Undyne munched on a bag of chisps while Alphys did her robotics-engineering-science-stuff. It was super cool, but Alphys wouldn't let her get close enough to the blowtorch zone to watch properly. It wasn't Undyne's fault she kept getting distracted by how cool and sexy her girlfriend looked in a welding helmet! And she'd only dropped the sheet of metal one time! There was barely a dent in it!

As much as she'd rather be helping Alphys build Flowey's body, her current task was important too. She was monitoring Alphys's phone while she was busy.

It was a harder job than it sounded. Since Undyne had forced her to take a break last night, the text messages had piled up worse than Sans's mailbox back in Snowdin. Some were human clients asking about tech repairs; Undyne made up an important monster holiday as an excuse for the delay. Alphys had probably forgotten about them in the middle of all the chaos. Undyne wasn't about to stress her by bringing it up.

Some other messages weren't as easy to push off.

Hatsune Miku Wannabe: Hellooooo Alphys darling

Hatsune Miku Wannabe: Papyrus tells me you're quite busy

Hatsune Miku Wannabe: And I would never want to interrupt you when you're working on something important. I know how it feels to be in a creative flow you know

Undyne rolled her eyes.

Me: what do you want mtt

Hatsune Miku Wannabe: :( Rude. Is that any way to talk to your amazing and glamorous best friend who you haven't seen in a month?

Me: Papyrus is my best friend

Hatsune Miku Wannabe: Hello Undyne.

Me: if youre not dying then alphys is busy

Hatsune Miku Wannabe: this was actually important.

Undyne peeked around the wall into the lab. Sparks were flying, cuss words were flowing, and Undyne was pretty sure the metal was melting. Was that supposed to happen?

Me: youre gonna have to give me more details than that

Hatsune Miku Wannabe: Can you hear me sighing? I'm sighing right now. Dramatically. While Papyrus feeds me pancakes.

Me: go flirt with your bf instead of liveblogging it dude

Hatsune Miku Wannabe: Undyne! Wow! We're texting each other from our significant others' phones!

Me: Papyrus?

Hatsune Miku Wannabe: Undyne!

Me: PAPYRUS!

Hatsune Miku Wannabe: UNDYNE! BD

Hatsune Miku Wannabe: Mettaton is telling me to tell you that he really really needs to talk to Alphys.

Me: shes working on floweys body right now. says she cant do anything else for you and your brother til some computer finishes running. Idk its all nerd stuff to me lol

Hatsune Miku Wannabe: It's okay! Sans had a breakthrough about that last night, but it can wait. Mettaton is panicking and I think he might choke on a pancake if he doesn't talk to Alphys and I would really really like that to not happen.

Undyne sighed heavily.

Me: FINE. But you have five minutes and then i'm taking the phone from her and hurling it into the dumpster!

Hatsune Miku Wannabe: Please do not do that?

Undyne laughed and knocked on the wall of the lab.

"Yo, babe! Don't freak out!"

Saying 'don't freak out' didn't help when just the sound of her voice startled Alphys. She nearly dropped the welding torch on her foot.

"Wh-what? Why am I not freaking out?" She flipped up her mask, revealing her squinting eyes. Man, she was adorable.

"Mettaton and Papyrus need to talk to you. I told 'em you were busy, but they said it was really important." Undyne held out the pink phone.

"It's okay. I should probably take a break anyway. I can talk to them while we eat lunch."

"Great! Feeding two birds with one stone!"

"Uh, I think it's, um, killing two birds…"

"Pff, why would I ever want to kill a bird?"

Undyne cooked lunch while Alphys psyched herself up for the phone call. Well, Undyne took some leftover pizza out of the hotfridge and threw some bagged salad in a bowl. Alphys needed some nutrients after a hard morning of work!

By the time Undyne set their places at the bar, Alphys was nowhere to be found.

"Alphys? Babe?" Undyne stuck her head out of the kitchen. Dang, Alphys's house was too big. Undyne couldn't hear her anywhere, no matter which direction she twitched her ear fins.

Oh well. She'd already set a timer on her phone; if Alphys wasn't back in five minutes, then Undyne would engage the fire safety alarms to interrupt the call.

She just hoped Mettaton wasn't giving Alphys too hard of a time. Undyne had thought he'd just broken a nail or something, but Papyrus had sounded serious. Why did everyone need Alphys's help all at once? Her girlfriend was brilliant, but she couldn't do everything. If Alphys burned herself out again…

Undyne just hoped her support would be enough to prevent that.

"S-sorry! Is the pizza cold…?" Alphys said when she trailed back in. Surprisingly, she looked happier than before she'd taken the call.

"What happened? Is Mettaton proposing? Wait, is Papyrus proposing? Why didn't he tell me!"

"No one's proposing!" Alphys set her phone on the counter. "Mettaton said I could tell you. He's finally coming out! He's going to talk to Napstablook, then tell everyone during a chainsaw fight on his TV show! I always knew he'd do something overdramatic like that..."

Undyne's brow furrowed. "Wait, what's he coming out as? We all know he's gay and ace. Does he like girls too now?"

"No!" Alphys laughed and grabbed Undyne's hands, swinging her arms around like a little kid. It was so cute Undyne almost kissed her, but Alphys kept talking. "He's a trans ghost! Well, he was a ghost, before I built a robot body for him—anyway, I don't have to lie and pretend I invented him anymore!"

"Wow." Undyne blinked. "That makes so much more sense. There's no way you'd build a robot that annoying on purpose."

Alphys laughed again before pulling Undyne down for a kiss.

Undyne didn't really care about Mettaton's personal life, but if it made Alphys kiss her like this, Undyne hoped he came out every day.

XXX

After lunch and a few episodes of Robo Smooch Smash, Alphys went back to work on Flowey's body. Undyne went back to work on Alphys's messages. There were several new ones from Frisk and Chara's phone; Undyne really hoped that Flowey wasn't requesting any insane changes to his body. Though Undyne had to admit, the laser cannon arm idea was pretty sick. It was too bad Toriel would never let Alphys actually build it.

Human Niblings: Aunt Alphys? This is Chara.

Me: Hey kid! its your favorite aunt here :D

Human Niblings: Mew Mew is my favorite aunt.

Me: D: YOURE GONNA REGRET THAT PUNK

Human Niblings: You're our favorite little sister :)

Undyne snort-laughed at that. Every once in a while Chara and Flowey would insist that because Asgore practically adopted Undyne, she was their sister. Every time Undyne thought they had forgotten about the running gag, they brought it up again.

It wasn't too bad. Undyne had never had siblings before, "older" or otherwise.

Me: as long as youre still in frisks body im big enough to suplex you!

There was no emoji that conveyed the emotion of lovingly suplexing your family. Undyne should ask Alphys to program one… when Alphys was less busy, of course.

Human Niblings: (this is frisk) hEY one day ill suplex u 2. and chara. and flowey 2 be safe

Human Niblings: (chara again.) Undyne you have to teach us how to suplex. So we can settle who is the best suplexer once and for all

Undyne grinned. She'd like to see them try to suplex her!

Me: HECK YEAH! it'll have to wait though. keeping alph company so she remembers to eat n stuff

Human Niblings: Right. Sorry we are keeping her so busy.

Me: nah she loves it! Its been a while since she built a robot and i think shes gotta do that every few months or shell like, explode or something

Me: she's building you one too right? whats yours gonna look like?

The phone was silent in Undyne's hands for a few long moments. Then the … of Chara typing appeared and disappeared several times.

Human Niblings: Promise you won't make fun of me.

Me: dude what would I make fun of you for. youre already the second coolest nerd I know. If anything ill tell you to add more lasers

Human Niblings: Mom won't let us have lasers.

Me: i know! How lame is THAT!

Human Niblings: Very Lame! Azzy wishes he didn't show her his body plans. He thinks he could have snuck the lasers in.

Human Niblings: (frisk) he wouldnt moms 2 smart

Human Niblings: (Chara)we're with Dad right now. We have something for Aunt Alphys. Coming to the lab so we'll see you soon.

Me: ok kid

Me: I bet your dad would let you have lasers

Human Niblings: azzy tried. No lasers or deadly spikes. Ultra lame but azzy will live

Human Niblings: literally. Ha

Undyne chuckled and pocketed the phone before telling Alphys that Asgore and the kids were stopping by. Alphys looked confused, but it was hard to tell under her helmet.

Hopefully whatever surprise the kids had was worth interrupting her for.

XXX

"Dude. Since when do you have a shedding problem?" Undyne asked when Asgore and Frisk dragged in two trashbags full of white fur.

"None of your business, little sis," Flowey said from inside Frisk's backpack.

Undyne rolled her eye. "Is getting a new body going to fix your attitude problem?"

Frisk set down their trash bag and signed "Probably not."

She laughed, and Flowey stuck his face over Frisk's shoulder.

"Hey. Quit signing where I can't see you."

"Kids." Asgore laughed, his eyes twinkling with affection. No matter how bratty they could be, he'd love them unconditionally. Undyne hoped she'd be the same way when she and Alphys eventually had kids. "I have been collecting my fur for quite some time, and I shaved a little extra today. It is for Flowey's new body."

Undyne stared at the bags. "That's sweet? I guess?"

How long had he known that Flowey wanted a new body? Alphys had only found out a couple of days ago, and she'd barely slept since.

He just laughed again. "How is Doctor Alphys? I trust you are taking good care of her."

"I'm trying to! I meant it when I told the kids she's really busy, though. I can't help her with the science stuff. Unless she needs me to blow something up." She frowned.

Frisk tugged on the hem of her tank top to get her attention.

"Flowey and Chara know it might take a long time," they signed. "Dad wanted to pay Aunt Alphys before she starts though."

"It's the least I can do for all of her hard work," Asgore said.

Undyne wouldn't argue with that. She figured Alphys wouldn't either.

Undyne led Asgore and the kids up the escalator to the lab area. Frisk signed something to Asgore that Undyne didn't quite catch, and he took the backpack with Flowey in it. The backpack looked hilariously tiny in Asgore's massive paw.

"Frisk?" Flowey blinked down at them. "Chara?"

"We just need to talk to Undyne for a minute," Frisk signed. "It's a surprise."

"It better not be a stupid one," Flowey grumbled, but let Asgore carry him into the lab.

"What's up, punk?" Undyne asked.

Frisk fished a pendant out from under their pink floral shirt—they must have wanted to match their dad. It was pretty cute. The necklace didn't look like Chara's usual one, though. Was that why they kept rubbing the key-shaped pendant between their fingers?

"Chara?" She tried again. Whichever kid she was talking to, they looked lost in thought.

Finally they let go of the necklace, but still signed.

"Sorry. This is hard for Chara."

Undyne crouched down to their level. She still had no idea what was going on, but she knew a hurting heart when she saw one.

"Whatever's bugging you, you can tell your favorite sister." Undyne grinned.

That got a small laugh out of them. They bit their lip, but then finally spoke.

"It's about my body," Chara said quietly. Undyne was lucky Alphys had stopped working in the other room, or Undyne wouldn't have been able to hear them.

"What about it?" she prompted. "I already promised I won't make fun of you."

"Right." Chara still looked uncertain. They touched the necklace again before forcing their hands to their sides. "I know Aunt Alphys won't finish it for a while, but she needs to know what I want to look like. Azzy knows exactly what he wants, even if Mom won't let him have it. But I…"

They trailed off with a huff.

"You don't want to look like you used to?" Undyne asked, and Chara flinched. "Nevermind. Stupid question. You're not the same kid you were before… yeah."

Geez, how was she supposed to help them? Just because she knew they were hurting didn't mean she knew how to fix it. It wasn't like anyone had experience with kids coming back to life a hundred years after they died.

"I can have pretty much any body I want. I know Aunt Alphys can do it," Chara said. "I've looked like Frisk for so long, though. What if everyone expects me to keep looking like them? To keep looking…" Their gaze flickered to their hands, "human?"

"Huh." Undyne sat back on her heels, crossing her arms over her knees. She hadn't expected Chara to care what people thought. But to look completely different? To be something completely different? It had to be scary.

"Do you not wanna be human anymore?"

Chara shrugged. "I don't know. Humans kind of suck… except Frisk, I guess." They smirked. "I want to be something cooler. Something like…"

"Like me, right?" Undyne joked while flexing.

"I want to look like my brother," they finally blurted. "But his body—it's from a game we used to play as kids. He thinks I want to look like my character too, but I don't. I can't."

Chara spoke so quickly, it took Undyne a moment to process.

"You think he won't let you steal his OC? Knowing the little weed, he'd probably be flattered."

"It's not just that." Chara gripped the necklace again. If it was supposed to be a comforting habit, it didn't seem to be working. "I can't tell him why I can't use my own character. I've never been able to tell him. It's complicated and stupid and Frisk says I should just tell him, but I can't, we can't tell anyone—"

"Hey." Undyne leaned forward on her knees and squeezed the kid in a hug. "What did I tell you? You can tell your little sister anything."

"Not this," Chara muttered. "Especially not this."

That hurt Undyne like a spear to the gut. Chara always seemed to trust her before. Whatever this was had to be bigger than some game they used to play with Asriel.

"Okay. Don't tell me. But if it's hurting you this much—tell someone, okay?" She pulled back, holding Chara by the shoulders so she could stare into their eyes.

She loved Chara. She loved Frisk. Jokes aside, they were her family. She wouldn't sit back and do nothing while they suffered.

"You remember how much better Alphys felt after she told us her secrets?" she said. "She was afraid we were going to hate her. But we didn't! And now she's my girlfriend! Fuhuhuhu!"

"I know. Frisk and I helped get you guys together." Chara's lips twitched into a smile. "Actually… you're right. If anyone would understand, it's Aunt Alphys."

They looked up, a familiar determination shining in their brown eyes.

"Frisk and I will talk to her."

"Heck yeah you will!" Undyne smacked their back. She hadn't expected them to agree so easily, or to pick Alphys of all their family members to confide in, but at least they were going to talk to someone. Sometimes good guardsmanship—and siblingship—was knowing when to delegate to someone else.

If only Alphys could delegate her work to someone else. Would she be able to handle Chara's problems on top of everything else?

She probably could. Alphys was stronger than anyone gave her credit for. And if not, she could at least tell Undyne once she found out what Chara's problem actually was.

One way or another, they would all keep each other safe.