We lived, bitch. Review time.

FixerDT: Glad to finally be able to deliver, lol.
XelaZigity: He does.
XWolf26: We adore seeing you spot little details and think about this shit in as obsessive detail as we do. TwT

Not gonna bother with the disclaimer, shit's called Fanfiction for a reason, and if you're 17 chapters in and don't know where we got the foundation for this story, uhhh...skill issue? Anyways, storytime.

Chara shivered as they walked down the snow-covered main road of their sleepy little town, pointedly ignoring what few stares followed them as they went. While they walked, they created a mental checklist of all the traps they had to set back up. Nighttime was best for it, seeing as few if any monsters were out in the forest at this time. They didn't want to make anyone nervous. They realized they didn't need the traps anymore in light of what they'd learned, but old habits die hard. It also gave them some space to cool off after the heated argument they'd had with Cter, which they found themself thinking back to as their feet carried them on autopilot.

Chapter 17: Stress in the Energy
"I'm kinda all fucked up right now myself, my buddy friend guy pal."

The atmosphere inside their quaint little house was oppressive as Chara stared Cter down in the living room, while their roommate refused to meet their eyes. Chara's thoughts were a jumbled mess as they struggled to process all they'd learned in such a short amount of time. They needed answers, but asking him directly would only give him room to deflect and avoid giving a straight answer. They had a better idea.

"Marian and Frisk told me about the resets." The way Cter's eyes briefly widened before he could school his expression spoke volumes. "...so all that was true?"

Cter hesitated before nodding, his expression becoming uncharacteristically serious. "...yeah. Yeah it is." As Chara swallowed the lump in their throat they couldn't tell if it was concern for their roommate, the future, or both.

"Is this the first time I've found out?" They asked, even though they had a feeling they already knew the answer.

"As far as I know, yeah. Wouldn't be surprised if Gaster told you what was going on last go-around, given how fucked things were." Cter admitted with a shrug, his face an impassive mask.

"..." Chara didn't bother asking why he'd never tried to talk to them about what he was going through. He'd always been cagey about such things, and the absurdity of the situation certainly didn't help matters. They shook their head to clear the pointless train of thought. There'd be time to dwell on what-ifs and the like later, for now they needed a plan. "What are we going to do about the kids?"

Cter blinked and stared at them as if they'd grown a third head. "Stick to the script, what else?"

Chara scoffed, "You can't be serious. They know that we're aware of what's going on, we can't just ignore all of that and act like nothing's wrong."

"Sure we can. I do it all the time." Cter replied while strolling over to the kitchen.

"Cter that's ridiculous, after everything they've gone through those kids need our help." Chara's brow furrowed as they followed him and watched him rummage through the fridge.

"One of those kids has done this entire charade more times than either of us could count, and if the other's anything like me she'll manage just fine." Cter continued to pull out some leftovers and slip them into the microwave, seemingly barely paying attention to Chara while they talked.

"Cter, if you'd seen what I saw in that cave you'd know damn well that's nonsense. Marian and Frisk nearly killed each other after she dropped that ink thing-"

"And? It's not like it'd stick if they did. If they've still got beef it'd be better for them to get it out of their system before they head towards Waterfall anyways." Cter shrugged, and Chara could scarcely recognize the cold expression on his face.

It was their turn to stare at him like he'd grown extra extremities. "Are you even listening to yourself?"

"Are you? Look, you have no idea how delicate the situation is. If we got involved and changed too much, we could just end up needing to go through even more resets until they can manage to get their shit together and manage a True Pacifist ending. I'll pass." Cter scoffed.

"Maybe I'd understand if you'd bother to actually explain things for once instead of brushing everything off!" Chara snapped.

"Were you listening to a word I just said? Changing more shit's a bad idea, our best bet is to stick to the script an-"

"Shit's already changed, Angel! I don't know what you're expecting out of them but I doubt either of them are in any state to give it right now! Whatever happened last reset, it clearly left a mark, and unless you want to risk things going wrong later, they need our help!"

Cter met their glare with one of his own as the pair stood in a contemplative silence that was only broken by the sound of the microwave going off.

"...fuck it…fine," he eventually sighed, "what do you suggest we do? I don't know about you, but I'm not exactly a therapist."

Chara rolled their eyes, "You don't have to be, you ass. We just need to try talking to them about what's bothering them. I'll handle talking to Frisk, and you can talk to Marian."

"Okay, I can kinda see your logic with wanting to be the one to talk to Frisk, but why do I have to talk to pinky?" Cter arched a brow, looking less than pleased with his lot.

"Don't think I haven't realized now how you managed to beat me back then, cheating bastard." Chara replied. They'd connected the dots between the kids' story about save files and the suspicious way Cter had seemed to have the perfect answer for every twist and turn in their fight all those years ago.

"Dunno what you're talkin' about, Char-bear, sounds like someone's just a sore loser." Cter grinned, winking and sitting down at their cheaply made kitchen table. "If I did though, hypothetically speaking, I guess I could see your point. Maybe."

Chara groaned and turned to leave, grabbing their bag of tools on the way out. "Fine, be that way, I'm going to go work on my traps."

Chara was stirred from their thoughts by the sight of a familiar, exhausted looking face heading their way. Marian looked like shit, which just reinforced Chara's belief in their plan. Neither she nor Frisk were in any state to go charging off into the rest of the underground.

"O-Oh, uhhh, hey." Marian awkwardly greeted as she finally seemed to notice them.

"Greetings. Couldn't sleep?" Chara asked as both they and the young woman stopped on the edge of town.

"Something like that, yeah…" Marian replied, refusing to meet Chara's gaze. The sentry held back a sigh.

"Look, I-" They cut themself off as the sound of Marian's stomach growling reached their ears.

"When was the last time you ate?" Chara asked, their eyes narrowing.

"Uhhh…" Marian didn't seem to have a good answer for that, and this time Chara couldn't hold back the sigh.

"Gaster's should be closing soon, but he's almost always got leftovers, and he doesn't lock the door until he's leaving for the night. Go get something to eat." They ordered.

"I-I'm fine-" The young woman began to protest, only for Chara to shake their head.

"You look about ready to keel over. Go eat, then get some rest. You deserve it after, well…" They awkwardly trailed off, uncertain how to go about discussing the bombshells Frisk and Marian had dropped on them earlier.

"F-fine." Marian relented, shambling past them in the direction of the cozy little restaurant towards the center of town.

Chara nodded to themself before returning to their task. Those traps weren't going to reset themselves, after all.

I rubbed my eyes as I trudged down the road at Chara's insistence. How late was it, even? I felt exhausted, but without a watch or the sun it was difficult to tell the time. As much as I wanted to just head back to the inn and try to get some kinda sleep on the floor or something, my growling stomach and the nosy sentry demanded I get some food. Before long I was standing in front of a quaint little diner that looked like it'd been dragged out of the 50s. True to Chara's word, the lights were still on, and the door opened with a jingle as I stepped inside.

"My apologies, but we're actually closing for the ni- Oh!" Gaster's surprised expression melted into a warm smile as he stepped out from what I could only assume was the kitchen. "How wonderful it is to see you again, Marian."

I offered a little wave and a wan smile. "L-Likewise, Doc."

"I told you before, I'm retired, it's just Gaster these days. It says it on the sign, does it not?" The dapper skeleton replied, smirking as I rolled my eyes.

"Is that what it said? I could've sworn it said "Smartass"." I snarked, taking one of the stools at the counter.

"Perhaps you should invest in a pair of glasses, then." Gaster replied without missing a beat. "Now, I suppose you must be hungry? Most of the equipment's been shut off, but I do have some leftovers. Would a burger suffice?"

"How much?" I asked while pulling up my stats to check how much pocket change the monsters in the Ruins had flung at me before skedaddling after our battles.

"On the house, consider it a small token of my appreciation after all your hard work."

"Th-Thanks." I mumbled, resting my head and arms on the counter while Gaster disappeared into the kitchen again. I nearly nodded off before the sound of a plate being set down next to me got my attention. The burger smelled and looked heavenly, and I found it easy to ignore the nagging question about where the underground got their meat and veggies from as I tore into it and the side of fries with gusto.

"I take it the food is to your liking?" Gaster asked, earning an eager nod from me between a couple bites.

Gaster let me eat in peace for a bit before breaking the companionable silence.

"How are you enjoying the underground so far?"

"It's…a lot nicer when there's people in it, for starters." My response got a chuckle out of the sharply dressed skeleton. "Haven't really gotten the chance to interact with too many folks outside the Ruins, if I'm honest. My disguise is kinda shit, and I'd rather not cause a panic or anything with two new humans runnin' around."

"A sensible plan, though you'd best be careful you don't get mistaken for one of the Royal Guards." Gaster warned.

I blinked in surprise, racking my brain briefly before my eyes widened. "Wait, Mad Mew-Mew's one of the Royal Guards?" I blurted out.

"Oh, good, you're already familiar. Yes, yes she is, and on second thought her reputation for having a temper might be to your benefit." Gaster replied, chuckling.

I groaned. "God, I can't wait for this to all be over. All this magical hero bullshit's more exhausting than it seems in games."

"It's worth it though, is it not?"

"Yeah, yeah it is…" I replied, managing a small smile.

"Well spoken. I'm certain that in the end you will be just like those heroes you admire."

I arched a brow. "...sure hope that by 'the end' you just mean the surface."

Gaster nodded. "But of course. After you and Frisk have freed monsterkind, there's nothing tying you to this place or these people. Do you have any plans?"

"...I...I dunno. Can't go home, can I?" My feelings there were surprisingly mixed, but I stuffed them down to be dealt with later.

"I'm sorry Marian, but I'm afraid I don't have anything more than idle theories and conjecture on that front." I felt a skeletal hand rest on one of my shoulders, and I let out a deep sigh.

"'S okay, I'll figure something out..." I wasn't sure whether I meant finding a way home or making a new one here, and that train of thought was likewise shoved down to join its kin. I still had a mountain to escape. With that in mind, I nudged his hand off my shoulder and stood up. "...a-anyways, I should probably get going, thanks for the meal, Doc."

"It's just Gaster." He corrected me with a put-upon sigh, though he made no attempt to hide the faint smile as he did so.

"Oh, shit, nearly forgot," I stopped short of the door, turning back towards Gaster, "Some weirdo named Grillby wanted me to tell you he says hi?"

If Gaster had skin I'm certain the color would've drained from it as he stared at me from across the restaurant, his eyelights narrowing to faint pinpricks. "It…it can't be…" he breathed, before stepping through a screeching portal of static to grab me by the shoulders, shaking me slightly as he demanded, "Where did you learn that name? Where did you see him, Marian!?"

I stiffened as his bony digits dug into my skin through my hoodie, startled by the sudden intensity. "H-He just showed up a-after our fights! Crawled out of the floor like s-some kinda zombie and yanked us into that weird place I went to during the infusions, took me outside the timeline before the Reset, and gave me the boot back in as soon as it was done!"

Gaster looked taken aback by the news, letting go of me after spinning me around to face the door. "I-I'm very sorry Marian but I need to be locking up. We'll speak more later."

I was too tired to bother digging my heels in and pressing the issue, so I simply nodded and gave Gaster a little wave before leaving.

Frisk stared at the ceiling, lost in thought. They'd awoken in the middle of the night after a restless sleep, and couldn't seem to get their racing thoughts to calm down long enough to pass back out. They kept thinking back to the incident in the cave. The fury and panic in Marian's eyes, the attack that she'd mutilated them and Sans with being brought to bear against something that they'd assumed was an actual monster up until now. The intensity of the emotions that exchange had provoked within them had left them reeling, unused to such things.

Their gaze trailed down to their chest, right about where their soul would rest in a fight. It was a hard thing to adjust to, having a soul again. The closest they'd come to having it back for what felt like years of looped time was in their many fights, faint echoes of their emotions filtering through the borrowed culmination of their being. It was like trying to listen to music on minimum volume for ages, only to crank the volume to max again and nearly blow their eardrums out constantly now that they had it back.

Everything felt overly intense, and left them grasping for the familiarity of the script. Of the same old routine. At least then they could shut the cloying feelings of guilt and shame out by drowning them in the mundane. At least then they knew what to say or do and when. They glanced over to the side, only to falter when their gaze met empty air. Right…no more Sans. For as…strained as their relationship had been, he'd been with them for as long as they could remember. Ever since they first woke up on that bed of Echo Flowers. The tightness in their chest only increased as they stared at the space where their text box should've been, and they screwed their eyes shut and rolled over, grimacing as they clutched at their chest. How was anyone supposed to deal with all this emotional noise? That thought rattled around in their skull with all the rest, until they eventually managed to return to some semblance of sleep.

"You look like shit." Was all Frisk said when we got up the next day, and I couldn't help but agree. I felt like it too. I hadn't had a proper sleep in an actual bed in a few days, and now I had all the shit in the ice cave to deal with, not to mention Flowery, whatever the hell was going on with Gaster and Grillby, Cter's cagey bullshit, and the whole rest of the underground laying ahead of us...

I didn't even realize we were in the middle of the blizzard on the edge of town until Frisk was snapping their fingers in front of my face. I'd slowed to a halt at some point, and their neutral mask had eased up a bit to reveal worry.

"You alright...?"

I stared at them, my eyelids feeling like lead and a migraine hammering nails into the back of my eyes. My entire body was tense, coiled like a spring while trying to appear natural. My magic shuddered and twitched in my veins, like at any moment it was ready to boil over and fill the world around me with steel.

"No." I admitted after a moment of hesitation, screwing my eyes shut and shaking my head.

"Do you..." Frisk started, trailing off and standing there in silence for a moment or two before continuing, "...do you wanna talk about it?"

I opened my eyes, looked up to the cavern ceiling. "I...I want to, I just don't know where to start."

"Yeah, I get that." Frisk mumbled, staring down at their boots.

"Maybe a day or two to think about stuff and relax would help?" A familiar voice called from behind us. I was shocked to turn around and see Cter walking up from behind us, Chara close behind. Frisk stiffened as they glanced up and caught sight of Cter, refusing to look him in the eye.

I gave a noncommittal shrug, stiffening a bit myself when Cter threw an arm around my shoulder, that plastic grin stretched across his face setting me on edge.

"Marian, you both look exhausted. At least spend the night with us, we've got a couch and an air mattress, so neither of you'd need to sleep on the floor." Chara urged.

"...fine." I sighed, rubbing my eyelids and groaning.

"Thaaat's the spirit! Ya know, you pull off the catgirl thing a lot better with that surly-ass expression." Cter joked, making Chara roll their eyes before they turned to look at my squinty companion.

"Frisk?" Chara turned to the shorter enby, smiling when they silently nodded. "Great. Have either of you eaten breakfast yet?"

They sighed when we both shook our heads, taking Frisk by the shoulders and steering them back towards Snowdin. "Come on then, we've got plenty of stuff in the fridge, you can't go hiking across the Underground on empty stomachs anyways."

"Yes, Mom." Frisk snarked as we made our way back towards the sentries' house, earning a chuckle from Cter before he managed to stifle it.

I remained silent as we stepped inside, lost in thoughts as I shrugged Cter's arm off my shoulder and flopped down onto the couch. I was only dimly aware of the sounds of Chara rummaging in the fridge and tossing something in the microwave as I stared at a patch of stained carpet, not really focusing on much of anything. Nothing felt real. This entire day, week, month, whatever you wanted to call it, however you wanted to factor in the looped time. Nothing felt real and it was starting to get to me.

"...ari...hey, Marian!" Chara's voice snapped me out of my funk long enough to notice the plate of soggy, microwaved burger and fries they were holding out to me. I noticed Frisk wolfing down their own portion on the other side of the couch, while Cter was rummaging through a closet I'd managed to miss last time I was here.

"R-Right...sorry..." I took the plate and began to pick at my food, ignoring the worried expression on their face. Chara and Cter's idle chatter slid over my ears as I managed to finish half of my plate before sinking further in my seat. Despite looking old and lumpy as shit, it was a comfy-ass couch, and given my prior sleeping arrangements, it felt like heaven by comparison. My leaden eyelids slowly eased themselves shut, and before I knew it I was dead to the world.

...until I wasn't. I guessed I'd been asleep for a fair bit judging by the cold, half-finished plate of food that was still sitting in my lap. I still felt exhausted. The sound of something repeatedly smacking against something solid drew my attention towards Frisk's seat, only to find Cter fucking around with a paddleball of all things.

"How long was I out?" I mumbled, sitting up a bit and groaning.

"Barely an hour, Chara went on their mornin' walk, took the munchkin with." He drawled, seemingly more focused on his toy than the rest of the world.

I silently nodded, setting my nearly-forgotten plate onto the coffee table and letting the awkward silence hang in the air between us. What the hell was I supposed to say? As my eyes wandered, I realized just how barren the walls were. No photos of Cter or Chara, no shelves or knick knacks, it was a little jarring, but I was hardly one to judge. Eventually I looked towards the kitchen, and remembered something that had stood out last run.

"So...uhh...what the heck is with all the cough syrup?" I turned back in time to see Cter drop the paddle ball and stare off into space for a second, as if the question required him to reboot...before he burst out laughing. Thankfully it wasn't as unsettlingly drawn out as it'd been when he'd gotten me with the ink gag the first time, and he offered an easygoing grin as he explained.

"Every sentry has a taste for some horrible liquid, Chara's is dish soap." Cter winked.

"Sh-Shut the fuck up." I snickered, shaking my head.

"I'm serious, it's part of the job description, we've got quotas to meet."

That incited another round of snickering, which eventually faded into another awkward silence.

"So, how's the whole, isekai protagonist thing been treatin' ya?" Cter's question confused me for a moment, before I remembered the stories Gaster and Toriel had told me last reset.

"A-About as well as it treated you, I guess?"

My reply got a chuckle out of Cter, and he grinned sardonically. "Damn, sorry to hear that."

I simply shrugged, staring up at the ceiling while the sentry beside me continued to try and force the conversation forward.

"You ever played Undertale, Mari?"

"Once, around when it came out, it was pretty okay..." I awkwardly replied, only for Cter to laugh.

"That's it? Just kinda okay?"

"Well, yeah, the fights were kinda cool, and that first ending was crazy, but I didn't end up finishing it to get the true end or whatever."

"Whaaat? Dude, that game's been out for years!" Cter groaned, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

"I had a shit ton going on at the time, sue me why don't ya?" I snapped back. The memories were hazy, had been ever since I woke up in the Ruins, but I could recall enough of that time to know that it wasn't worth remembering. "Actually, hold on. If you've played this game before, perhaps you could clue me in on why shit's so screwy? Like, sure, my memories are kinda shaky, but I could've sworn that Sans is supposed to be the teleporting funny man 'round these parts, and furry Santa's supposed to be the king, and-"

Cter cut me off with a chuckle, shrugging. "Yeaaahhh, things are all messed up down here, it's a little complicated, and me dropping down in the middle of things didn't exactly help keep shit on track." He shrugged. "The timeframe's a little scuffed, I always figured years and years passed between humans fallin' down, but we had 4 show up in the past decade..." Cter's eyes widened a little, "...has it really been ten years already? Yeesh, time flies...Save fuckery aside." Cter's grin faded a little, but he shook it off.

"So, uhh, not to completely change the subject or anything, but how's havin' magic feel?" Cter's perpetual grin returned in full force.

The answer didn't come as immediately as I'd figured it would. Getting my hands on it had been painful, and stressful, and the weight of the dead that I carried in my soul felt pretty heavy sometimes...but a grin split my face anyways. "Pretty sick!"

"What'd you get? I mean, I saw you and the munchkin screamin' down the trail in the forest earlier, but that isn't a lot to go off of." Cter cocked a brow.

Tournesol appeared within my grasp in a burst of pixels and embers, and I felt my grin widen. "I make swords...well, okay, not just swords, all kinds of weapons and stuff."

"That is pretty sick, I'm just a walking Staples." We shared a laugh at that.

The conversation died back down for a few minutes, slowly shifting from a companionable one into something awkward and tense, like the other shoe was yet to drop.

"So, heard that you and the inklings threw hands. Mind explainin' what happened down there?" Cter asked, refusing to drop that stupid grin he always seemed to wear.

There it was. I swallowed hard as yesterday's incident replayed itself in my head. "...I-." I had to stop and take a deep breath before continuing. "I got, I dunno, panicked, angry, fed up, some fucked cocktail of the three? I was scared I was gonna die again and..." I shook my head.

"...I-I wasn't in the cave anymore. I was back in that fucking throne room, and Frisk and I were about to go for another round...god, if Chara hadn't been there I would've-" I cut myself off, my fingers running through and then grabbing handfuls of my unruly hair.

"It felt like it was kill or be killed, and you didn't wanna die...right?" Cter asked, his grin faltering a little..

I nodded, sniffling and forcing a chuckle.

"It's fuckin' stupid...I mean, no one really got hurt, right? But I can't stop thinking about how much worse things could've been."

"...look, I dunno what else to really say. I'm not the touchy feely kinda guy, ya know?" Cter's forced grin was gone for once, replaced by a look of genuine discomfort. "But, look, I get it. All that 'hero' shit isn't all it's cracked up to be. It's hard to come out the other end of it feelin' like the good guy when you know how many bodies you had to pile to get there. When things get tough and you know how easy it could be if you just...ran wild."

I swallowed hard, and nodded, suddenly unable to meet his gaze.

"I think the fact that you're this worried is a good sign. If you didn't care, it'd be a lot easier to write it off and act like everything's fine." Cter let out a bitter chuckle, continuing before I could work up the nerve to ask about it. "You've got a lot riding on your shoulders, but I think you can handle it. Most of the folks down here are big softies, and the few that aren't look a lot more dangerous than they really are. Just try and keep your head in the game and it'll all be fine."

"...and what if that's not enough?" I asked, gritting my teeth and turning to look at him...only to realize he was gone, the little pop of displaced air easy to miss under the whirlwind of thoughts running through my head. I wanted to scream in frustration, but I clenched my teeth harder and choked it all back down.

*What's wrong? Not the easy answer you were lookin' for?

I didn't bother dignifying my text box's sass with a response, rubbing at my temples in a vain attempt to stop the migraine from setting in. I didn't need more sleep but I didn't want to be awake either, so I stretched out on the couch and shut my eyes, willing the storm in my skull to quiet the fuck down. It didn't really work, but eventually I managed to fall back asleep.

Frisk didn't have to pay much attention to know every detail that passed them and Chara by as they walked through town. Every pair of eyes that followed them both like prey animals waiting for predators to make the first move. Every bump in the road out of town, every creaky board on the rope bridge that connected the two plateaus that formed Snowdin as Frisk knew it. And by god did they know it well. Too well. They'd gone through the full gamut of muted feelings towards the many facets of their prison, until all they were left with was comfortable, familiar apathy.

They could tell it unnerved Chara. Normally they'd struggle to care. Now they struggled not to care. It was maddening. Once upon a time such a novel interaction would've had them chomping at the bit to consume it, to poke and prod and pull until it crumbled in their hands. They'd break it and build it back up and break it again until the very notion of that event was rendered almost meaningless, then discard it and move onto the next.

"Frisk?" Chara's voice derailed Frisk's train of thought, and their gaze lazily drifted up to meet the troubled sentry's.

"...yes?" They hated just how empty their voice sounded, and the feeling shocked them with its intensity, before it was buried under the mask.

"How are you feeling?" Chara's question seemed genuine, but Frisk's first instinct was to write it off as a stupid joke. Surely Chara could guess, after the incident in the frozen cave.

"Fine." Frisk's response was automatic, and the lie tasted like ash on their tongue.

The disappointed frown on Chara's face caused Frisk to squirm despite themself. They remained silent, but their taller doppelganger refused to relent, and they felt agitation and confusion bubble up from under the haze. Why didn't they just leave Chara out here in the snow and push forward?

"I-I..." They felt rooted in place by that loathsome emotion in Chara's eyes. Pity. It turned the storm of emotions buried inside them into a hurricane, and their soul into a lead weight. They squirmed and clung to the comforting numb blanket until it was finally ripped away in the wind, and an answer clawed its way out of their throat unbidden.

"I DON'T KNOW! Okay!?" They clutched at their chest, right around where their soul normally manifested. They felt like they had in the cave, backed into a corner that they let themselves be pushed into and forced to reckon with something they'd long forgotten how to. "Is that what you wanna hear!? That the freak who murdered you and your boy toy and everyone else under this god-forsaken mountain doesn't know how they feel about it?"

Frisk's voice cracked with emotion as they screamed. "I feel angry and sad and relieved and scared and excited and disappointed and I can't stand this fucking place or these people or myself and I can't-" a sob cut them off as they hunched over, as if to shield their soul from the elements. Chara's arms wrapped around them and pulled them close, and the dam fully broke as they descended into ugly sobs.

The sentry rubbed their back and held them close, weathering the torrent of emotion pouring out of them in the form of shuddering gasps for air and half-formed curses directed at anything and everything that came to mind.

Frisk wasn't certain how long they remained like that, but eventually the deluge slowed to a stream, then to a trickle, until they felt wrung out and truly empty.

"...better?" Chara asked, their voice gentle as Frisk stepped away from them.

Frisk rubbed at their puffy and red eyes. They were drained, to be sure, like they were a high pressure gas tank that someone broke the valve on and had only just run out of air. The lack of pressure was relieving. They silently nodded.

Chara smiled. "Glad to hear it. Holding something like that back isn't healthy for you..." they trailed off, their smile faltering a little before they shook their head and focused again. "I can't begin to properly understand the hell you've gone through, that much I can admit...but that doesn't mean I can't try."

Frisk found themself giving a weak smile back, shaking their head. "I don't know if either of us wants to do that again."

"Then don't let it build up like that again." Chara replied, exaggeratedly rolling their eyes, before their expression sobered up a little. "I'm not saying you need to have all the answers, or that talking to people will magically fix all your problems. I just know from experience that sometimes trying to tell someone else what's wrong can make it easier to figure it out yourself."

Frisk silently fidgeted for a bit before sighing. "...I-I'll think about it..."

Chara's eyes narrowed as they stared at Frisk...before sighing themself. "Good enough...for now." They smiled and ruffled Frisk's hair, smirking as the teenager swatted their hand away and groaned. "Now, you wanna head back? I'm freezing out here."

Frisk nodded, shivering a bit themselves as they walked back with Chara. They kept their eyes fixed on the ground ahead, taking solace in the comfortable silence that followed them home.

They yawned as they came in from the cold and saw Marian still crashed on the couch. Frisk felt pretty beat too. Thankfully enough Chara seemed to sense this, wasting little time in getting the air mattress prepared for them. It was the middle of the morning, but fuck it, Marian had the right idea. Soon as they could they collapsed onto the inflatable bed and slipped off into a pleasantly dreamless sleep.

And there we go. If you enjoyed, it'd be sick if you could consider dropping a review, and if you wanna be notified via carrier pigeon when we manage to get a new update out, perhaps favorite or follow the story. Hope y'all have a wonderful day.

We're the TiredWhiteMage, signing off.