Me: Wow...I filled this chapter with feels and fluff, when I was just going for fluff. How the hell did that happen?
Asriel: Beats me, I'm still reeling from the last chapter.
Chara: Geez...
Muffet: Me again! Hello!~
Chara: Oh no...somethings going to happen?
Me:...maybe.
Chapter Start!
Chara knew that he would have to talk to Muffet soon after his little 'field trip', and tell/show her just what happened while he was out. Though a part of him was hopeful that she would forget about it and he would have more time to prepare.
A text sent to him a few moments after he woke up the next morning, swiftly shot down that hope.
SpiderPrincess: I know you're awake, Chara-Dearie. Do NOT make me come in there and get you.
Chara groaned, laying back on his pillow as he tried to think of any scenario that would be better than delaying her any longer...nope. Every moment he kept her waiting, it would get worse. She had his scent, she'd find him sooner or later, and then she'll really be mad that he tried to run from her. There was no choice. It was time he faced the situation and just accept what he had coming to him.
But he didn't know what would be coming to him, hence why he was so nervous. The old him would have known exactly how to deal with it. The new him-the one he infinitely prefers-would have ruthlessly stopped him in his tracks before he could dare do such a thing.
Toriel soon opens the door to his room, after knocking, of course. "Chara? Muffet is waiting for you at the front door. And she looks quite miffed."
Well. Guess stalling isn't going to work anymore. With a solemn nod towards Flowey, Chara passes by his mother and leaves the room. He slowly makes his way downstairs, then stops a couple steps from the ground to see Muffet. She had her middle arms folded, her lower hands on her hips, and her upper arms holding her phone. All five of her eyes were narrowed, and her left foot was impatiently tapping the ground.
Oh. She looked VERY miffed.
"Chara Dearie. I can see you. Get over here, please." She asked, pointing to the ground in front of her while her foot still tapped against it.
He didn't want to risk the consequences of failing to comply, so he simply walls down the rest of the stairs and sets her at the doorway, sheepishly rubbing his neck. "Um...ehehehe...hi, Muffet. N...Nice day today, huh?" She slowly glances at the empty spot where his missing arm used to be. He grew even more sheepish. "Oh! Yeah, I told you about this last night. I couldn't visit you because my magical reserves were tapped out and-"
"Stop." Chara stopped immediately, standing fully straight, arm to his side. Muffet pocketed her phone in her skirt and simply stared at Chara with slight annoyance. "You and I are going for a walk." She didn't want to bother Toriel with her own anger, so she wanted to move this conversation somewhere else.
Chara looked aorund nervously. "A-Are you sure we need to walk? There's plenty of time to just relax, have some tea for a while and-"
"Yes. We are going to relax and have our tea time, like you promised me. But not here. Right now, we're taking a walk to my parlor instead of you teleporting us. So we're walking."
"Y-Yeah, but-"
Pinch!
"Ow! Ear! Ear!" Chara flinched as Muffet pinched his ear hard, cutting him off from finishing his statement. She pulled him closer to him, her eyes narrowed.
"Shush. We'll talk more when we get to the parlor. There we can have a nice little chat about why and how you're missing an arm now. Do you have any problem with this?"
"N...No ma'am..." Chara whimpered pathetically, shivering under her fierce gaze. Muffet nodded.
"Good. Let's go, Chara Dearie." With this, she begins to walk alongside him, her upper right hand still firmly pinching his ear. He slowly turns towards the door to see Asriel and Frisk in the doorway, looking at him in confusion. He simply mouthed 'Please help me' to them and solemnly followed her.
"...Dad...what's going to happen to Chara?" Asriel thought, actually a bit nervous.
Asgore stroked his beard. "Hmmm...she seemed very miffed, but it also looks like she's trying to keep a leveled head. She wants to give Chara a chance to explain himself, after she releases all of her pent-up worry over him. But I'm sure they'll be fine. We've seen how they get along." Asgore says this with utmost confidence. But on the inside, he was nervous as well.
(Later...)
"Ooowwww..." Chara moaned as he rubbed his practically glowing red ear which Muffet mercilessly pinched. She was busy unlocking the doors to her parlor, where they were more certain to have some sort of privacy. "Okay...keeping my ear firmly and painfully pinched...I won't disagree, I kinda deserved that. But can you at least-"
"Shush." Muffet shushed him again, silencing him instantly. She slowly opens the doors as she turns on the lights and her spiders scurried about, having been cleaning the entire place up in her place. There was a seat where there was already tea and crumpets set up for the both of them. She nodded to him. "Have a seat, Chara Dearie."
"W...What are we gonna do...?"
"We're just going to have a chat. Now, do take a seat."
"...Is this going to be a pretty intense chat, given the circumstances? Because I-"
"SIT!"
Chara didn't even register how quickly he sat down, he just knew that he was sitting now. And unless he was instructed to, he was too terrified to even entertain the possibility of standing back up. Muffet slowly sits in the seat across from him as she slowly pours a cup of tea for the both of them. She takes her own cup and calmly takes a moderate sip. The entire time, Chara was too reluctant to move, all of her spiders were watching them. She slowly places the teacup down, then opens her eyes to stare at Chara, her middle hands clasped on the table and her lower hands on her lap.
"Now, you can begin."
"Listen Muffet, I'm sorry about this. I really am. You should know that the multiverse can be quite an unpredictable place. At first everything was going fine, sure. But after that first AU, things got pretty chaotic. Different things happened, I got separated from my brothers, I ended up on my own with Shamir going to get me. Then I wasn't paying enough attention, and...well, you see the results." Char sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Muffet, please believe me when I say that recalling the memories are seriously difficult for me to do, so telling them to you is quite a challenge for me. I really did intend to come out mostly unscathed, but I guess that's a lousy promise to make when you're traversing the darker parts of the multiverse. I don't want you to think I didn't try my best."
Muffet continued to stare at him for the longest time, her expression not holding a hint of emotion, and her eyes were currently not giving away anything other than dull blanks. Man, he really couldn't really people on the level that Sans could. It would be a useful skill to have so he would know what to do. The spider suddenly takes a big breath, which made Chara flinch a little bit, only relaxing when she releases the breath with a sigh of relief.
"Ha...Chara Dearie. I'm not presenting it well enough for you to accurately pick up on it, but I'm not really mad at you." She mumbled slowly, scratching the top of her head. "Of course I'm upset that you got seriously hurt. But I was mostly just...very concerned. I know I know, that's something probably far too overused, but it's true. I know that in a way, you gave me your word that you wouldn't get too badly hurt. It was a promise you were highly unlikely be able to keep, but still, I couldn't help but expect you to do it anyway. I don't understand the whole time-space shenanigans like you and the others. So I had to trust in the others and hope like heck that you and the others were okay."
Chara lowered his eyes as understanding dawned upon him. It's like she said, she didn't understand what they were doing, not to the extent that she wanted. She was simply praying and hoping that he would come back successful. And most importantly, safe. So hearing that he came back home with a missing limb...the terror and concern she must have felt greatly outweighed her anger of him breaking a promise, because it easily could have been much worse. She really and truly cares about him.
Chara sighed. "It's...it's not like it's that big a loss. I can make a shadow arm with my shadow magic, anyway. So it's not that big a deal."
"Not that big a...how is losing your arm not a big deal?!" Muffet demanded. Chara slowly casted her a pained look. Then she remembered what they talked about, time-space shenanigans. She blinked in realization and lowered her eyes, as well as her head. "Oh...that wasn't the worst thing that's happened to you, was it? Because of...'those' runs..." And most of them were at the hands of Undyne and Sans.
"I'm a glutton for punishment, Muffet. Losing an arm isn't going to decrease my fighting ability by much. Honestly, it's more of a minor annoyance than a loss at all." He stated honestly, rubbing the bandaged spot under his poncho, his eyes slightly shadowed by his hair. "Besides...it's not like I didn't deserve it..."
Muffet finally realized what she accidentally dug up, and placed her upper hands over her mouth, regret instantly filling her eyes. Chara caught onto it, and shook his head.
"There's no need to feel bad. I really feel like I deserve it, along with the scar I got across my eye. Muffet...those universes...I drove Sans to the brink of insanity, and he wasn't coming back from it. He resorted to killing all of our friends in one universe so he could try and satiate his boredom alongside me, at least that's what Frisk said he heard and saw. And the one I landed in...Sans killed everyone himself to gain LOVE... just so that I wouldn't get the chance to. And he'll do it again and again, because in his eye sockets it was better this than having me do it. Hed rather kill all of his loved ones so that he wouldn't watch it happen at someone else's hands...another me drove him to his absolute breaking point. And he won't be coming back from it..." Chara mumbled, clenching his fists.
He looked up slowly when Muffet gently placed her middle two hands on top of his, as she looked at him with a much softer gaze in her eyes. Chara looked back at her, and he nodded.
"What nearly made me lose control was that Frisk was erased forever in that universe, and everyone else was dead. It really hit hard with my family...and you. I just...I couldn't help but lash out at him. I didn't want those memories being thrown back in my face like that, I wanted them to go away so badly. I didn't want reminders of who I was, especially since I've seen someone else take the role. The person who was supposed to stop me on those runs has sunken low enough to either do it himself, or become emotionless and join me. And frankly, I don't know which one is worse."
It was clear now. He was talking about how he was choosing to move forward from his past, and he really meant it. But now the deeper effects of visiting those AU's has finally caught up to Chara, full force. The experience, while he survived it, very clearly traumatized him. He is desperately trying to pry off those feelings of guilt so it wouldn't drag down how he lives on the present, but he can't seem to do it. It's like he said, he had to live with those memories haunting him forever. And it sucked.
Chara sighed deeply. "I just want to look myself in the mirror...and not see a complete waste of life..."
Chara Dearie...I didn't mean... Muffet said softly, a majority of her anger now vanished and filled with concern and care for Chara. She was fully expecting herself to rant at Chara for being so careless and just calming down later. But this...she didn't mean for it to lead to this. She felt guilty, very guilty. Still a bit miffed at him, but no longer to an unreasonable level. She simply wanted to help him feel better.
..Then she remembered.
"...Did you get all of that out of your system?" Muffet asked carefully, hoping she wasn't wrong about this.
"...Yeah...I think I did. For now." Chara huffed, scratching his head. "It's weird. When it comes to everyone else, I'm usually far too afraid to talk about this personal stuff when them. Not that I don't talk to them about it at all. It's just that...I don't hesitate as much when I'm with you."
"It's because before all of that, there wasn't much to be personal about. You had a personal connection with Toriel, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, Sans, and Asgore. Me? I was simply being an obstacle to you, so there was no possibility of a personal connection during those times. Same goes for Mettaton. And because of that, it was easier for you not to feel guilt around me. But now that you do have a personal connection to me and you have guilt for it, but you still personally knew me the least, I'm the easiest person to speak to about your personal problems."
Chara blinked. It was a very strange loophole, but it made sense. While he was very hesitant to speak to her about these things the first time, it was the second time onward that he never had anymore significant problems talking about his constantly conflicting feelings. Because during all of those runs, there was no personal connection between them, not even entirely antagonistic. She was just in the way. And this one lack of connection before was a major factor as to why she's so easy to talk to now. Well that, and the other reason.
He usually have problems speaking to his family about these things because the guilt acts as a wall between them. Before, he had no personal ties to Muffet, so there was no need for a wall. Hence why she was the easiest person he could talk to about this. Becoming friends when they were children in this timeline helps a bit, too.
"If it means anything to you, Chara...if the whole world were to turn against you because it decided that your regret and attempts to atone are simply never going to satisfy it...then just know. The monsters will never leave you behind. Not your family. Not your friends. Not me. None of us would do that to you. We'd never give you up for anything." Muffet smiled softly, gently rubbing his palms. "No matter what hardships we all endure, we'll always be by your side."
Chara blinked at her bold statement. He gently grabbed her hands in return, staring into her eyes, all five of them. "You...do you really mean that?"
"Of course, Dearie. Your family has proven plenty of times that they have and always will care about you, and our friends feel the same way. And I suppose I'll have to start doing the same! We'll demonstrate it as many times as it takes until it sticks! Ahuhuhuhu~"
Glomp.
"Hm?" Muffet blinked in surprise as she looked down. Chara had completely enveloped her into a hug, wrapping his arms around her and pinning her lower arms to her sides. Though she blushed a bit when she realized that he had his head placed against her chest. She recently filled out a little, but she doubted he would acknowledge it, due to being a bit emotional at the moment. "Chara Dearie...?"
"...thank you, Muffet. For constantly putting up with my annoying emotions." Chara stated with a bitter but genuinely happy chuckle, his voice slightly muffled.
Muffet didn't mind too much. She simply smiled as she placed her upper hands on top of his head to gently pet him, while her middle arms wrapped around his back and softly rubs it. "It's no problem at all, Chara Dearie. After all, this time I'm the one who dragged you out for company, and in a fit of anger on my part. It was immature of me."
"Don't worry about it. We all have our bouts of immaturity. Especially at our age."
"Ahuhu~Very True~"
A moment of silence passes by the both of them, they simply embraced and enjoyed each others company. Though it couldn't last all day, so Muffet decided to break it. And as usual, it's by being herself.
"Are you content where you are?~"
Chara's eyes widened as he suddenly pulled himself away from Muffet's chest, madly blushing as the realization finally kicks in. "M-Muffet! Why didn't you stop me?! Why didn't you push me away, or punch me, kick me, or anything like that?!"
"Hmmm...why didn't I do those things?~ I don't know, Chara Dearie. Maybe because I enjoyed it as much as you did?~" Good heavens. Determination was needed on Chara's part, if he were to endure this spider girl's teasing. "I wonder about Red, though. She's a growing lady as well. Maybe I can ask her where we stand, Ribbon Buddy to Ribbon Buddy."
Okay. No. Nope. Not havin' any of this.
"Muffet. Please don't do this to me."
"I'm afraid not, Dearie. I'm still a bit miffed about how you recklessly got yourself hurt. So now, I'm going to do what I please, and you'll join me in my fun. Ooooh! I know!~" Muffet's eyes sparkled as her upper hands reached up towards Chara's face. She was going for the pink blush spots.
"Muffet. I know what you're thinking. Don't you da-"
"Boop~" Muffet playfully booped Chara's cheeks with both of her upper hands, gently smooshing them together. His small pouty frown was a clear message of him not being amused. Well that was too bad, because she certainly was.
"Don't do that."
"Boop~"
"Stop doing that."
"Boop~"
"Stop doing that."
"Boop~"
"Muffet No."
"Muffet Yes. Boop~"
"Muffet Stahp."
"Boop~"
"Muffet Stahp it."
"Boop~"
"Stahp it plz."
"Boop boop~"
"Muffet..."
"Booooooooopie boop boop~"
"Muffeeeeeeeetttt!"
"Ahuhuhuhuhu!~"
Chara was blushing much brighter than he should be. She was being absolutely merciless about this booping his cheeks thing. It was even more ridiculous that he wasn't doing anything about it aside from showing mere annoyance. He was just standing there and taking it without much complaint. Just like Asgore did for oriel, and Asriel does for Red. They were both fluffy pushovers. And now he...he...
...oh gosh. He's become a pushover. He's the pushover with pink cheeks and gorgeous hair. And judging by how submissively he just gave into Muffet's demands earlier without significant signs of resistance, there was no escaping it. He really has gone soft. Though that didn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. Just something he had to adjust to. He was very used to having a lot of power, but now Muffet has quite a bit of power over him.
...a part of him was perfectly okay with that.
So after a couple more moments of Muffet relentlessly booping his cheeks, she eventually stopped doing so, and she just stuck to hugging him. He hugged her back, before pulling away a bit and smiling awkwardly. "So...how about we finish the rest of that tea?"
Soon after they've had their fill of tea and crumpets, and Chara's mind was once again cleared for now, they were once again enjoying each other's company. They were standing outside of her parlor now, hugging each other quite a bit, before they released one another and smiled.
"Gotta say, your crumpets and tea are as amazing as ever." Chara smiled brightly at her.
"Ooh, Chara Dearie. Your praise is a bit much for a spider girl like me. But once again, you insist~" Muffet giggled, blushing slightly while holding her cheeks and gently turning her head away a bit. "I know that you Dreemurrs really like to eat your fills, so I'm happy to oblige. Sometimes I forget that you're adopted I to that Royal Family...technically a Prince. I am receiving a Prince's Praise! Ahuhuhu~"
Chara chuckled, shaking his head. "Well, I wouldn't go that far. I don't think too much of the royalty thing. Prefer to just be Chara and all that casual junk."
"I see. Hmph. You've taken quite a degree of humbleness~"
"Yeah? Well I had to have it beaten into me, so I don't really see it as an accomplishment."
"Well, I do~"Muffet genuinely stated, grabbing hold of his hands with her middle ones. They both blushed brightly as they looked away from each other for a bit. Chara tried to think of something else to change the subject. He didn't want her to leave just yet. There must be something to speak about.
"Red kissed Azzy yestderday." Muffet gasped. "I know. I'm as shocked as you are."
"Oh my goodness! My Ribbon Buddy's first kiss!? Phooey! I missed it!" Muffet pouted, puffing her cheeks in annoyance. Chara wasn't about to marvel at how cute she was right now. Though he really wanted to. "Ooooh, that girl is not gonna get away from me. We're gonna have quite a talk!"
Chara scratched the side of his head, sighing gently. "Geez. Azzy gets his first kiss so soon. How about that." Muffet suddenly began looking downward, twiddling all six of her thumbs. He raised an eyebrow. "Muffet...what are you thinking?" When he didn't get an answer, his confusion soon turns to worry. "Muffet...?"
"...Before you went on your mission...you called me your Spider Princess. I found that rather endearing of you."
"U-Um...yeah. I was kinda thinking of you...the entire time I was gone. Thinking about how I was gonna get back home to my friends and family after that whole venture is over."
"I see. During that time, you had me on your mind."
"I wanted to get back to you as soon as possible. Sure, I love spending time with my brothers. But I also love spending time with you. You're kind of like my escape from my family's constant goofiness when it becomes too much for me to bear."
"I don't know, dearie. As you've known for quite a while now, I'm not much better~"
"Yeah, obviously. Though...I still really like spending time with you. Nothing was gonna stop us from completing our mission. And nothing was gonna stop me from getting back to you." Chara smirked. "I relied on my Dreemurr Determination."
"...You said that when you were confronting that Error Sans fellow, didn't you?"
"Told ya I was gonna use it."
"You still stole my idea."
"Technically it isn't your idea, since it involves my name."
"You're impossible!~" Muffet giggled, playfully pushing him against the wall. He laughed alongside her over using the phrase she created for his own. They truly knew how to mess with each other. Soon however, they calmed down and simply glanced at each others eyes again. They both blushed. "Doesn't it seem a bit disorienting for you to look into all five of my eyes?"
"Doesnt matter. All of them are pretty eyes, if you ask me."
"Oh. And I suppose that cute pink blush of yours probably won't go away ever. But I'm okay with hat. After all, they're fun to boop~"
"...Now I know how Azzy feels when his snootle is booped."
"Karma never forgets. Though sometimes it's just petty."
"Like you with your money?"
"Heeeeeeyyy!" Muffet giggled again, lightly slapping his head. They both calmed down again. She lightly placed her upper hands on his cheeks. "...Chara. I'm really...really glad you're alright. I hope you know this."
Chara lowered his eyes softly, a gentle smile growing on his face, as he nods in confirmation. "I do, Muffet. I'm sorry for worrying you."
"It's fine, Dearie. It's fine..." She gently waved it off, focused mainly on him. She finally and firmly pushed away her reluctance, as she pulled him close and kissed his lips.
Chara's mind went blank. This must have been what Asriel felt when Red kissed him. First shock, confusion, and disbelief. Then absolute joy. As well as shock, confusion, and disbelief. Though unlike his little brother, he had enough of his bearings to return it.
Seeing that Muffet sort of had him pinned against a wall, he simply decided to wrap his arm around her to pull her closer, while he closed his eyes. He is at least glad that Muffet was able to hide her fangs so she wouldn't accidentally bite him. It felt weird, but right. Muffet slowly slid her upper arms around his neck, her middle arms on his shoulders, and her lower arms around his back. Smaller spiders around them were outright squeeing at the sight.
Soon after, they pulled away from each other, blushing brightly once more. Muffet blinked. "O-Oh dear...I...I don't know what came over me."
"...Well, at least I didn't almost pass out like Asriel did." Chara shrugged, though it was clear he was very happy. "Surely we can consider that an accomplishment?"
"If that's what you want~" Muffet smiled. Then she narrowed her eyes and pointedly poked his chest. "Though you are going to be helping me manage my parlor tomorrow. All day. We have catching up to do from all of your time space shenanigans. And like I said before: Do NOT make me wait long enough to come and get you. You won't like it. Understood?"
"Y-Yes ma'am..." Chara lowered his head.
"Very good. How about I walk you home?"
"Wouldn't it be easier for me to just teleport there?"
"Indeed it would be...but it would be too swift." Muffet gently wrapped her arms around his remaining arm, cuddling it happily. "I want to make up for the ear pinching. So I'm going to cuddle your arm and walk you all the home! Ahuhuhu!~"
Chara sighed as he calmly takes Muffet's teasing in stride, just like he would do his best to calmly disregard the sudden softness pressing against the arm she was hugging. Why did she have to be such a flirt? That's Frisk's thing! Then again, Frisk flirted with everyone. Frisk was weird. Then again, the concept of normalcy became random even before everyone left the Underground.
"Fiiinneee. You can walk me home if you so insist." More like she would have done it whether he liked it or not, and he wouldn't have it in him to try and force denial. So he just smiles along with Muffet as they began moving on.
They slowly passed by the River Person as he was thinking this, and said River Person slowly turned their head towards him.
"Tra La La! A new bond filled with chocolate and spiders! Chocolate spiders, perhaps?"
"Ugh...really?" Chara groaned, while Muffet giggled again.
When they were out of earshot, River Person lowered their hood and spoke in a more solemn, warning tone:
"The Ancient Seven...the ones who defied the sands of time...they shall soon return from the shadows, and with hatred-filled intentions. Most of us may be done with the past, but the past isn't done with us..."
Me: Well, that takes care of that!
Chara:...what was that last part about...?
Me: You'd like to know that, wouldn't you? Nah, that'd be too easy.
Chara: Why can't you tell me?!
Me: Because we're relaxing right now. That was just something to hang over your heads until it happens. Cross the bridge when ya get to it, right?
Muffet: We don't know what kind of bridge you're building. That's what is making us nervous.
Chara: Can't you give us a hint?
Me: Nope. If anyone knows what I'm implying, don't, I repeat, DON'T say anything about it. Pretty please?
Chara: Great, now I'll have this hanging over my head for who knows how long.
Me: At least you have Muffet!
Chara: ...You're despicable. Next chapter is whatever it is. Later.
