With classes over for the window holidays, Frisk found themselves spending most of their days reading to themselves. Chara had nothing to do after lunch, so they just lounged on the couch in their living room. Frisk would lie beside them and read.

"Why can't you be more productive, like Frisk?" Asriel spoke up one day.

Chara threw their head back and looked at Asriel, who was in his pot on a desk. "I don't want to do anything."

"You could help out Alphys with her research."

"What could I do?"

"If you can't help her with the timelines stuff, maybe you can work on helping me get my body and soul back?"

A frown appeared on Chara's face, but they didn't say anything in reply.

"Chara?" Asriel said again.

"...Leave me alone."

Later, Frisk felt themselves needing some warmth. The room was heated to a supposedly comfortable twenty-three degrees Celsius, but, for some reason, they still felt cold. Chara wouldn't turn the thermostat up any higher. With a sly smile, Frisk laid their head down into Chara's lap and began reading while lying there.

To their surprise, Chara didn't say anything in response. They looked drowsy, but their eyes were open.

Frisk cuddled up close to Chara.

"...Frisk."

"Yeah?"

"Let me hug you."

That was surprising, but Frisk complied. They put down their book and sat up. They leaned towards Chara and wrapped their arms around them. The warmth of another human being's body was so pleasant and reassuring. They leaned their head against Chara's, feeling the contact of skin against smooth skin. A deep breath of the scent of buttercups. These were the moments that they wished would last forever.

"Frisk."

"Yes?"

"I...I'm at fault again, aren't I?"

Frisk pulled away just slightly, so that they could look into Chara's eyes. Chara had a look of concern written all over their face.

"What's wrong?"

"The timelines thing," Chara began in an anxious tone of voice. "You know...with that Genocide Frisk."

"What about it?"

Chara lowered their eyes. "Where...where do you think I am in that timeline? Or any of the other timelines?"

"I don't know."

"Come on. You know what I'm talking about."

"Chara, I really don't understand."

They sighed, but their expression just became sadder. Frisk felt Chara's grip on them grow stronger, and they were pulled closer. Chara was so warm.

"If it's anyone's fault that Genocide Frisk behaved the way that they did, it's mine," Chara whispered. "Frisk. You're such a sweet, gentle person. You couldn't possibly have gone around killing everybody of your own volition. The only reason why you must have done that, in that timeline...the only reason must be because I told you to. And you listened to me. You...you remember how I was like at first, right? You know. What you did in that timeline was exactly what I had been telling you to do. I told you to murder everyone."

"I don't think so," Frisk replied. It was a possibility, but they were far from convinced. "If I didn't agree to murder everyone in this timeline when you told me to, why would I do that in any other timeline?"

"Because...because maybe I was harsher. Maybe I was threatening you, and I made you do it."

"No. I doubt that that Frisk would have gone so far as to kill every person in the entirety of the underground just because you were threatening them. I think...when I saw them in the simulation, they looked like they were smiling. Somehow, they were satisfied with all their murdering."

"...Yeah, and that would've been me, too, if you hadn't shown me how to be better."

Frisk caressed Chara's back gently. They placed a hand beneath Chara's chin, lifted their head, and looked into their eyes.

"No. It wasn't your fault. The only person that could be responsible for murdering everybody is myself. The other me, I mean, in that timeline."

"But...but why would they be so different than you are now?"

"I don't know," Frisk said, shaking their head. "It's not easy to figure something like that out."

"So, I'm the only culprit."

"No. Until we have more information, we can't jump to any conclusions. And, you know...what does it matter, Chara? How we behaved in another timeline has no bearing on who we are right now. I don't care about what kind of person you or I could've become."

Chara's expression softened. There was still a melancholic look in their eyes, and they appeared sad in a thoughtful way.

"You say that so easily," Chara said at last.

"I mean it."

"Well, I'm worried. I'm worried that I could become like that again one day."

Frisk laid their hands on Chara's shoulders. "You won't."

"How would you know?"

"Because I believe in you. I think you've always been a good person at heart."

Chara looked like they were going to cry.

"It's...it's not like that," Chara said, sniffing. "I haven't always been such a good person. And, and – there are things that could happen, things that could turn me like...like how I was back then again."

"What kind of things?"

Frisk glanced behind them, wondering if Asriel was listening in on their conversation. There was no face on the flower in the pot right now, but Asriel was probably just hiding.

"Things like..." Chara's words trailed off. They looked back up at Frisk. Their eyes were wet.

"Things like losing you."

Frisk became frozen.

"And, what if someone out there came and tried to kill you?" Chara continued. "I...I wouldn't be able to hold back. I'd kill them immediately. I don't care if it's a stranger or if it's Genocide Frisk, I'll just stab them. And...I'm afraid I won't be able to stop. If I lost you, I might...I might just kill everyone."

"Chara..."

"I don't want to lose you, Frisk."

"You won't." Frisk tried to smile in a cheerful way. "I know it sounds strange, but I can't really die, right? If I'm close to death, I'll just wish really, really hard that I could go back in time and change things, and then everything will get reset. That's how it's always been."

"You...haven't reset in a while, though."

"That's because I haven't needed to."

Chara remained silent.

"Hey, you know what?" Frisk said. "We actually haven't gone on a date for a while. How about we go again?"

A flicker of a smile reappeared upon Chara's face. They sniffed again, and then wiped at their eyes. "Really, Frisk? A date, now?"

"Why not? It's the holidays. We've got tons of free time."

"...All right, fine." Chara laughed quietly. "Yeah. I've been waiting for you to ask me out."

They went to the city's downtown shopping mall, which was bustling at this time of the year. There was even a little amusement park set up at the mall's entrance, with rides, games, and food. Chara wanted to buy clothing, so they went into the mall first.

Frisk had expected the mall to be full of people, but even they felt astounded by the size of the crowd. Everywhere they looked, they saw a sea of people, with a few monsters interspersed amongst them. It was noisy and chaotic. They noticed Chara putting on an indifferent face, though Chara was clearly anxious. The two of them went quickly into a clothing shop where there was relatively less people.

"Are they serious?" Chara said, taking out a shirt containing a picture of Mettaton with the words 'MTT-Brand Glamour' written on it. "Who would ever want to buy this?"

"Actually, that's one of the most popular shirts we have," the storekeeper, a cat monster, said. He put on a giant smile that reeked of fake happiness. "Also, you're in the 'monster clothing' section, little buddy. Should I direct you to the 'human clothing' section?"

This particular monster looked quite familiar to Frisk. It came to them a moment later.

"Burgerpants!" Frisk exclaimed. "I didn't know you worked here!"

A strong blush came over the cat monster's face. He looked petrified, as if the name that Frisk had called him had triggered some horrible memory.

"Hey. Don't call me that, little buddy," Burgerpants said, leaning down towards Frisk. "I have a name you know. It's...ugh. Never mind."

Chara looked back and forth between Frisk and the cat monster. "You know him?"

"Yeah. I met him at the MTT Hotel back in the underground," Frisk replied.

"Well. Isn't it nice to meet old friends again?" Burgerpants said, putting on his giant fake smile again. It was hard to tell whether or not he was being sarcastic. "So, who's this little fella here?"

"Don't call me 'little fella'," Chara retorted.

The smile disappeared into a remorseful expression. "Ooops. My bad."

"That's my friend, Chara," Frisk said, smiling warmly.

Chara glared at Burgerpants, but then softened their expression. "Nice to meet you...Burgerpants."

Burgerpants cringed. "Nice to meet you, too...Chara."

Frisk tried to strike up a casual conversation to lighten the mood. "So, how's life going for you?"

"Life? It's great!" Somehow, Burgerpants' cringe became even larger. "I got out of the underground after the barrier broke down, hoping to redeem myself by finding a new acting career. Mettaton became a star amongst the humans almost immediately, so I was hoping that I could follow in his footsteps! And, well, you see..."

His face retreated into that morose expression again.

"You see, the humans' film industry doesn't really care about us monsters," Burgerpants continued. "They just want to cast us as extras, or as villains. Why go through the trouble of creating props or CGI when you can just hire a bunch of monsters to pose as the cast of whatever fantasy species you want in your movie? But, no, of course we can't actually be the protagonists of your story. No, no, why would anyone go to the theatres to watch a CAT MONSTER instead of a human?"

"Haven't monsters starting creating their own film industry?" Frisk mentioned.

"You mean the industry that's COMPLETELY DOMINATED by everything and anything Mettaton?" His cringe was back, stronger than ever. "That's the very kind of life I had been trying to escape! Why would I go back to it now that I'm on the surface, where there's plenty of other opportunities for me elsewhere?"

Burgerpants calmed down. "...Oh, right. There's tons of opportunities, all right. Not!"

Chara appeared both confused as well as mildly amused by Burgerpants' erratically changing facial expressions. They giggled, and then turned away.

"See ya, little buddy," Burgerpants said, putting on their giant smile one more time. "Whatever you do, don't become like me."

"Have you...tried finding other types of employment?" Frisk asked.

"Maybe I would...if I had any experience doing something other than being a store waiter," he said in a defeated voice. "Times are hard. I've gotta stick with whatever I have."

Frisk gave them a sympathetic look.

"I hope you can do better than me, little buddy," he said, smiling. There was still that acerbic tinge to his smile, but there was a hint of sincerity in his expression well. Sincerity, and also a slight bit of defeat.

"Okay. I'll see you," Frisk said, turning away to catch up with Chara.

Their conversation made Frisk wonder, as they left the store, what they were going to be once they grew up. Most likely, they'd go to university and get a degree in some subject. But which one? History? Politics? Sociology?

Perhaps they would become a teacher, like Toriel. They felt that they could be a good history teacher. But they also wanted to do research. Maybe they could become an archaeologist, or a curator. Or, they could work as a monster sociologist, studying and recording and analyzing the bilateral effects that monsters returning to the surface had on both human and monster society. If they worked hard, they could even become a professor at a university.

"Chara," Frisk asked. "Have you ever thought about what you'd want to be when you grow older?"

"...Not particularly," Chara answered, sounding uninterested.

"Well, I was just thinking about that. I think I'd want to either a teacher or a monster sociology researcher."

Chara looked at Frisk and smiled. "I think you'd be a wonderful teacher."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Just like mother."

Frisk rolled their eyes. "...Thank you."

The next shop that they went into was an antiques store, which was owned by a pair of monsters. Upon entering, Frisk immediately recognized the two monsters standing behind the counter.

"Hey!" Frisk called, waving at them. "Hi, Bratty and Catty."

"Oh my god, it's the human!" Bratty said, chuckling to herself.

"Come on, Bratty," Catty said. "Their name's Frisk. It's not like being human is like, special anymore or anything."

"I know, Catty," Bratty replied. "But, like, when we were underground, they were, like, THE human, you know?"

Catty giggled. "Yeah, you're right. I guess, like, that's what we'll always remember you as, Frisk!"

Chara glanced at the two monsters curiously.

"So who's, like, your new friend?" Catty asked, gesturing at Chara with a paw.

"That's Chara," Frisk answered.

Chara waved at the two monsters. "...Hi?"

"Wow, they look so like you, Frisk," Bratty said, giggling. "Are they like, your twin or sibling or something?"

"Umm, no!" Chara replied, putting on a flustered smile. "Frisk and I are...uh, friends."

"Datefriends," Frisk added, grinning.

"Oh my god, are the two of you here on a date?" Catty put a paw in front of her mouth and giggled even more. "Actually, I TOTALLY see it!"

"They're so into each other, they have, like, the same hair and sweater and everything!" Bratty exclaimed. "Catty, you know what?"

"Yeah, Bratty?"

"I think they're, like, PERFECT for each other."

"Like, me too, and stuff!"

Chara was blushing heavily. "Ummm...right."

"Just let us browse for a bit, okay?" Frisk said, still smiling.

Frisk felt Chara grabbing their hand and pulling them away from the counter...and out the store.

"Are you friends with every monster in this mall?" Chara asked.

"I did make friends with almost everyone in the underground," Frisk replied. "Some of them remember me better than others, I guess."

Chara sighed. "I guess I should've expected that."

They spent the rest of their time in the mall window shopping, which turned out to be less exciting of a date than Frisk had anticipated it to be. There were too many people in the mall, and Chara seemed like they just wanted to spend some time with Frisk alone. As evening approached, the number of people in the amusement park outside of the mall grew less, so they decided to have a visit.

"Nice cream! Get your nice cream here!" A vendor was shouting out.

It was another familiar face. Frisk approached the blue-furred bunny monster and waved hello at him.

"Hey! You're Frisk!" The nice cream vendor said in response. "How're you doing?"

"Good," Frisk replied. "How's business going for you?"

"It's better than it's ever been in the underground!" he exclaimed. "Who knew that humans liked having nice 'jokes' in their ice cream so much? All of them look so cheerful when they read it!"

Frisk laughed. "They're very heartwarming to read."

"Well, I was honestly expecting them to laugh instead..."

Chara walked up beside Frisk.

"So! Would you like some nice cream? Just for you, I'll give you a discount!"

"Sure!" Frisk said, taking out their VC (virtual coins) card from their wallet.

They bought a vanilla nice cream cone for themselves and a chocolate cone for Chara. After, they decided to line up for the Ferris Wheel ride.

Chara opened up the message wrapped inside their nice cream cone.

"You look nice today!" They read it aloud. A smile started to appear on their face.

"You do look nice," Frisk said, winking at Chara.

Chara leaned towards Frisk and gave them a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thanks. What does yours say?"

Frisk stuffed their note into their pocket. "I'll tell you later."

"Huh?"

"Just trust me!"

The line for the ride was long, and they had to stand out in the cold. Frisk huddled closely beside Chara to keep warm. When they reached the front of the line, they stepped into a seat and sat down, holding each others' hands. The wheel turned, and they gradually started to go up while the other passengers boarded.

Frisk turned to look at Chara and smiled. "Let's enjoy this ride."

Chara's expression grew strangely sad again.

"Chara?"

"Frisk...sometimes, I don't know how to express myself," Chara whispered.

"What do you mean?"

Chara reached for Frisk's hand again. "I mean...I couldn't have ever imagined before that my life was going to turn out like this. Going on dates with you. Living with Alphys. Being alive."

They turned their head up, looking at the sky, as their seat in the ferris wheel ascended.

"Do you not like it?" Frisk asked.

"No! Th-that's not what I meant!"

Chara leaned their head against Frisk's shoulder.

"I just feel so grateful," they whispered. "Grateful to have someone like you."

"Chara..."

They were almost to the top of the ferris wheel. Frisk looked out of their seat to their right, observing the sights below.

At night, the city was alit with bright and colourful lights. Only the sky above them was dark, with few stars in sight, and the moon tonight was hidden. Below, the city streets continued to bustle with activity. Crowds of people, both human and monster, filled the sidewalks. The roads were an eternal stream of cars and buses. It was a beautiful sort of activity – beautiful to watch, because they felt as if they were an observer of life itself. They were observing life in its honest business, of people getting by simply through living day after day. Etched in everybody's footsteps was their daily joys, their worries, and their sadnesses. They were watching the progress of people, the making of history.

And here they were, sitting with Chara, going through their daily life, just like everyone else.

A chilly wind blew past them. Frisk felt the urge to cuddle with Chara. They took out the note that they had hidden in their pocket.

"Love yourself," Frisk whispered into Chara's ear. "I love you!"

"Frisk?"

Frisk leaned in towards them and kissed.

They held the kiss for a while, enjoying the intimacy of having this moment alone together. Here, in their seat at the top of the ferris wheel, nothing could distract them. All they had was each other. They shared in each other's warmth, they shared in each other's comfort, and they shared in each other's love.

Frisk leaned their body closer to Chara's and wrapped their arms around them so that they were hugging. As they kissed, Frisk closed their eyes.

"...Frisk," Chara said, pulling away suddenly. "I don't deserve this."

"What are you saying?"

"I...I told you. I'm not a very good person. I don't deserve someone like you."

"Don't say that. We kissed before, and you didn't mind then."

Chara turned their eyes away. "I guess...I'm just embarrassed right now."

"Of what? I doubt anybody's watching."

There was a deep blush on Chara's face. "...There could be."

"I'd politely request them to turn away, then."

Chara giggled. "Frisk. You're...you're too good for me."

"You're the one that I like."

Frisk leaned in for a kiss again. Chara reciprocated, more gently this time. They hugged Chara tightly, comforted by their warm presence. Chara was soft, and their hair smelled so nice. They nuzzled up against Chara's cheek, savouring the feeling of close, cozy affection.

They started to get into the kiss, just like on that night during their previous date. Chara's lips were tender, and it felt so good to kiss them. They put their hand around Chara's neck, gently stroking them. Chara gasped when Frisk added their tongue to the kiss. But, in spite of their surprise, Chara held on, and Frisk nuzzled in closer. They moved their hands down to Chara's back and waist and held them tightly. In return, Chara held Frisk in their lap, gripping their back and shoulders.

The warmth of their hug and the intimacy of their kiss made Frisk shudder. Chara kissed back with their tongue as well, and now their lips were wet. This was their first time doing it this way, but Frisk enjoyed it even more than before. It was passionate and sensual. They opened their eyes again and looked into Chara's. Their red eyes were so beautiful. Their blush made them so adorable.

Slowly, they breathed in and exhaled. The feeling of Chara's lips had filled them with such a deep ardor for them. They wanted to have it again. When they went in for the next kiss, they felt themselves trembling with desire and with fondness. Their lips touched, and they began kissing again. Chara was fully compliant this time. This kiss was long and soft and pleasant.

They kissed until they felt the ferris wheel moving again. It was moving fully this time, and so they were going to go back down soon. Frisk pulled away and shuddered at the feeling of having Chara's warmth leave them.

"..."

"I really hope no one was looking at us," Chara whispered.

"Don't worry," Frisk replied. They didn't know what else to say but that.

To get back to the laboratory, they took the subway. It was packed with people, but as they went further away from the city centre, the number of people gradually diminished. Eventually, they were able to get a seat.

Frisk was tired from their adventure today. Chara looked even more exhausted, and within minutes, they had already fallen asleep. Frisk felt Chara's head slowly fall onto their shoulder. They smiled and let Chara rest that way.

The station stop inside the city's monster community was near the end of the subway line. Frisk tapped Chara on the shoulder when they arrived.

"Come on. Let's go," they said.

Chara opened their eyes and blinked. They quickly lifted their head off Frisk's shoulder and stood up. "Ummm...okay."

"Don't worry about it, Chara."

"I'm not!" They were already blushing again.

Outside, they walked up the stairs to street level. Their laboratory was just a few blocks away.

It was cold, and Frisk walked closely beside Chara for their warmth.

When they reached their laboratory, they were surprised to find Alphys waiting for them at the entrance. Their chauffeur and his taxi was there as well.

Frisk became worried when they saw the tense expression on Alphys' face.

"We can't go b-back to your room tonight," Alphys said immediately upon meeting them.

"Huh? Why not?" Chara asked.

Frisk glanced behind Alphys's shoulder. The inside of the building was a roar of activity. People and monsters were running around, shouting. A few human guards sprinted past the lobby, guns in hand.

A strong feeling of apprehension crept into their mind. Looking at Chara, they saw that their face had turned white.

"Follow me," Alphys said.

Alphys went into the taxi, and Frisk and Chara stepped into the back seat.

"Where are we going?" Frisk asked.

"To c-campus," Alphys replied.

"Why?!" Chara demanded.

"It...it might be safer than here," Alphys answered. "At least, I hope."