As the weeks passed, Frisk discovered that they held an interest in social studies, particularly history. They listened attentively in all of Toriel's history classes, and completed their reports on current events exceptionally well. To them, it was interesting to learn about how the events of the past had shaped the current social and political state of the world. They had started to consider whether or not their thirst for adventure had actually originated in a desire to become famous, to become remembered in history. Considering that they were at least partly responsible for taking down the barrier and allowing monsters to return to the surface, they had perhaps already achieved that feat.
Their fourth report at the end of the month was on the global tourism industry's reaction to receiving an influx of monster tourists. With monsters now capable of going anywhere on the surface, the tourism industry was flourishing – in some places. Certain countries did not yet allow monsters to enter their borders. Other countries openly welcomed them, and it was said that the response from the general public in those countries to the visiting monsters was largely positive. Most people, it seemed, wanted their country's economy to grow, and increasing tourism was a method of achieving that.
For this report, Frisk achieved an A+.
Chara, on the other hand, had neglected to do half their reports, and eventually ended up being scolded personally by Toriel. They were then instructed to finish all of their homework before they could use the laptop to play games or to surf the web. But, of course, Chara found a way to bypass this – by always keeping their report document open, and alt tabbing to it whenever Toriel came into their room. In the end, Frisk had to help Chara to complete a large portion of their homework.
"Do you enjoy school?" Chara asked Frisk one day, when Frisk was helping them with maths.
"I think so," Frisk replied. "I like going to class to discuss everything that's going on in the world. But some subjects, like English, are kind of boring."
"Every subject is boring," Chara said. "Well, I guess I like music. Did you hear the piece that I composed the other day?"
"You mean, the one on the piano?"
"Yeah! Everyone in class told me that they liked it, and that I should start taking lessons."
The idea was oddly amusing. Chara being a pianist had never crossed Frisk's mind before. But, now that Chara had mentioned it, Frisk realized that it made a lot of sense. Chara loved music, and would always listen to a song on UnderTube while they did their homework. The only problem was that piano lessons were expensive, and they didn't own one for them to practice on at home.
Later, when Chara suggested it to their mother, Toriel told Chara that she would try her best to save up enough money to purchase a piano, but – for now – they would have to practice on the ones at school.
Towards the end of the first month of school, Chara also became surprisingly restless, and seemed to be bored of being stuck at home every day after school and on weekends. They still didn't like talking to humans very much, or even monsters – Frisk remained Chara's only friend – but Chara wanted to "get out of the boring routine of school and do something exciting for a change."
While going through the news sites on their laptop, Frisk discovered that an all-monster-owned marketplace was opening up in a neighbouring city. The grand opening of this market was just a few days away, and it was on a Saturday, so Frisk thought that Chara might be interested.
"A whole day in another city?" Chara said, an ambivalent look in their eyes. They seemed at once curious as well as anxious. "How are we going to get there?"
"We can buy train tickets," Frisk answered. "If you don't mind being on a train with lots of other humans, that is."
Chara seemed disappointed for a moment. Then, they shrugged. "All right. I guess I'll check it out."
"Okay!"
Toriel let them go without her, as she trusted that they were both capable of taking care of themselves. So, on the day that their trip came, they got out of bed early in the morning – an easy feat for Frisk, but not for Chara (who had stayed up too late playing horror games again) – grabbed their tickets, and walked to the train station in the city.
Even in the morning, the station was full of people. As usual, Chara walked close beside Frisk, and requested that they hold hands whenever they walked into a large crowd. Frisk complied, thinking that it was better than them being separated. If that ever happened, Chara might experience a mental breakdown.
They boarded the train and walked to their seats. Chara sat by the window. The trip was going to take two hours. Along the way, the train passed across a bridge, which allowed them to see a beautiful view of the ocean below. The rays of the early morning sunlight reflected brightly upon the surface of the water, glimmering like jewels. Then, the train passed through a mountain, and there was nothing but forest around them. Briefly, Frisk was reminded of their past adventures and their journey up Mount Ebott. That had been a large bigger mountain than this one, but still, they felt nostalgic.
Eventually, the train arrived at their destination, and – to Chara's dismay – this city was much bigger, much more populated, and the station was quite a bit more crowded. When they stood up from their seat, they instantly reached out for Frisk's hand. Frisk looked up at Chara, who had that nervous look in their eyes again. Without saying anything, Frisk took Chara's hand, and they walked out of the train together.
The marketplace was close by, and there were enough signs saying "Grand Opening" that they could find it easily enough without a map. Upon entering the market, Frisk realized that they were going into an old part of this city, likely built by humans that had settled here hundreds of years prior. The streets were narrow and winding and made of cobble, and there were lots of alleys and tight corridors that went under the roofs of buildings. At least the place was quite clean.
"I thought this market was supposed to be owned by monsters," Chara said in a panicked voice. "Why are there so many humans around?!"
"Probably because they want to check out what the monsters here sell?"
"But couldn't they, you know – not come in such big crowds?"
That was something Frisk had to agree with. Inside the market, the streets were tight, and there was very little space for them to move around without bumping into another person. Every time Chara touched another human, they would instinctively become tense, and Frisk would need to pull gently on their arm to get them to relax again. Chara started to walk leaning close to Frisk, their shoulders nearly touching, as if to minimize the amount of potential contact they could have with another person (and to maximize the amount of contact with Frisk).
Fortunately, when they reached past the entrance, the streets opened up, and they had more room to walk without bumping into someone every few seconds. They didn't really know where to start exploring, so they picked a random direction to head down.
After going down an alley, they arrived at a little bridge that went over a stream. It was surprisingly quiet here. Chara let go of Frisk's hand and walked onto the bridge, where they placed their hands on the railing and leaned over the edge. Frisk stepped up beside them and looked around.
Despite the season being autumn, the air today was very warm. The weather was temperate, with a balmy wind, and the skies were blue. Here, the sound of flowing water was louder than the distant roar of the city crowds. A scent of smoked food was in the air, owing to the restaurants that were around. It was mixed with a fresh, more dirt-like smell, probably due to the city's proximity to mountains.
"We went to a market, but we aren't even checking out the stores," Frisk commented to break the silence.
Chara stared at the water that flowed below them.
"...Hey, Frisk."
"Yeah?"
"You know that one time, back in the underground, when we were at the Waterfall, sitting on a bridge and talking to each other?"
The memory was still fresh in Frisk's mind. "Right."
"That was before...everything that's happened," Chara continued. They lowered their head to rest their chin on top of their hands. "Doesn't it feel like so much has changed?"
"It does. The whole world's changing."
"But, I mean, even between us. I never thought that...after everything was over, after the fight with Asriel, and him breaking down the barrier, that we would end up the way that we are now. Living in a house with Toriel, going to school together, going out to visit different cities...I, I never even imagined that I would want to go anywhere near humans again. And yet, here I am."
"I didn't think that this would happen, either."
Chara appeared surprised at that statement. They turned to face Frisk with wide, curious eyes.
"Really? What did you think would happen?"
"I didn't think of it at all, actually," Frisk replied. Their tone grew somewhat somber. "I've never really planned very far ahead in my life. I was always going out on an adventure...always visiting places and seeing new things. It was never my intention to settle down in a place and go to school."
"Then why'd you do it? Why'd you choose to go live with Toriel?"
The question caught Frisk off guard. They had been thinking about it, too. But, it was another one of those questions, like choosing to climb Mount Ebott, that they really didn't have an answer to. And, if they did have an answer, it wouldn't satisfy Chara, because they had always chosen to do things based on intuition instead of a plan. Sometimes, even they were annoyed at themselves for going through life like this, for making every big decision based on a spur of the moment. It disallowed them to have certainty. And, when they thought about what had made them become like this...
"I just wanted to," Frisk said finally. They realized that they had been clenching their teeth, and they relaxed their expression. "I wanted to try something new, okay? I've always just been going around, exploring the world, never getting attached to one place or one person for long...so, I thought that I would try it, I would try settling down with someone. And that's why I'm here, now."
Chara was taken aback by Frisk's response. They darted away their eyes.
"So...it was just another one of your intuitive decisions? You weren't planning on it?"
"I don't like to plan much," Frisk said simply.
"But, well, I guess I want to ask...are you happy with this decision?"
There were so many ways to answer that question that, for a moment, Frisk's mind went blank. They stared at Chara, unresponsive, until Chara returned a weird look.
"I...I think I am," Frisk answered.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Let's just keep walking, okay?"
Chara looked annoyed now. "Frisk."
"Yeah."
"If you don't want to talk about it, then just say so."
"...All right."
But it wasn't all right.
Frisk had, for a while, been denying – in their mind – that the root of their problem in going aimlessly through life was a fear of acquiring attachments. Perhaps it started in their earliest memory, which was of themselves wandering alone through a town, unable to find their parents. They didn't remember if they ever had parents. But, from that day on, they continued wandering. Sometimes, they stayed in certain places for a time, living under shelters or seeking out homeowners who would be willing to take them in for a while. Yet, every time they started to become familiar with a place, familiar enough with it to call it their home, they would choose to move on. They would never risk letting themselves become attached.
So, now, they felt the same thing again. They had been living with Toriel for months, and there was that lingering urge in their mind, telling them to move on, to continue with their journey. It would be too painful to stay for any longer. Where they would go next, they didn't know for sure yet. But they had never known before, either. What stopped them from running away this time?
"Want to check out this store?" Chara asked.
Frisk snapped out of their thoughts. They looked at where Chara was pointing, which was a shop titled "Snowdin's Stockpile." It was a store that sold winter clothing.
"Toriel told us to buy lots of clothes for the winter, remember?" Chara added.
Frisk gave a shaky nod. "Y-yeah."
They went inside and browsed around. The shop owner was a familiar looking rabbit, but it wasn't the one that owned the inn back in Snowdin Town. She smiled kindly at Frisk and Chara and mentioned that they were her first customers today. Frisk responded by commenting that her shop was very nice.
Chara found a dark blue duffle coat that fit their size. They put in on and looked at themselves in the mirror for a good minute.
"Stylish," Frisk said. "You look pretty cute in that."
An expression of mild surprise came over Chara's face. "You think so?"
"Yeah."
The expression turned into a pleasant smile. Chara unhooked the duffles on the jacket and took it off, then presented it to Frisk.
"Why don't you try it on?"
"Why?" Frisk asked.
"I think it'd look even cuter on you."
Frisk felt themselves come close to blushing. They looked around, wondering if the shopowner was in hearing range. But, before they could say anything, Chara had come over and grabbed Frisk's arm, pulling them in front of the mirror.
"Okay. Try wearing it."
Chara gave the jacket to Frisk, and they put it on. To their surprise, the jacket fit them better than it did Chara. It was actually very soft and very warm. Chara stood behind Frisk's shoulder, grinning.
"You look so cute in that," Chara said. They placed a hand on Frisk's head and ruffled up their hair affectionately.
Frisk gently shook Chara's hand off and brushed away the hair that had fallen in front of their eyes. "Chara..."
"You're so adorable, I could just pinch your cheeks," Chara continued in a voice that was clearly an imitation of Toriel's.
"Okay, okay. I like it, too."
"So, you'll buy it?"
"Yeah, if it makes you happy."
After browsing for a bit more, Chara found another piece of clothing that they wanted: an interesting looking scarf which was made of very thick grey and white threads. On inspection of the brand, Frisk discovered that it was made by a company called "Muffet's Weavers". A surge of bad memories came into mind, memories of being trapped and entangled in webs and having to run away from a big, hungry spider, but Chara really liked it.
"You like this scarf?" the shopowner said when they went to check their clothes out. "Funny thing, actually. I think the company that made this scarf has a shop right next door."
"...Right next door?" Frisk repeated in a worried tone.
The rabbit laughed. "Yeah. I think they're also a part-time tea parlour. Why don't you check them out?"
Against Frisk's advice, Chara decided to go to this store next. It was a shop that was simply called "Muffet's Parlour," which was thoroughly decorated with spiderwebs on the outside to spare no hint to onlookers of what was going to be inside.
As Frisk expected, the store was entirely owned by spiders. The small spiders hung out along the walls, endlessly spinning out new webs (or 'decorations', as they were called), while larger, more Muffety spiders were the waiters. There was a smell of baked pastries in the air. A tiny donation jar was placed in front of every web, which amounted to a ridiculous number of jars, and they had to step carefully to avoid knocking any of them over. Aside from that, Chara seemed delighted by this atmosphere.
Muffet herself was at the front counter. When Chara approached, she gave one of her sickeningly sweet smiles, and all five of her eyes opened.
"Welcome to my parlour, dearie~" Muffet said, ending her sentence with her familiar whimsical pitch. Every one of her words sounded like they were being cackled out. "I haven't had many human customers. I think the two of you are our very first ones~"
"Not many humans like spiders. Aren't they weird?" Chara responded.
Muffet giggled again. "Oh, you're not human, dearie?"
"I think I'm at least part monster."
Frisk shirked when Muffet's gaze fell upon them. Chara had to do the talking, and – at Frisk's request – they received a table at the balcony on the second floor, away from all the cobwebs and spider waiters trying to take their money. Chara ordered a Spider Waffle, chocolate-flavoured (of course), while Frisk ordered a Spider Donut. Both of them also ordered golden flower tea.
"I didn't know you liked golden flower tea," Chara said when their drinks had arrived.
"I acquired a taste for it after Undyne made me drink...a lot," Frisk replied.
"Undyne, huh?"
"What about her?"
Chara leaned back in their seat. "I guess...it still surprises me that you made so many friends when you went through the Underground. Especially since half of them were out to capture or kill you."
"Well, I just try my best to make friends with everyone."
"I know. You told me that."
Frisk took a sip of the golden flower tea. It had a distinct...spider flavour to it, just like the donut and the cider did.
"Hey, Frisk," Chara said, "Hasn't it been a while since you've seen all of your friends?"
"Yeah."
"Why don't you call them up and invite them over?" The way that Chara phrased it, that sounded a bit more than just a suggestion.
"I was thinking about doing that," Frisk replied.
"So, why haven't you?"
Frisk put down their drink.
It was a good question. Why hadn't they called their friends and invited them over yet? They knew, from keeping in touch with them on the UnderNet, that most of them had free time and were willing to pay a visit (except for maybe Asgore, who had taken over Papyrus' position as ambassador – though inviting Asgore over to Toriel's house might be a bit of a messy issue). But, somehow, even though Frisk wanted to invite them, they had never actually found the determination to carry through with doing it.
Frisk looked out over the edge of the balcony railing. Below, the city streets were teeming with people, both monster and human, each going their own way and browsing all the newly opened shops. It was nearing noon, and the air was growing hot. Birds flew by above their heads, making their shrill cries. Frisk felt a calm breeze in their face, and they breathed in deeply to smell the scents of nature from the nearby mountains. They closed their eyes, thinking.
It came back, again, to the fact that whenever they stayed in a place, or with some person for too long, they would form attachments to them. In truth, Frisk did want to see their friends again. They wanted to see their old friends from the underground more than anything. But, they also knew that they might grow too fond of them, and that meant that they would feel extremely lonely when they had to leave. Forming strong attachments to people would inevitably lead to pain when it came time to say their farewells. They knew this too well.
"Frisk?" Chara spoke up again.
"Oh, I'm – I'm sorry," Frisk replied, blinking and rubbing their eyes. "Chara, I don't know how to answer that."
"Again? Frisk, is there something bothering you?"
Frisk sighed. It was too difficult to explain the nature of the problem that bugged them. But, in a way, that was okay. They were glad to just have friends in the first place. They were glad that Chara was with them, and Toriel, and even Asriel as well. Perhaps, they would have to say goodbye to each other one day, but the day wouldn't come for a while. In that sense, they felt secure for the time being.
"I...no, nothing's bothering me."
Chara didn't look convinced. "Frisk."
"Yeah?"
"You've been quiet for the whole day. Even I can tell that something's not quite right with you."
"Oh...I guess it's that obvious, huh?"
Chara leaned towards them. "Tell me what's wrong."
"I..."
Frisk closed their eyes again, as they tended to do when they wanted to say something important.
"I've been thinking," Frisk began. "I've been thinking about this, too. About everything that's happened since we came back to the surface. I guess, even I feel kinda shaken up by all of this. I mean, not shaken as in, I'm scared – but, well, it's like I'm trying to adjust to this new kind of living. It's really different, living with you and mom, compared to how my life was back then. So different that I'm...kind of afraid that it might all go away one day."
Chara listened intently.
"I...I don't want to lose you. I don't want to lose mom, either. And, to be honest, I really do like going to school. I really like how everything's been working out for me. I'm just growing so attached to everything, and, if it were to all disappear one day, I wouldn't know what to do. I would, I would..."
To Frisk's surprise, Chara stood up from their seat, walked over to them, and hugged them tightly.
"Frisk. That's not going to happen."
"...Chara?"
"I know you're usually the one comforting me," Chara said. "But...I just can't stand seeing you like this. I never knew you felt so lonely inside. If I did, I'd have..."
"Chara, I said it's fine."
"Stop trying to be so strong, Frisk."
Chara stood back up. "Frisk. You've done so much for me, for mother, for my brother, for...every monster in this world, really. There's no reason for you to feel so scared and lonely. And, let me reassure you – I won't disappear from you, ever. To be honest...I think I really like you!" Chara's red cheeks became even redder. "So, don't be afraid. I'll be here for you, no matter what."
Frisk nodded slowly. Then, they stood up and returned Chara's hug.
"Thank you, Chara. I...I guess you're right. I really needed to hear that."
Chara patted Frisk's back softly.
"You're welcome."
Later in the afternoon, Frisk and Chara went window shopping around the marketplace. Every once in a while, Frisk would recognize a familiar monster, like Pyrope, and they would wave hello at them. They were also secretly hoping that they would find one of their old friends here. However, they knew that it was unlikely, as the market and its crowds were huge, and pinpointing a specific person amongst them was close to impossible. Perhaps only if they wore a very recognizable outfit, like Papyrus did.
They noticed that there was also a change in Chara's demeanour. In the morning, Chara had been reserved and anxious amongst the crowds of humans. Chara still seemed a bit nervous, but they no longer kept their head down as they walked, and they talked at their normal tone and pace. Their attitude, overall, had become remarkably more confident. It was probably due to the conversation that they had had earlier. Frisk was the one that needed some assurance now, and Chara was willing to make themselves bolder, and more positive, to make sure that they had fun together.
When they walked into a costumes store, Chara glanced around, before immediately heading into a section labelled "Horror."
Frisk remembered that humans had a celebration at the end of the tenth month where everyone dressed up in costumes. They had seen the celebration a few times, but had never participated in it. In any case, with the celebration being just a few weeks away, every piece of gear in the "Horror" section of this store was on sale, and Chara appeared ecstatic.
They grabbed and put on a long, flowing black coat that reminded Frisk of Asgore's cape. It was far too large for Chara's size, and half the coat fell onto the floor, but they didn't seem to care. Next, Chara put on a spiky crown and grabbed a toy weapon shaped like a scythe. They approached Frisk, grinning in a creepy way.
"Greetings. I am Chara, the demon that comes when people call its name," Chara said in a low and eerie tone. They raised their scythe up into the air. "It doesn't matter when. It doesn't matter where. Time after time, I will appear."
Chara handed Frisk the scythe, before grabbing a cap made of plastic bones and placing it on top of Frisk's head. Frisk blinked several times.
"And, with your help, we will eradicate the enemy and become strong!"
"Uh...Chara?"
"Now, partner," Chara continued. "Let us send this world back into the abyss."
Frisk didn't know whether to laugh or to play along. They grabbed the hat off of the top of their head and stared at it, feeling reminded of Sans. Then, they looked back at Chara and frowned sarcastically.
"I will not erase this world," Frisk replied.
"No...? Hmm...how curious. You must have misunderstood me." Chara made their creepy face again. "SINCE WHEN WERE YOU THE ONE IN CONTROL?"
Frisk braced themselves as Chara raised their arms and dashed at them.
They didn't know what to expect, but they certainly didn't foresee Chara giving them a surprise hug. A rather crushing hug, actually. Frisk felt Chara's arms wrap around their back and squeeze them so tightly that they thought they would burst. Then, Chara opened their mouth, still making that creepy smile, and leaned towards Frisk...only to kiss them lightly on the cheek.
"See? I'm a demon," Chara whispered into Frisk's ear. "A demon that loves you."
"Ah...thanks?"
Chara pulled away. "Come on. Help me decide on a better costume."
"Okay."
In the end, they didn't buy anything at all, as they thought that all of the costumes in the store were too "cliche, too 'monsters and skeletons and ghosts' and nothing 'truly abhorrent, ghastly, or psychologically scarring'." (Frisk had no idea what type of costume Chara was looking for, but they guessed it had something to do with all the horror games that they'd be playing recently – perhaps Alphys could make them a better costume to cosplay in)
When evening came, they visited a souvenir shop, where Frisk found a beautiful snow globe with a miniature model of the entire town in it. It was so accurate that Frisk thought it replicated exactly all the details that they remembered of that town, and they decided to buy it. Meanwhile, Chara bought a Tsundereplane action figure, complete with "tsundere lines voiced by Tsundereplane herself" (half of which are variations of "It's not like I did X for you or anything, b-b-baka!"), as well as a...Mettaton plushie?
"I didn't know you liked Mettaton," Frisk said, giving Chara a nudge on the side.
"It's not that I like him," Chara replied. "But all the monsters at school are crazy about Mettaton. When they see me with this plushie, they'll all be jealous!"
"That's..."
"Oh, should I get the rectangular box Mettaton or the Mettaton Ex?" Chara continued. "And what's this? It looks like Mettaton with a hand cannon and wings, but I've never seen Mettaton look this way before..."
"..."
"I think I'll just get the rectangular Mettaton-in-a-dress."
Finally, it was time to leave. Both were hungry, and Toriel had told them to come home for dinner, so they were eager to get going as quickly as possible.
On the train, Frisk was overcome with a sudden tiredness, and they discovered that they couldn't keep their eyes open for any longer. They rested their head against Chara's shoulder and their eyes grew weary as they listened to the sound of the train chugging on the tracks.
When they woke up, they found that they had fallen to the side, and their head was cradled nicely in Chara's lap. Chara was asleep, too.
Slowly, Frisk lifted up their head and looked out the window.
It was almost night time, and the train had just left the mountains and was about to cross over the bridge. Stars were twinkling in the blue night sky. There was a full moon shining brightly above the shapes of black mountains looming in the distance. Below, the light of the stars and the moon reflected upon the surface of the sea, creating a dazzling reflection of them, like a mirror to the sky. And, as their train sped past, they thought they could see – far, far away, the tip of Mount Ebott, towering above everything.
Frisk returned to their seat, feeling strangely content.
All in all, today was a good day. They realized that, perhaps, their spirit for adventure had been spent. Tonight, all they wanted to do was return to their room, curl up in their bed, and watch Chara play horror games until they wanted to sleep together again.
Author's Note: Happy new year, everyone!