hurt. Even courteous has their torso feeling like it's being wringed and punched down on at the same time, so anything more they're not able to do at the moment. They instead carefully swivel over to Alphys who's squeezing the fabric of Aofil's bed cover. She looks down at it for a split second before handing it back with too wide a smile.

Breathe in…

The fact that the two are this much like their ordinary selves means that everything is good. It means that Frisk is safe, that Aofil is safe, that everything is fine and dandy. Had it not been for the sterile walls and floor this could have just as well taken place inside Aofil's house.

That's how normal this is now.

Breathe out…

But if Alphys and Undyne are in their normal clothes though and not in their costumes then some time must have passed since…

Breathe in again...

"A-Asriel t-told me," Alphys begins to fill the breathing silence she feels she's created. "Frisk's soul h-has a monster core to it. The reverse of what he has." She meets Aofil's eyes which open as they breathe out wearily. "L-like yours."

Slowly emerging from the floor and over the bed's edge is Undyne's blazing grin. She looks straight through Aofil's legs over to Alphys as she dramatically slams her hand down on the bed which rocks it hard. "So you're telling me, Alphee?" Her voice shivers with excitement, and she almost drools through her teeth clutched into a blinding smile. "That I have TWO humans to train magic with?"

"Shh!" Alphys hushes harshly at Undyne, who's smile drains into a neutral frown. With a quivering finger she points up to Aofil.

Who's staring into a horizon neither of the two monster can see.

Magic?

"I can do magic too?" they ask into the horizon with their eyes darting in a small circle. "B-but…w-why couldn't I before?"

Alphys' not sure whether Aofil's question was meant for her, but as another silence falls over her and the others, she gulps her pride. "Y-you and Frisk did s-something with E-Endogeny, right?"

"They did?" Undyne lifts up her chair again and seats herself in it properly. She scoots forward so that she can nudge Aofil back to this reality. "What did you two do?"

Aofil blinks as they're sucked away from the thoughtful horizon. They give Undyne a quick look before they shake their lowering head. "I don't know."

"You can tell Alphee," Undyne coaxes. "She if anyone can figure it out. Might even help you figure out what your magic is." Her offered carrot isn't as tempting as she thought it would be, as Aofil only furrows their forehead harder, shifting their fringe ever lower over their face.

"Could it be that it was meant as a birthday surprise for Frisk, Aofil?" Alphys pries surprisingly straight. She hops onto a chair as well, and drags herself the length of the hospital bed to end up right next to Aofil's hanging head. "Endogeny emitted some very strong determination which must've come from either your or Frisk's soul." Her eyes narrow as she mutters some numbers and formulas underneath her breath. As she utters the last variables pertaining to the strength of the DT field, she begins to trail off while her eyes widen along her quickened breathing closing in on panicked gasps with each inhale. "Both of you? Did both of you get absorbed into Endogeny?" The bed again rocks violently as Alphys grips its safety-fence with both her hands. "What happened? Did Endogeny attack you?"

Aofil peers through their cleaned hair to the closed drapes on the other half of the hospital room. Behind them Frisk must be sleeping. They said that they had a plan to explain it to the others, but it won't do any good with the plan being in their sleeping head, is it?

And speaking of sleeping, Aofil is feeling a bit tired now too. The adrenaline from the pain they had before is starting to wear off. "I'm sleepy," they say through a small yawn. "My head's a mess."

"I need to know," Alphys states with even more sincerity and importance as Aofil slowly lays down to rest again. The wheels of her chair squeal as she follows their head. "I need to know, Aofil." She crashes into the wall and her chair stops with a violent shake as Aofil's head reaches their pillow. With a hurried movement of her fingers, Alphys pushes up her glasses back up on her nose. "One human soul reacting with Endogeny's I know how to handle, but two of them I don't have any contingency plans for. I need to know exactly how and to what extent you and Frisk's soul interacted with Endogeny."

Another silence of Alphys' making, but this one she fills with her own deep and hurried breathing. Her eyes are piercing through Aofil's fringe without any loss of intensity as the wall-mounted clock ticks heavily above the crowded hospital bed. Despite it not being awkward, she can't handle this silence as well. Not because of her embarrassment flushing through her.

But of her fear.

Her eyes begin wandering around with her teeth gritting harder and harder with each rapid turn of her head. "Alphee?" Undyne tries in vain. "What are you..." She gets nothing back, only some slight blurring of the yellow spikes on the back of Alphys' as she investigates what's in her immediate surrounding.

Alphys' head locks at Aofil's left arm which she lifts up like it was a stick on the road. Layers of tightly wrapped bandage span the length of their sleeve and hand, besides one layer at the bend of their arm. It's loosened to not choke a small rubber tube that leads up to a clear plastic bag hanging from a metal arm. Alphys follows the tube up between two of her fingers. She stops them at a mounted clamp that she angles towards herself. With her thumb on the small regulator she-

"Alph!" Undyne finally manages to puncture through that thick and stubborn skull as Alphys' startled hand lets go of the clamp. "What are you doing?" She leans over to slap the tube out of Alphys' hand, but Alphys takes a step back away while grabbing the clamp again. Aofil lets out a gritted cough as the tube tenses at their arm. Their eyes remain closed though.

It's like they're having a bad dream.

One that might be reality for Alphys.

"I. Need. To. Know. Undy." Tears begin to swell inside her eyes as she takes another step backwards, but not far enough to risk the tube dislodging from Aofil's arm. "I know this is wrong," Alphys chokes out as she presses her thumb against the flow regulator again, "but what if Endogeny breaks free while still being influenced by both their souls!"

"Then we'll deal with that if that happens," Undyne retorts with a vicious slash in the air. Her soul hurts when she does, but she have to. She can't let her Alphee do any more experiments on living beings. She promised her she'd keep her life's lizard away from relapsing! This...this is twice of that! "For now Aofil has to rest. They've almost died once today, Alphys."

The tensed, yellow hand slips off the regulator, and Aofil's face contorts in slight pain as the tube swings freely back and forth. Alphys burrows herself into her palms while she sinks back down into her chair. Her tail curls around the metal tube from the seat to the wheel base, and she turns herself around.

"W-w-w-what was I t-t-thinking!"

The quivering waves clouding her eyes meld together with the wrinkles and folds of the curtains around the second hospital bed in the room. It almost gives her vertigo as she stares at it with her mouth and lips shaking.

Undyne's hands balls into a fist hardened in anger. Not at Alphys, but at herself. She hates that she has to do this. That she has to coarse her voice and words to her anime lizard. It's times like this that she feels like she's failed in her promise, but it's also times like this that she has to uphold it to whatever self-hate it might bring her. She angles her head down at Aofil. A brief and subtle thought of blame flashes through her, but she shakes it off, balling her other hand in the process. "Would you do the same to Frisk?" she finally confronts after a long inhale. "Would you risk tempering with their medicine too?"

"...I..."

No, she wouldn't. Undyne knows that. She knows that Alphys wouldn't do it to Aofil either. It's her past coming back to claw at her again. When she was the Royal Scientist before the Barrier. Amalgamates on her mind, her entire mind.

"A-A-Aofil...I'm s-s-so..."

Undyne walks around Aofil's bed with long steps so that she can envelop her Alphee inside her sturdy arms, and let her hug back in return. Let her cling to Undyne's back and pull her closer so that she can cry on Undyne's sturdy shoulder. "I gotcha, Alphee," Undyne calms with a gingerly squeeze to make her feel safe. "I'm here."

"I'm scared, Undy..."

"I know." Undyne nestles her neck between her lizard's spikes so that she can rest her head to comfort more. "I'm scared for them too."

"I almost-"

"You didn't do it. You only thought about it because you wanted to help, Alphys. Now let's help them. Let's leave them alone to sleep it off."

The sides of the spikes chafe at Undyne's neck as Alphys shakes her head in protest. "I would've done it! I would've forced Aofil to wake up so that I could ask them about what happened and I wouldn't have been satisfied until I got an answer! L-like how those humans in suits did to them when they almost died in the Underground all those years ag-go!"

Undyne remembers that. Those following days of rehabilitation. Aofil's lucky their monster soul's helped them heal their bulging scars since then. This is even the same hospital which they stayed in before.

Perhaps even the same room.

Fryish is still being served too in the cafeteria with the view towards Mt. Ebott.

"You didn't though," Undyne reminds gently as Alphys' begins to relax her tightened hug. "You didn't wake them up."

"That's because you were here."

Undyne rolls out her neck from between Alphys' spikes. She puts her blue forehead against Alphys' yellow one, and eases the two down in unison. "And why wouldn't I be with you, Alphys?" She gives her lizard a peck on her wrinkled snout. "You're my bestest lizard in both the Underground and on the Surface. You have so many facts in your smart head that it's hard for you to accept that, but it is. It is the nerdiest fact both you and I know. Together."

A clumsy snort explodes in a cry from Alphys, and Undyne smiles happily as her ears twitch to try and burrow themselves into her skull. Alphys only does that when she's at the peak of her emotional limit. When she can only snort and pool her tears in the deepest furrows of her snout. Same with anime, same with Undyne reminding her how much she loves her brilliant little lizard. All of that brilliance is now crying instead of punching at her psyche with those horrid thoughts.

Crisis averted.

"If you want to step outside to call MK to check up on Endogeny, that's fine. I'll keep my eye on both of our humans while you get some fresh air. It'll do you good." Undyne gives Alphys another kiss between her eyes to send her off. "See if you can help Muffet chain up her abomination too."

Perhaps not the best word to use at the moment, but frankly Undyne's a bit tired too. "Could you bring back some coffee or tea?" She catches Alphys's just about to open the sliding door. With a timid turn, Alphys gives a nod back.

"I m-might have s-some myself, actually." Her free hand rubs at her forehead as she sighs. "In case MK has q-questions I need to think about w-when answering."

"Some spider bakery while I'm asking?" Undyne appends after catching a wayward crumb stuck in her teeth while she runs her tongue along their tinted backsides. "We should have some at the ready for when the two wake up." She finds another one on the other side of her mouth. "They only need one each though."

Alphys huffs a subtle giggle at it before opening and disappearing behind the curtains. It wasn't much, but it was something. A small smile is better than nothing, especially after the dramatic scene that unfolded just now. The tube is still moving back and forth, partly because of Undyne's sigh as she lets her hands run down her face, stretching her lips and flicking at her ear-fins to leave them hanging. With a quick nip, loose enough as to not disturb the flow of the medicine, she halts the tube in its swinging.

The clock on the wall ticks over to tomorrow.

It's been such a long day, and that it had to end like this…

"Why do you humans insist on doing stuff alone when we can help you with it?" Undyne asks to a deeply asleep Aofil. She turns her head over her shoulder with an eyebrow raised high. "Same to you, Frisk. You don't know how anything related to magic works, and the first thing you do when you presumably find out about it inside yourselves is to play around with an amalgamate. What if you'd fuse together with it and...I don't know, traveled to the past or something?"

Her scoff is slightly worried, almost as if realizing that a bright and shiny star is actually a meteor. "You've already managed to make miraculous saves twice now with magical flukes. Frisk once with the Barrier, and you with Asriel, Aofil. The fact that you both are pushing your luck says more about the human soul being so full of itself rather than anything else."

The seat on Alphys' chair bounces a few time as Undyne falls into it. Her hair and fins oscillate in rhythm until she brushes away the hair over her patched eye. Both her arms fold over her chest, and she leans back with her legs extended. With a careful scoot she rolls the chair over the floor to check behind the curtains.

Frisk is sleeping as deeply as Aofil is. They're not sleeping worriedly though, Undyne can hear that from the sound of their breathing. It's not the same as when they were under that Memory Box effect. It's more...healthy...so to speak. Or so to snore, in this case. Healthy is the closest word Undyne can describe it with. It's longer and more inhaly. More air in, and more air out. No sharp and short ones like their body is thinking that it'll be the last batch of air it'll ever get.

Like how Alphys does when she has her nightmares.

Not here though.

The two humans are breathing healthily in this hospital with their souls so full of themselves and of calm wherever there's space left.

If there's any space left.

Undyne's smile mirrors that of Frisk's. A content one that two friends share when they know the other's all safe and sound. This however is one family member smiling at the other. It's stronger. If the curtains hadn't been closed then Alphys would've realized that her thoughts weren't her own quicker, and maybe by herself. Undyne doesn't blame her though. The subdued hope and warmth from both Aofil and Frisk's auras at the moment is like walking into a sauna ready to do some good sweating only to realize that it's a walk-in freezer.

And Mettaton's there.

Naked.

And with a long string of contracts instead of a towel.

Undyne shudders.

She's tempted to close the window now.

The crisp air of the night does good for the humans though, so she'll weather it for them. Although, now that she thinks about it…

With one hand, Undyne moves over a potted plant from the corner onto the overlapping flaps of the curtains. Should be enough to make sure no wind will blow them apart and reveal Frisk.

And more importantly, their horns.

Undyne casts a glance on Aofil's bandaged arm. It's a similar deal there, hiding the magical growth spurts until they're ready to be shown. Until they've all collectively figured out a good explanation for the human kid of the Monster Royals growing horns, and the human teacher at the Monster School getting a sleeve full of Boss Monster fur. It has to be worded very carefully so that it doesn't pertain that they've fused with monsters.

Even if it's smack on the truth.

"I'm excited to incorporate some magic into our training, by the way." Undyne nods once to both Aofil and Frisk. "Asriel should be able to step up his game with his sibling practicing magic with him. Maybe the human part of his soul with begin to pull its weight too if it feels you doing magic too, Aofil." Her face flashes into an eager smile that competes with the bright moon observing silently through the window. "Ngahaha! It's gonna be so much fun! I can't-"

The door slides open with a furious hiss. "Shhh!" hushes a nurse very similarly to the door's hiss before closing the door with eyes staring down at Undyne cowering in her chair.

"Sorry," she mouths through the glass at the enraged human with her fingers curled and ear-fins bent down. The nurse rolls his eyes with a scoff and storms off with an accompanying Aaron wearing a similar hospital scrub.

"I can't wait," Undyne repeats while casting a glance at the glass door. No angry human or miffed Aaron this time around. "I'm really excited about this, but at the same time I'm very worried. It's gonna be freaking awesome with you two knowing magic, but how you've enabled yourself to do magic is..."

Her tired lips flutter as she exhales.

"Is stupid and dumb and idiotic."

Really only the words that are good enough to describe.

"I mean, really, we didn't just kick in the door of the first human we met and..."

Bad example. Undyne has to try again.

She can't.

"Look, just...don't? Please?" Her exasperated sigh could fill a zeppelin. "Come to us monsters with magic concerns, alright? Don't try and figure it out on your own. Worst case, well," Undyne's broad motion of her hand from Aofil over to Frisk has her spinning around one revolution, "this! That you're both out of commission because you thought you could bench world record on your first day! Singe my soul with you humans!"

There's a knock on the glass door behind her. Undyne palms her forehead as she turns around in defeat. "Sorry for yelling again. I-"

Behind the sliding door isn't an angry nurse or angry Aaron. The face smiling through the glass isn't angry at all. It's friendly, albeit very, very tired.

"Got you the spider coffee you asked for."

Undyne takes the spiderweb-painted cup in her hand. "Thanks."

The free chair squeaks as Asriel sits down in it. He unloads the other filled cup in his hand onto the bedside table next to Aofil. A box of spider donuts next to it, and a spider-adorned thermos behind it. He angles his head to the side to let two empty cups slide off them and into his palm, which he then puts along with the rest.

"Anything that happened?" he asks after a careful sip to test the temperature of his tea. "You and Alphys can go home if you want. Papyrus' waiting for another ten minutes outside, but afterwards you'll have to call him."

"Aofil woke up for a brief moment before they fell back asleep," Undyne relays after letting the heat from the cup spread throughout her. She sips at her spider coffee carefully. "Otherwise it's been quiet."

Asriel can tell that its a lie. With Aofil and Frisk's subdued auras, Undyne's intention stick out more than her hair color. He raises a knowing eyebrow, and Undyne scoffs a small chuckle that causes a slight splash in her coffee. "You look just like your dad when you do that, you know? He'd do the same to me when I used to give my reports a bit more spice to them when I trained under him back in the days. Just a couple of added zeroes, no biggie. For me, that is! Because I was so awesome!"

"Did you try and change the subject just as drastically too when he understandably called you out on your bullshit?" Asriel retorts with his eyes narrowing.

But that only widens Undyne's smile to reveal the stains of coffee gliding down her teeth like drops of rain on a window. "And that's your mom right there, Azzy. Well, minus the Flowey mouth, but from what I've heard she wasn't always a queen, so I'm not counting it out fully from her." After closing her lips and rolling her tongue underneath she flashes a more whiter smile. "She must've let one or two Froggits loose out of her mouth since then though. Like when that purple lizard monster that loves to steal chalk and her human friend with the disheveled hair crashed into the lockers in that janitor's closet as Toriel was on her way inside through the door to fetch some glass beakers."

Asriel keeps his challenging eyebrow raised and unamused eyelids lowered at Undyne.

"I mean...it'd probably pop out of her because she was scared rather than her being malicious, but still." Undyne shrug is deep and exaggerated, probably mimicking what the kids did when they stood up from the mess they made."I'd imagine her swearing at that point."

Undyne's obviously stalling to not answer. Something must've happened here then. Something involving Alphys, most likely, judging by the way her voice was when Asriel met her at the hospital entrance. There's nothing visibly wrong with Aofil though, and Asriel shouldn't wake them up if they're sleeping rather peacefully. However, there's a suspiciously placed potted plant on the curtains around Frisk. Asriel stands up as he takes another sip, and walks over to the curtains surrounding his sibling with his finger inside the cup's ear. With a rather dismissive flick, he moves one of the curtains away to peek inside.

Nothing strange about Frisk.

Besides the obvious.

Asriel runs his finger gingerly along the length of his horns. There is a slight resemblance to Frisk's shape, but no one would be able to tell at a glance. It's more a fifty fifty mix of mom and dad's horns, while Asriel's are more weighted with his dad's shapes.

Seeing horns sticking out of a human's skull is unsettling though, despite how beautiful and healthy they look. Frisk's hair is parted weirdly around the bases, but hopefully that can be solved with their next haircut. The overall image though is again more unsettling than jarring. Maybe it's because of the events surrounding their growth rather than their actual growth…

Well, to be honest, it's definitely the events surrounding at the moment. Asriel was at it for almost an hour cleaning the blood out of his fur, but he can still feel the stickiness of it as he watched Frisk and Aofil be rolled away with haste on those stretchers. He's been in hospitals before with mom and dad, but today was something completely different.

Fluffbun…

Asriel's somber breath through his nose has the curtain folding over his muzzle as it falls back down. He shakes his head slowly. "They didn't even get a piece of their birthday cake."

"Toriel and Asgore managed to quell the populous back home?"

The thin, opaque rubber of the curtain has the fur on Asriel's cheek standing up from the static created by him swiveling his head. The tuft on his head bends almost like a spiral. "Due to molten activities causing an accident in the celebrations, Frisk and Aofil have been injured," he explains with his voice scarily close to Asgore's. Undyne has to blink a couple of times for her to still see Asriel and not his father standing with his hands shoved into his shirt's pockets. "The two humans are stable and in good medical care. We will be pushing forward the celebrations until next week."

"Anything else?" Undyne pries.

"Only heard it in passing as Pap drove me here," Asriel informs in his own voice as he looks out the window to the moving dots on the freeway a few yonders away. "Mom and dad are probably juggling questions at the moment. They'd come over when they've sorted it all out."

Asriel's understandably glum about it. Same with Undyne, same with everyone. It's a good thing Muffet brought with her coffee and donuts, even if it also meant her bringing with her that pet of hers. With a small cyan spear conjured around her index finger, Undyne slices the spider silk tied in a bow on the top of the box of pastries. The lid bounces open like a treasure chest, and Undyne takes a deep inhale of the steam celebrating its freedom. "What should I leave for Frisk?" she asks their brother as she spins a spider donut filled with...chocolate...around her finger. The taste she deduces with a quick bite which causes the party to spin unevenly.

Asriel turns his head around to Undyne holding the box of donuts open at him.

"Don't touch the snail flavored ones," he makes sure as a priority. "I think I need one right now."

"As if I would," Undyne whispers under her breath with her quick frown tensing her throat's tendons.

Oh well, that's her problem that she doesn't like snails.

"Could you throw one over."

"You said that I shouldn't touch them though, Prince."

"You know what I meant, Leader of the Royal Guard who's supposed to obey the Royal Family's orders."

Prince got some King building inside him! Nice. Ngahahaha!

"Lean your horn down so that I can-"

"No," Asriel cuts off firmly. Instead he offers his raised palm for Undyne to throw the pastry into.

"You're not like your father at all in this regard," she scoffs out disappointingly. With a confident flip of her wrist, she sends the spider donut flying across the hospital room. It connects with Asriel's palm with a soft thud, and he hangs it around one of his fangs.

He keeps shifting between acting like Toriel and acting like Asriel faster than Papyrus flipping through channels.

"And save one or two butterscotch filled ones for Frisk," Asriel adds with the tip of his tongue at the tip of his fang to hold his snack still.

Ever so slightly, Asriel thinks himself feeling Frisk's aura again. He allows some pride to dance around inside him for that.

"And for Aofil?" Undyne's muffled voice asks through her filter of fried dough.

"Your guess is as good as mine with them," Asriel informs as he begins making his way towards the empty sofa. "One with spider filling, perhaps?"

"They've got a taste for spiders lately, that's for certain."

Aofil's brow furrows briefly.

Undyne scoffs a laugh into her mouthful of pastry, sending a few crumbs bouncing on the rosy cheeks. "I don't think we even have to save any since Muffet will be stuffing them full from here on now."

"Do you want one with spider filling then?" Asriel wonders as he sinks down into the sofa. It squeaks a bit.

"Never," Undyne answers as she stacks a few doughy rings on her finger. She nods towards the door, and Asriel replies with a nod of his own. "See you tomorrow then, you absolute magical morons," Undyne wishes with all of her love and soul to the two sleeping humans. "Training starts at five in the morning! Ngaah!"

Her eagerness is muted drastically by the closing glass door. Asriel leans his neck over the top of the sofa's backrest until his horns tap at a windowsill. He taps them a bit more before leaning forward and hunching over his knees. After coaxing the last piece of his pastry into his mouth and washing it down with some of his tea, he lets his eyes wander from Aofil's bed to Frisk's curtains.

He takes a deep breath.

"Why do you humans insist on doing stuff alone when we can help you with it?"