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Butterflies scattered in a frenzy as Asriel ran into them with glee, watching their pretty colours glint in the light as they gracefully flew away. Chara caught up with him quickly, a soft smile on their face as they watched their younger, adoptive brother play. Asriel turned back to them with a huge grin on his face, spreading out his arms. He looked a bit silly, however he was content, watching the butterflies fly away. One of them landed on his paw, and he brought it up to his face so he could get a better look. It jumped to his nose, and it was so comical watching him cross his eyes in order to continue observing the delicate creature that Chara couldn't help but laugh.
"I wish we had the camera right now, I really want to take a picture," Chara said as they laughed.
"Chara, don't laugh at me!" Asriel whined, his head snapping towards Chara. The sudden movement sent the butterfly spiraling into the air. They watched it fly away.
A voice floated into Chara's ears, and they turned and and saw it was coming from an echo flower. It was repeating what Asriel had last said. Chara always thought that these flowers were a nuisance, recording private conversations and then repeating them to everyone, but now they had an idea.
"Hey Asriel," Chara started, "I have a game we can play."
"Yeah?" Asriel asked excitedly.
"You have to whisper something to the echo flowers, and watch as people walk by. Whoever can get the best reaction - whether it's horrified, laughter, angry, etcetera - wins."
"You're on! There's no way I can lose!" Chara laughed.
"You stay here and I'll go on a bit ahead." Asriel nodded, then stood by one of the flowers, thinking of what to say. Chara left him, going far enough ahead where they could just hear the echo flowers repeating what Asriel told them. They pondered what to say for a moment, before smiling wickedly.
"If you're not gone in three seconds, I'll kill you!" they whispered harshly. "One... two... three!" Down the path, they could hear Asriel blowing a raspberry into the flower, not to their surprise.
It wasn't long before their first victim came strolling up. A young couple, rabbit monsters, in the midst of a blossoming romance, by the looks of things. Chara hid in the thicket of the echo flowers, and watched them get closer and closer.
“Oh my word, did that really happen?” they heard one of them.
“That’s not the worst of it. After tha-” the other one was cut off by the echo flower repeating what Chara had whispered to it. Their happy moment was gone, replaced by terror of a (supposed) threat. When the count reached two, the one grabbed the other and started running back where they came from. Chara cackled, beyond pleased with their results. They looked to where Asriel was, and saw he was guffawing as his two victims were arguing over who farted. He looked at Chara, his eyes sparkling with amusement, but held his adopted sibling’s gaze with a daring glint. Chara returned it, not one to back down from a challenge. Their sibling may be childish, but he was beginning to come into his own with a cunning and sharp intellect - and his determination was certainly not to be underestimated.
Their game continued for a while, and they were neck-and-neck. No clear winner was yet to be seen. After scaring their last victim, Chara pondered on what could give them the advantage in the game. They gazed at their brother, and then they got a wicked idea.
They went on their stomach and slowly wiggled on the ground towards Asriel, the magical glow of the echo flowers disguising their approach. Asriel remained none the wiser, simply sitting back and letting the flowers repeat what he had last said to them. Chara stopped when they were right behind him, brought themselves to their knees, then grabbed Asriel’s shoulders while whispering into his ear;
“Boo.” Asriel let out an unholy shriek, which made Chara cackle in delight, but their glee was short lived when he fainting, falling backwards onto them, his limbs sticking up in the air. They caught him and brought him into their lap, panicking.
“Asriel, Asriel!” they called, trying to wake him, but he didn’t respond. They shook him in another attempt to wake him, but his body was far too stiff. Tears pricked the corner of their eyes - even though they knew if he was dead he’d be nothing but dust, but all they could think of was the memory of a dead body, cold to the touch and too stiff to shift.
That memory was short lived when he stirred roughly, rolling out of Chara’s lap and stumbling to his feet, his limbs suddenly pliable again.
“Chara?” he asked, his voice full of confusion, when his eyes laid upon their form, still sprawled on the ground. They blinked, looking up at him, their eyes still full of tears. “Chara? What’s wrong?”
“I thought you were dead!” they exclaimed, throwing themself off the ground to hug Asriel. He let out an ‘oomph’ at the impact, but wrapped his arms around them.
“What do you mean? I’ve just been standing here! Are you pranking me, Chara?” Chara sniffled, burying their face in his fur. “Hey, don’t get snot in my fur! Come on, Chara, I thought I was supposed to be the crybaby, not you!”
“You don’t remember what happened?” Chara asked softly.
“Remember what?” Asriel repeated, still confused.
“I scared you and you fainted! And your arms and legs went up into the air, and they were stiff… it reminded me… I thought…”
“Chara, I’m okay! I’m just fine.” There was a pause as the two royal siblings took comfort in each other. “Now that I think about it… I think Mom and Dad said something before about our particular species of monster fainting when they get scared…”
“Seriously?” Chara pulled away from him, wiping their eyes. “It’s the same with goats up on the surface.”
“That’s kind of funny.” Asriel giggled.
“Well, if you’re fine, shall we continue our game? I’m pretty sure I’m beating you.”
“No way! Even if you are, I’m still gonna win!” Asriel turned away to the echo flowers. Chara snorted.
“Ha! As if. You always lose against me.” They rolled their eyes, but then they grinned. They’d just found out something very interesting about Asriel, and they’d be damned if they didn’t use it to his disadvantage.