I welcome constructive criticism.

Undyne practically barged into the room, grinning like a maniac. If there had been a door, it would've been nearly ripped off the wall.

Charlie shrieked and jumped behind Frisk again as they turned around to face Undyne. Her grin fell the moment she heard the scream.

She stood there for a few moments before saying, "Was that too much?"

"You definitely scared Charlie," Frisk answered.

"Who's Charlie?"

Frisk stepped aside to reveal the other child.

Undyne looked a bit guilty. "Oh. Sorry about that, kid." She looked up at Alphys and Oswaldo. "What's with the freaked-out expressions?"

Frisk turned around to look at the two. Alphys looked completely dumbfounded while Oswaldo looked like he was about to scream.

"Wha… Wha… Wha… Ha… How… Wha…" Oswaldo stammered as he made hand gestures in Charlie's direction.

"What's wrong?" Frisk asked.

Alphys pointed at Charlie. Frisk looked at him. But instead of a monster, a human child was hunched down.

"Charlie?"

The child looked up. He looked like a human version of Charlie. "Yes?"

"How!?" Oswaldo exclaimed. "How did you-!?"

The boy looked at his hands. "Did I turn into a human?"

"Turn…into…a human?" Alphys repeated.

"What's going on?" Undyne asked, sounding very confused.

The boy grew gray fur, cat ears popped out of his head, and a short snout extended from his face. He was definitely Charlie.

"…Did I just watch a kid turn into a monster?"

"Yes…" Charlie replied sheepishly.

Undyne stared uncomprehendingly. "What? Is going? On?"

"M-Mind explaining h-how long you've been able to d-do that?" Alphys asked.

Charlie stood up and fiddled with his fingers. "Uh… Since I was born, I guess. I…don't remember how I found out about it. Margle said she startled me by accident and it just happened. I-I don't know if I actually turn into a human or if it's just an illusion… But it's been really useful in avoiding getting caught by humans! Though there was that one time where I was found and taken to a…group home… But I got out and nobody found out I was actually a monster, so I guess it was okay…"

Oswaldo said, "Is this something you can control or is it automatic?"

Charlie looked confused for a bit. "Uh… I can control it, but sometimes I take on a human appearance without meaning to when I get scared or nervous."

"I have…NEVER heard of a monster being able to do that," Alphys said. "I…didn't even know it was p-possible…"

"Well… I can't explain it," Charlie said, shaking his head. "As I said, not even Margle can explain it, and she knows a lot of things."

"Like what?" Oswaldo inquired, running a hand through his short, black hair.

"Uh… She knows who the first skeletons were and how they were created, she knows about the secret monster village in a cave, about a fish monster who killed his parents because of a prophesy, about the Enchanted SOULs…"

"Enchanted SOULs?" Alphys repeated.

"Really powerful human SOULs. Margle can tell you more."

"Where's Margle?"

Just then, Frisk's phone went off. They scrambled to get it out of their pocket and accepted the call without looking to see who it was.

"Hello?"

"My child, where are you?" It was Toriel.

"We're at the lab."

"Why are you there? I thought you'd be playing in the yard."

"I wanted Charlie to meet the others…"

Toriel sighed. "…Well, Margle and I are heading back to the forest to retrieve some of her and Charlie's belongings. She wants to move in with the other monsters. We should be back in a few hours."

"Okay."

"In the meantime, please head over to Sans and Papyrus' house."

"Okay. I-"

"And stay there until we get back."

"Okay. Sorry."

"Text me once you're there. Goodbye."

"Bye mom."

The call ended and Frisk put the phone back in their pocket.

"I have to go visit Sans and Papyrus for a few hours," they announced.

"I'm going with you," Charlie said quickly, taking a step towards them.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay for some tests?" Oswaldo asked.

"I'm sure," Charlie said as he grabbed onto Frisk. "I'm very sure."

Charlie then started dragging Frisk out of the room. Frisk waved at the others as they left.

"Another time, then…" Oswaldo said with a hint of dismay.

Once the two children were out of the room, Undyne said, "What just happened?"

0~*~0

Charlie let go of Frisk once they were outside the lab. "I'll…I'll let you lead us there."

Frisk adjusted their shirt. "Why did you want to leave so quickly?"

"I don't know what they mean by 'tests,' but I have a bad feeling about it," Charlie said.

Frisk opened their mouth to explain what the tests would likely consist of, but realized that it would be hard to explain them to Charlie, so they didn't say anything.

"Besides, I'm…more willing to trust you than them."

Frisk tilted their head. "Why?"

Charlie looked off to the side. "Margle trusts you. And…she also said that children are less likely to have malicious intentions than adults."

Frisk had no response.

Eventually, Charlie said, "Um… You wanna get going?"

"Y-Yeah, sure."

Frisk sent a quick text to Papyrus that said, "I'm coming over with a friend," before heading off.

0~*~0

Sans and Papyrus' house was at the corner of a block. It looked exactly like their house in Snowdin (and may even have been said house), down to the snow on the roof. The only difference was the addition of a separate garage where Papyrus' car was stored.

As they approached the house, Charlie asked, "What are Sans and Papyrus like?"

"They're skeleton brothers. Papyrus is loud, but he's very nice. He's really fun. Sans is, uh…"

"Is…what?"

"He's…pretty laid-back, but you don't wanna get on his bad side."

"'Laid-back?' What does that mean?"

"…You'll see when we get there."

When they got to the front door, Frisk pushed the doorbell, causing a dogbark tune to sound out.

Charlie jumped back. "Wh-Wh-What was that!?"

"That's a doorbell," Frisk answered. "It lets people inside the house when someone's at the door."

"Wouldn't knocking work?"

"Doorbells are louder."

Before Charlie could say anything, the door flung open and a jovial voice said, "HELLO FRISK!"

Charlie once again cowered behind Frisk. A tall and lanky skeleton was standing in the doorway, seeming to smile widely. He was wearing an orange cape, an orange long-sleeved shirt, and jeans.

"Hi Papyrus," Frisk greeted.

"should've let us know you were comin' over, kiddo," a voice from inside the house said.

"THEY DID, SANS!" Papyrus said back. "BUT YOU WERE ASLEEP!"

"…oh. nevermind."

Papyrus turned back to Frisk and sighed. "SORRY ABOUT THAT, FRISK… ANYWAY, YOU SAID YOU WERE COMING OVER WITH A FRIEND, CORRECT?"

Frisk once again stepped aside to reveal the curled-up Charlie.

"HELLO, FRISK'S NEW FRIEND!"

Charlie cautiously looked up.

"THERE'S NO NEED TO BE SHY, FRISK'S NEW FRIEND!"

"His name is Charlie," said Frisk.

"THERE'S NO NEED TO BE SHY, CHARLIE!"

"Why are you wearing that?" Charlie asked, sounding suspicious.

"BECAUSE MY BOSS DOES NOT USUALLY ALLOW ME TO WEAR MY BATTLE BODY AT WORK. SHE SAYS THAT IT IS 'IMPROPER ATTIRE.'"

"Battle…body?"

"COME IN AND I'LL SHOW YOU!"

Frisk took Charlie by the hand and led him inside.

The layout of the inside of the house was also exactly the same as their house in Snowdin, aside from some additional furniture they had gotten since moving to the surface. A shorter and chubbier skeleton wearing a blue zip-up hoodie was lying on a green couch in front of a large TV. It was currently muted.

Charlie stared at the TV. "What is that?"

"THAT IS CALLED A TELEVISION OR TV FOR SHORT. IT ALLOWS YOU TO WATCH SHOWS FOR ENTERTAINMENT OR NEWS FOR INFORMATION!"

"Oh…"

The skeleton on the couch gave a brief wave. "heya. who's the new kid?"

"His name is Charlie," said Frisk. They then explained how they had found Charlie and Margle and taken them back to town.

Sans was somewhat sitting up, having a definite interest. "huh. interesting. never would've thought there'd be monsters that escaped bein' trapped in the underground."

"Oh, uh," Charlie muttered, "I think Margle and I were the only ones living outside. Margle's a ghost, and it's impossible to kill a ghost, so she would be okay."

"what about you?"

"Uh… Margle said that she found me in a ditch on the side of a road. She took me home and raised me."

"you were abandoned?"

Frisk gave a sympathetic look at Charlie as he continued. "Yes. My parents might be alive, but I don't know."

"HOW COULD A GHOST RAISE YOU? THEY'RE INCORPOREAL."

"M-Margle has a puppet body that she can go into. She only goes into it when she needs to."

"only when she needs to?"

"She doesn't like being corporeal. You'd, uh, have to ask her."

Neither of the skeletons asked any more questions, and the topic didn't come up again.

Papyrus, as his way of welcoming Charlie, decided to cook spaghetti.

As Frisk and Charlie waited, Frisk turned to Charlie and asked, "What do you think of them so far?"

Charlie had a far-off look in his eyes. "Sans is a little weird and Papyrus is loud. Not as much as the fish woman, but still."

Frisk couldn't help but nod. The two skeletons did take a bit of getting used to. Although…

"How is Sans weird?" they asked.

Said skeleton had long since relocated to his room, so he likely didn't hear Charlie reply, "There's just something…off about him. I can't describe what it is."

"He can be very creepy when he wants to be."

"I wouldn't say he's creepy…" Charlie then gave Frisk a look, as though he had realized something.

Frisk didn't get a chance to answer, because at that exact moment, Papyrus cheerfully called out, "THE SPAGHETTI IS READY!"

When Charlie saw the spaghetti, he said, "This doesn't look safe to eat."

While Papyrus had made some progress with cooking since coming to the surface, he still wasn't very good.

Aside from a brief twitch in the corner of his mouth, it didn't seem to deter Papyrus. "SOMETIMES WHAT LOOKS THE MOST UNAPPETIZING IS THE MOST DELICIOUS!"

Charlie didn't look at all convinced, but he tried the spaghetti anyway…by leaning over and biting into it right off the plate. He chewed it for a few seconds before making a disgusted expression and spitting it back onto the plate.

"I don't know what 'spaghetti' is supposed to taste like, but I don't think it's supposed to taste like this."

Papyrus looked stunned, as though he had no idea how to react. After a few seconds, he took on an annoyed expression. "CHARLIE! YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO SPIT IT OUT LIKE THAT! IT'S GROSS! AND YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO EAT SPAGHETTI WITH A FORK!"

Charlie, his tongue partially hanging out, said, "What I eat it with and how wouldn't change the taste."

Frisk was also stunned. Not by Charlie's table manners, but at how blunt he was being. Usually, people either refused to eat it or humored Papyrus and tried to hide the taste (if he didn't misinterpret it first).

"SIGH. GUESS WE'LL HAVE TO GO WITH PLAN B!"

With that, Papyrus grabbed Charlie's plate and left the room.

The two children left behind stared at each other for a few moments before Charlie said, "Frisk… How is he able to handle how that…thing tastes?"

Frisk shrugged. "I guess he got used to it?"

"You 'guess?' How does he normally react?"

Frisk was at a loss for words.

"Frisk?"

"…I…don't know if I've ever actually seen him eat spaghetti before."

Charlie looked up at the ceiling. "Can we go to someone else's house?"

"No," Frisk replied, "we can't. Mom said so."

Charlie sighed. "These next few hours are going to be interesting…"

Author's note: I guess there was an unexpected benefit to not finishing this chapter until after the one-year anniversary.