Chapter Text
(July 23rd, Sunday)
(10:50 am)
(Sora’s POV)
To say that Chara was still feeling like shit would be an understatement. Even though it had been a whole week since their incident with Sans, it was quite apparent that they felt like hell. Over the course of the week, they had started to be more quiet and reserved, much like how they were when they came back to live and in the Underground. It was quite obvious to tell that they had been losing sleep because of what happened last week, considering the bags under their eyes.
At the moment, Asriel and I were talking with Jack, while Chara slept in. “Could you do me a favor while I go meet with Grillby?” He asked. Asriel nodded, albeit just as confused as I was. Jack sighed and responded, “I want you two to watch out for Sans and make sure Chara stays safe from him.” ‘Well, at least he tried not to sound angry.’ I thought. “I think you might be overreacting a small bit, Jack.” Asriel said, giving the hybrid a glance.
“And I think I have every right to.” He said with honesty. As a godfather, he certainly wasn’t wrong, though he was going somewhat overboard. “Jack, just calm your ass down.” I said, sighing. “Sans wouldn’t be stupid enough to come here. Not with him assuming that you’ll be watching over the house like a hawk, even though you won’t.” Jack nodding in agreement, sighing. “But yes. We’ll make sure Chara stays safe.” I said.
Jack sighed once fore before nodding. “Thank you. I suppose you two want to know where I’m going?” He said. Asriel and I looked at each other. In all honesty, we were curious why Jack couldn’t stay at the house, so we nodded. Jack scratched his hair before answering, “I’m going to be speaking with Grillby and Papyrus about how to convince Sans.” “Alright.” Asriel said, surprising the hybrid. “That’s good. You’re taking a step in the right direction.” He continued and I nodded in agreement. Jackson just grunted, rubbing his eyes underneath his glasses. “Even so, I don’t feel satisfied with it.” He said with pure honesty.
“It’ll get better. Believe me, I know.” I reassured him. After a couple moments of silence, the hybrid finally nodded. “Alright.” He whispered. “I’ll be back around Noon or 1:00 pm. I got my phone if you need to call.” The two of us nodded as he grabbed his motorcycle helmet. “Also, I’ll be bringing Frisk over around then as well.” He stated. We didn’t need to ask why; it was obviously for the Charisk operation. “Alright, I’ll see you two later.” He said, walking out. “Good luck.” I said, receiving a thumbs up for Jack in return as he closed the door. “Do you think it’s going to work?” Asriel asked and I sighed, “I really hope so.”
It was right around then that we heard Chara getting up. They came out of their room, wearing a muscle shirt and shorts. “Good morning, Chara.” Asriel said, which Chara only grunted tiredly to. I snorted with a smirk. “Still tired, kid?” I asked and Chara nodded. “Not enough sleep.” They said. Asriel and I looked at each other and nodded, assuming that they were having nightmares again. “Want to talk about it?” I asked, causing the fallen human to shake their head. “Not really. At least, not at the moment.” They said, going to the kitchen and grabbing a glass for water.
Chara then headed towards the couch which they promptly sat down on. They sighed and just stared at the blank television. The prince and I sat down on either side of the fallen human as they stared into space. I haven’t seen them this tired since they were resurrected a few years ago. They literally looked like they were going fall asleep any minute now. I sighed and looked at the fallen human. ”Chara, we’re not going to be able to help you if you don’t tell us what’s bothering you.” I explained, only to receive silence. Asriel turned on the television in order to drown out the deafening silence. As far as we could tell, Chara didn’t seem to mind.
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(Panic attack begins)
It stayed like that for a good amount of time; about 2 hours, of the three of us not talking and watching the television. Until Chara rose from their seat and went to the kitchen. At first, both their brother and I assumed that they were just going to get breakfast, which is what they WERE doing, as Chara had grabbed a plate. Until we heard the sound of something hitting the floor and shattering. Instinctively, the both of us leapt off the couch and rushed to the kitchen, where we spotted the plate shattered on the floor and Chara curling themself into a ball, safety knife in hand.
They were trembling and clutching the knife as if their life depended on it. They were starting to hyperventilate and glaring at us, as if their own brother and I were threats. “STAY...AWAY…” They said..no, WARNED us as I tried to step closer to them. “Chara, you know we’re not going to hurt you…” I said reassuringly, taking very slow steps towards the fallen human. Chara just curled tighter and continued to glare daggers at the two of us, but didn’t say anything. According to Jack, if Chara didn’t say anything to argue with you during times like this, that was a good sign. The prince and I stepped closer to the trembling red-eyed human and knelt down next to them.
“Chara…” I started, causing the human to shift their glare towards me on their left. “Chara, you’re hyperventilating. Just...try to calm down.” I said, carefully placing a hand on their shoulder. They inhaled sharply and I would’ve pulled away if they didn’t close their eyes, trying to concentrate on controlling their breathing. Asriel started rubbing their arm, reassuringly. “There you go. Just like that. In…and out.” He said, quietly. Chara let their body relax as they started to uncurl and slowly put away the knife.
After two minutes, Chara finally spoke. “I’m sor…” They tried to say, only for the rest of the sentence to get caught in their throat. In response, Asriel and I pulled them into a gentle hug. The reassurance went without saying, as Chara grabbed on to our arms. We stayed like that for a couple minutes, we felt Chara fall asleep and picked them, bringing them to the couch. We laid them across the piece of furniture and placed one of the couch pillows under their head.
After making sure that Chara was asleep, I quietly went into the kitchen to clean up the shattered plate. “I’m gonna give Jack an update.” The prince whispered and I gave him a nod as I got the broom and dustpan from the closet. This wasn’t the first time Chara had a panic attack, and it probably wouldn’t be the last. But, so long as they had people to help them, then they’ll be okay, hopefully.
(Panic attack ends)
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A few hours later….
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(4:10 PM)
Around 3:30 or so, Jack came over to check up on Chara, even though we told them that they were doing fine now. I couldn’t blame him though; I would have done the same in his position. Chara was now awake and talking again, thankfully. “I’m sorry.” They whispered and Asriel rubbed their shoulder. “Chara, it’s okay. It’s alright.” He said, giving them a smile. The prince and I hugged the fallen human. “You know that we love you and we’d do anything to help you, right?” I asked. Chara gave me a nod, sighing. “Love you guys too.” They said, lossily grabbing on to our arms.
After a couple minutes, I pulled Jack aside to talk with him. “I should try to arrange a therapist appointment for them.” He whispered and I just nodded in agreement. “It would be a good idea. Plus, it might help them.” I said. “Do you think it would be okay for Frisk to come over today? Even though Chara had only just recovered?” He asked. I scratched my hair, thinking. It might not be a bad idea, since Chara had always reacted best towards Frisk. However, they rarely had a panic attack when they were alone.
“We could try and have the two spend time together.” I said. “Though we should have them call any of us, just in case something should happen.” Jack nodded and pulled out his cell phone. I went and sat down next to the fallen human and rubbed circles on their back. Chara had gone back to staring into space, but this time their gaze was towards the floor. “Chara?” Asriel asked, snapping the red-eyed human out of their trance. “I’m...okay.” They said, causing Asriel and I to sigh. We knew that was a lie, but we didn’t press them on it. “Frisk is coming over for the night.” Jack said, coming back from using his phone. “They’ll be here soon.” Chara nodded, perking up slightly at the mention of Frisk’s soon-arrival.
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Several minutes later….
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(4:30 PM)
It took some time for them to pack for the night, but eventually, Papyrus was able to bring Frisk to Jack’s house safely. The ambassador immediately rushed in and almost tackled Chara in a tight hug, which Chara was more than happy to return to them. As soon as Frisk and Chara were comfortable, Jack, Asriel, and I went outside to talk to Papyrus. “Thanks, Papy.” I said to the taller skeleton, who just nodded. “YOU ARE MOST WELCOME, HUMAN.” He said. “SANS WON’T HEAR OF THIS.” Jack sighed in relief at that last part. “Good. I’m going to let Chara and Frisk know where we’re going.” He said, before going back inside. It wasn’t even 2 minutes before he came back out and we were all in the car. “I told them to call us if anything happened.” The hybrid said as we left the house.”Do you think they’re going to be fine?” The prince asked, to which jack responded by sighing. “I hope so.” He said.
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(7:30 PM)
(Chara’s POV)
Since Asriel, Sora, and Godfather left, Frisk and I had been watching movies that we have in the cabinet. We were just starting up our second one and for the past 3 hours, Frisk had been leaning against my chest. Though some miracle, I’ve managed to stay calm and not turn into a blushing, embarrassed mess. I don’t think I truly noticed how small they were in comparison to me until now. This might be my one chance. But they seemed quite content with just leaning against me and watching the movie, so I went back to watching the film as well.
After about 20 minutes, Frisk spoke and asked, “Could you...pause the movie for a bit? I..want to talk to you about something.” They were hesitating, but serious, so I paused the film and gave them my full attention. “Okay… What do you want to talk about?” I asked. The ambassador smiled and said, “You seem to want to talk about something as well, so how about you start first.” It felt like time froze. I stayed silent for about 5 seconds, which honestly felt like an eternity, before responding. “Um...yes. I...want to tell you something.” I felt my cheeks burn as I said that.
Frisk nodded slowly and motioned for me to continue. I bit my lip as I struggled to come up with the words for my confession. “Since when I came back to life and regained my body, I...started to feel like I wanted to spend time with you more.” I said, to which the other human nodded. “Around the time we entered...our mid teens,I...started to want to be closer to you…” “If it’s...okay for me to ask, in...what way?” The shorter human asked, to which I scratched the back on my head, answering, “Like....more than friends…”
“Basically, what I’m…..trying to say is…” I took a deep breath and said, “I love you.” I said it. I actually said it. Now I had to wait for Frisk’s response. What ever response I expected, it certainly wasn’t them kissing me with tears in their eyes. “I love you. I love you too…!” They said. They were smiling, which meant the tears were ones of joy. I let out a sigh of relief and hugged them tightly. “I thought you would hate me…” I said before Frisk kissed me again.
“I...would NEVER hate you.” They said. “Honestly, I...was worried that you didn’t like me to begin with.” I hugged them tightly in response. We stayed like that for a good 2 and a half minutes or so before I asked, “So, now that we’re...umm...together, what do you...want to do?” I knew that I paused multiple times, but it was justifiable, since I didn’t think we’d ever get this far. Frisk rubbed the back of their neck, answering, “Well, how about we finish the movie for now. We can let Assy, Godfather, and those whom you’re comfortable with know about our relationship.”
I nodded in agreement and we went back to watching the film, though this time, we had our fingers interlaced together. Every now and then, I would feel Frisk tighten their hold on my hand, while I kissed the back of theirs. It was about 10 PM when our movie got done and Frisk was comfortably nodding off against me. I gently shook them and suggested, “How about we get ready for bed now?” They nodded tiredly and slowly got up to go brush their teeth and change.
While Frisk was in the bathroom, I went to take care of the movies and grabbed me phone. I put it on silent while we were watching and found a couple texts; all from Godfather. The first one, which said “Hey. We’re at Grillby’s. Call us if you need anything” was sent only a hour after he, Sora, and Asriel left with Papyrus. The other one, which was sent around 8:30 said “Hey. We’re at the arcade and will be leaving soon”.
I sent a reply to him, letting him know about what happened and that we were going to bed soon. After that I went to my room and left my phone to charge. Frisk had just got done and was leaving the bathroom as soon as I exited the bedroom. “Bathroom’s all yours.” They said, trying suppress a yawn. I nodded, “Thank you. Quick question: where do you plan on sleeping?” Frisk locked eyes with me for a few seconds before we said simultaneously, “I’ll take the couch.”
After realizing our in-sync answers, we laughed a bit before I said, “You take the bed, really.” Frisk kissed me and replied with, “You know, we could always just share. Is that okay?” I felt my face heat up when I heard that. “A-are you...sure?” I asked, to which the shorter human nodded. “Yes. If you’re worried that we’re rushing things, please don’t.” They said reassuringly with a smile. “I promise it’s fine.”
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(10:45 PM)
(Jackson’s POV)
After getting done at the arcade, Sora, Asriel, Papyrus, and I decided that it was time to head home. After getting in the car, I grabbed out my phone to see two messages from Chara. Once I took a look at the messages, I, amazingly, fan-squealed. The prince and Sora looked at me like something was wrong with me, understandably, since I’ve never squealed before. “Do we...even want to know why YOU, of all people, squealed?” Asriel asked.
“Yes, actually.” I replied and showed the other three occupants in the car the messages, to which they had something similar to my reaction. The first one said, “Hey, Godfather. Frisk and I are alright we just got done watching a couple movies and are headed for bed. Also, I’m very happy to say that we are OFFICIALLY dating”. The second was a picture of the two humans, on the taller one’s bed. Frisk was sleeping peacefully, while Chara was holding them in their arms protectively.
“Please send that to me. Right now!” Sora said, which was followed by Asriel asking, “Could send it to me too, please?” “I WOULD ALSO LIKE ONE, IF THAT’S OKAY.” Papyrus said. I sighed, “Okay, yes. I’ll send it to you. Just please wait a moment.” I first saved the picture to my phone and then I sent it, just as promised. “I was wondering when this whole thing would yield some fruit.” I said.
“Didn’t think it would be this soon?” The prince asked. I shook my head. Honestly I didn’t. Yeah, I was very optimistic about it and hoped the plan would work, but given what has been happening lately I wondering if this would actually get Chara and Frisk together. But hey, looks like luck finally paid off. “What shall we do to celebrate this event?” I asked out loud.
Arc 2: Operation Start "End"