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They stood in their bedroom, around age fifteen or so, hugging a cup of water they retrieved from the downstairs kitchen sink between the palm of their hands. Typically entering their room wouldn’t be no scary endeavor, but there was something laying on their brother’s bed cradling a single liter of Sprite in their arms while their thousand-yard stare met with the cage in the corner of their bedroom.
Ah, college kids are so weird.
Kris shut the door behind them after a small adventure out of their room for a glass --- an adventure it was, as a party was being held downstairs for their brother, who had made it into college and returned momentarily to congratulations from his dinky hometown.
There was streamers, food, music, and cheer; it was fun, and loud, and Kris simply couldn’t handle cramped and chaotic occasions, so they always opted to hide out in their bedroom ( though not before giving their brother a big hug and congratulating them.)
When they had left, nobody else was there. Upon return, they were.
They stood there, the door against their back, unable to think up of anything to say. Get out, was a good option, but their mouth refused to make the sounds needed --- Chara was a friend of Asriel’s, brought home one day from college like how one brings home a stray kitten, afraid and eager to show them off to mom and hoping to keep them.
They were both quiet and not, a mixture between cascading between the shadows and inserting themself where they don’t belong --- a la, being in Asriel’s bed --- but their circumstance made it hard to ever raise a tone at them; they lied through their teeth saying they were studying art but they all knew they were a drifter Asriel found on campus and took in, not so talkative about their past though it’s obvious it wasn’t a good one.
They were brought home in his shitty car and they took them in like family the moment their busted-up sneakers hit the pavement.
“ What’s with the birdcage?” Chara asked, dulled and a bit nasally. They never looked at Kris, just dead-eyed the cage, but they still made a face.
“ None of your business,” Kris replies.
“ Fair. None of my business,” They roll over, facing the wall this time. A moss green varsity jacket emblazoned the name of the college on their back but the dates all off, years in the past that they couldn’t have even been alive to attend at the time. It looks beaten.
They move to their bed quietly, folding up crisscross-applesauce style onto it with their back against the wall, trying to think of anything else to say --- really, they could easily be like “Hey, get out of my room”, and maybe Chara would leave and they could return to playing 3D pinball on Asriel’s laptop until the party is over, but deep down they kinda… wanted to know Chara a little bit more.
Maybe it was because they could jump up onto a counter without using their hands, or how comfortable they got in the house at such a short period of time that they called Toriel ‘mom’ on accident just laughed it off, or how they tried to get Kris to ride Asriel’s bike and told them that road rash only burns if you’re ‘’stupid enough to go down hands-first’’ and that they helped Toriel make dinner every night.
They were weird, but Kris could see why they liked them.
Lost in thought, Kris was snapped back to reality by Chara sitting up in bed, uncapping the bottle and, with both hands, chugging one-third of the litre down without saying anything, before holding it out to Kris for a sip.
“ Ew, no,” they made a face, “ it has your germs on it.”
“ And who says you may not have lethal cooties?” Chara replies, taking another chug.
“ That was for the party, y’know. Toriel is gonna get mad.”
“ Nah, she saw me swipe it before coming upstairs. Let me have it.”
Kris lets out a ‘hm’ in reply and nothing in response.
“ Why aren’t you downstairs with your brother? It’s the big acceptance party y’know,” They did a quick jazz hand motion, “ Shouldn’t be going down there and showing everybody your skills as an UNO card thief?”
Ah, the infamous ‘’card under the ass’’ trick that fooled Asriel every time they played --- well, up until Chara came along and had the guts to lift them out of their chair by their armpits and reveal their nesting ground of Sevens and Color Switch cards. The absolute embarrassment of being caught a cheater with your belly showing is something they still hold spite against.
“ I just don’t like parties, they know that,” They slumped down into the bed a bit more, “ I was down there for a little bit. I just like being alone.”
They gave a small hm in reply.
“.... Is that why you’re up here too?”
Chara gave a contemplative look like that of if they were constipated, “ If I say ‘yes’, will you let me continue to lay in your brother’s bed?”
“ No.”
“ Then nah, i’m here to go on an adventure and I was waiting for you to come along to show me around.”
They rolled off the bed and onto their feet, doing a small gymnast pose of throwing their arms in the air, “ C’mon, let’s go.”
Kris gave them a look,” Where… are we going?”
Out the window, apparently.
On one hand: absolutely a bad idea. It was night, first-off, and it was prime picking hours for Undyne the cop to come and bust kids for being out after curfew, which in Hometown was surprisingly early; Secondly, this was sneaking out! Of course the idealization of teenage rebellion and hopping out their window at night was like absolutely something they had dreamt up, but the circumstance wasn’t right.
Still, Chara made their way onto the dresser in front of the window, unhinging the clasps and pulling up the frame, along with the mosquito net frame after.
So, this was illegal, this would absolutely get them grounded, and this was a one-way ticket to a murder mystery, too --- ‘’strange friend brother brought home turns out to be a serial killer, more at eleven.”
But…..
It was kind of fun jumping out that window.
Breezy yet warm, the nights of Hometown were always starlight and beautiful; the surrounding trees and sodium lamplights complimented each other as they bounced yellows and golds, and the soft turning of leaves in the wind was all you heard down the quiet streets at night. Kris almost regretted not bringing their own jacket, as the wind was a bit too cold for their tastes, but Chara lending them that cool beaten-up jacket they had made it all worth it.
They hugged the edge of the sidewalks and bolted around the spotlights, and Kris gave them the most thorough tour of Hometown that could beat out any maps and travel blogsites ever; they made the round into town and showed off their school, Asgore’s flower shop, a few other small buildings and places they enjoyed before pulling back out into the outskirt neighborhood, the safer place to be to avoid Undyne.
“ God, Undyne huh…” They exasperated under their breath.
The hospital, the small mound in the woods, the waterfront ( to which Chara promptly scared the living shit out of Kris with by ‘jokingly’ almost pushing them in) --- they made the whole rounds, before turning on to one last stretch of houses that would wind themselves back to their place.
There, one house down the stretch stood out to them --- or, well, Chara.
They stood at the front of it while Kris momentarily kept walking, before realizing that they weren’t by their side anymore; instead, Chara was wide-eyed and looking at the haze of lights that lit up the single house, while all the rest were dim or blackout entirely. They could feel the beat of music and even a few bikes gave it away.
House party.
“ Chara?”
“ Wanna go crash a house party?”
They said that like they were talking to another friend, not a fifteen year old kid they met a week ago. They tried to articulate this to Chara, that they had a party going on at home they could easily ‘crash’, but they seemed adamant.
“ No, this is different! This is an utter stranger’s! Listen --- you just go in, act like you know the place, scope it out, then leave.” They were jumping and their tone of speaking was higher than usual, it was obvious something about this was making Chara excited, “ C’mon, we already broke curfew and bummed around town at night, don’t you want the full experience?”
They really thought for a moment about it --- the whole thing was absolutely insane, but what about the past week hasn’t? That business in the Darkener world was still on them, and that night, and Asriel coming home and bringing Chara.
Everything was weird. Really, really weird.
So they said yes.
“Act like you know the place” was vague, and when they opened the front door they were immediately greeted with a crowd of definitely-not-adults --- so that was good. They weren’t crashing a bachelor’s party or a family event, so their heart was able to drop from their throat for a minute.
Chara latched onto their shoulder and pulled them in through the crowd, making an immediate dash into the heart of the house at a mildly quickpace --- all they caught in the blur was sights of couches, a fireplace, a nice rug and a fucking chandelier hanging over what they assumed was one of those weird dining rooms that were always adjacent to the kitchen. Whoever lived here did so in style.
“ OK, we’re in,” They stopped at what seemed to be a set of stairs leading to a basement, “ Do you recognize anybody here at all?”
A quick scan reveals a few kids from school, but that’s about it. Kris was never much to talk to the locals though, but they could gather this was just some sort of house party. Chara gave them one of those rough shoulder shakes in excitement.
“ Hell yes! This is p-
“ O-oh, oh! Hey Kris! Oh my god, I didn’t expect to see you here!”
Of all people to appear before them, Noelle was not the one they had expected.
She stood there between the two, having appeared from a hallway they were blocking without noticing; wide-eyed, a cup of what looked like Hawaiian punch in her hand, her mouth a bit agape and a hand raised randomly.
“ Friend of yours?” Chara immediately introduced themself, lending out a hand to Noelle to shake. She seemed pretty excited.
“ Uh, not exactly --”
“ We go to the same school!”
“ Hell yeah,” They replied, “ Hey, you two have fun, i’m gonna go look for a drink.”
Before Kris can stop them they had bolted, leaving them with Noelle in a strange house they had no understanding of, at a party they had no understanding of, during a night they had no understanding of, oh my god! Luckily Noelle just laughed it off and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.
“ Who was that? Ah, a cousin of sort?”
Bold-face lie in the middle of having a minor freakout? Yes, good plan Kris. Absolutely solid plan. They nod their head.
“ Yeah. From out of town.”
“ They, uhm, they seem pretty nice!” She her head. It was getting pretty obvious she was jumpy about something, but Kris didn’t know whether to pry about it.
What the fuck, they were there, might as well be nosy.
“ Hey, are you alright?” They ask, leaning in a bit. “ You seem kinda on-edge.”
“ Uh, yeah! I’m fine, i’m fine,” She laughs nervously.
“ You sure?”
“ Uhm,”
They cock an eyebrow.
She lowers her head and gets in close, whispering, “ Susie is here.”
Ah, it all clicked in their head. Her eyes run over the crowd and they follow to meet the sight of Susie, who as always was sticking by the corners all alone. It was weird to see them there a bit, having not since the, uh ---- y’know, closet thing.
“ You should go talk to here,” They push Noelle a bit, getting comfortable.
“ Ah! I don’t think I could, she seems like she wants to be alone,” She was retracting, and immediately Kris’ brain engaged into dumb idiot mode.
“ What if I call her over?” They cupped a hand near their mouth and was about to call to her before Noelle grabbed their arm and yanked it down.
“ It’s alright! It’s alright!” She stammered, “ Thank you Kris, really, but it’s --- it’s fine. I think your cousin is coming back anyway.”
On cue Chara returned with two cups of punch, proudly giving one to Kris as they downed their own. Noelle gave them a wave and disappeared into the crowd, leaving them back with just each other.
“ So, I scoped the place out. Very nice, kinda empty. There’s a fire going on out back but nothing else really. I think we can bolt.”
“ Really?”
“ What, you wanna stay now?” Chara gave them a shit-eating grin.
“ Just ten more minute?”
“ Alright, give ‘ya ten. I’m gonna go look downstairs for some food.”
They twirled their way over the railing and down the stairs, leaving Kris all alone. For a little bit they simply wandered, keeping in mind the ‘act like you know the place’ though front in their mind. They wandered, talked to one or two classmates who recognized them and stopped them in cramped hallways, peaked at a few games of penny pitching and card games. Chara was right; it was a party, but it was no rowdier than the tiny one happening at their own place.
Oh, wait, that’s right. Asriel’s acceptance party.
Oh.
Shit, yeah.
They left their empty cup on a poor coffee table and walked back into the main room at the realization --- they were known to be a bit of a troublemaker, and yeah, they’ve snuck around after school sometimes, but just ditching in the middle of the night was an entirely different can of worms, and no matter how much… fun they were actually kinda having, hanging out with Chara and all, they had to get home. Toriel was a ruthless grounder.
The basement was a bit more crowded but just one large space, with a few couches and some obnoxious kids playing Super Smash Bros. on the TV while others watched; Chara was in the mix, cheering on the Falco player in-between bites of pizza. Kris yanked at their sleeve.
“C’mon, we gotta go.”
“ You said ten more minutes?”
“ Home .”
They yanked them away from the TV and pulled them along to the stairs. Halfway up the steps Chara stopped before descending again, “ I forgot my shoes.”
“ You took off your shoes ?”
“ It’s carpet! Common courtesy! I’ll meet you outside,” They yelled, disappearing back into the basement.
Kris spun and headed back up the stairs, eyes casted down a bit as they had always walked before; they were in a hurry and did not need any other classmates to stop them during their dash to the door.
Halfway to the door however they heard a sudden commotion coming from downstairs. It sounded like Chara’s voice. God dammit.
Speeding back down and nearly slipping on the carpeted steps, they come to find the sight of the commotion and holy shit .
It was Susie, puffed up like some stupid looking bird practically nose-to-nose with Chara, with a spilled cup of fruit punch on the carpet floor. A few kids were already circling around them like a fight was going to break out, and quickly they got down there and pushed their way through.
“ I said i’m sorry!”
“ You’re the one who’s gonna be the reason I get my ass beat, cause you didn’t think for two seconds!” Susie retaliated. She was furious , that scary kind that could strike fear into absolutely anything. Kris called out to Chara in the crowd in hopes to break them up, but when they turned they could tell getting Susie’s attention was not at all a good idea.
“ What the fuck are you doing in my house?” She growled, surprised.
Holy shit, it was Susie’s house.
It was Susie’s party.
Holy shit.
“ Hey, wait, t--” They tried to back up but Susie pushed their way past Chara to meet them in the crowd.
“ Is this your little punk friend you brought along too?” Susie pointed at Chara, “ Cause it’s because of the both of you i’m going to get served by my parents!”
“ I said it was an accident!” Chara had a droning tone and it wasn’t making this situation any better. Kris had no idea how to stop this, what this to or even say; they could’ve just stayed home, none of this could’ve happened, but now Susie is latching an arm against their collar just like that day in the school and it is absolutely more terrifying the second time.
“Hit her!” a voice rang out from the crowd. They could feel the sweat falling down their face as they stared at Susie, now just waiting for anything as their shirt suffocated them by the pull.
But there was something like hesitation, and instead Susie flung them to the floor, their head hitting that sweet concrete underneath the carpeting.
Everything turned into a blur, kind of like in those movies where you’d hear a BWEEEEE noise and all the sound would cut to add to the atmosphere. Yeah, like that, and it was as disorientating as John Wick made it look; they could barely make out anything, or notice that it was Chara who had intercepted between the two and who had a solid arm up against Susie. They were yelling something at her, and she pushed their arm off them before running off. They blinked and now hands were grabbing at them and pulling them up to their feet.
“ Hey, are you alright?” Chara’s voice was practically in their ear and they nodded, regaining their balance as the crowd quickly dispersed in disappointment. “Christ, who was that?”
“ Just uhm-- just a classm -- just a,” They took a breath, “--- I need to sit down.”
Chara lead them to a comfortable spot on a hard as hell home bar table, where Chara managed to get them a drink.
“ Man, I thought for sure you were going to get your ass kicked there for a second, it freaked me out.”
Someone had made the galaxy brain idea of digging out a vacuum and sucking the punch from the carpet, and even then you could see the very, very light tint of lemonade-punch. It was adequate, however, for them, and Susie was nowhere in sight --- thought most of them were just itching to get back to playing Smash .
“ Hey, i’m sorry about that,” Chara jumped onto the bar table and wrapped an arm around Kris. It was…. An odd gesture, but they didn’t fight it. “ I should’ve known not to drink punch on carpets, ha.”
“ Yeah, you should’ve.” They nudged them jokingly.
“ I think it is time we go home. Don’t think we’re too welcomed here.”
Something about Chara was… softer now, more gentle. Not kinder, as they were very kind, but just not as brash and demanding. They felt like an older sibling in that moment, really, looking after Kris, and it was weird and strange but very…. Comforting.
They made their way through the house, Chara’s arm still slung over Kris, and the outside air was especially nice for their oncoming headache. They walked along the sidewalk in silence for a moment.
“ That was fun,” Kris giggled.
“ Hell yeah, glad it could be. Thanks for showing me around.”
“ Yeah,” Kris nodded their head. Something else was on their mind though.
“ You’re…. You’re pretty cool,” they say, stopping in the midst of the sidewalk. Chara seemed caught off guard by the sentiment and gave them a confused look before laughing.
“ Where’s that coming from? All I did was sneak you out a window and nearly get your ass kicked at a house party.”
“ Yeah, but it was fun. You’re a lot of fun to be around.”
A sad smile crossed Chara’s face, and they looked away for a few seconds before returning back at a better attempt at something happier.
“ Thanks. And… thanks for letting me just, come into your family, or whatever this is. I can’t remember having this much fun in a long time.”
Was it sap-o-clock right now? Because it sure felt like it, but --- but that was alright.
It was weird, but Kris felt like they and Chara were a lot a like, and their awkward attempts at compliments just sort of superglued that idea together harder.
“ I feel bad for that Susie kid, though.” Chara said. “ She said something about her parents getting her for that spill. I hope she’ll be alright.”
“ She’s tough though,” Kris tried to interject to keep a pit from forming in their stomach.
“ Yeah, but nobody deserves that.”
The silence was a bit too much now, dwelling on it. Chara seemed genuinely moved by the instance and it was bit unnerving, the way their eyes glazed with a sort of sadness to it and their shoulders slouched. They had seen it, when they were at the front steps that first day, that look of…. Helplessness. It came out sometimes. They always wondered about it.
“ Yo, cop car.” Chara broke the silence with, pointing at a small vehicle just a block back from them. They bolted faster than an Olympic runner home, completely forgetting the moment.
Chara practically used the dresser as a pommel horse back into the room, while Kris simply fumbled and fell through the window onto the floor. In moments they were back in their position in the bedroom, Kris throwing Chara their jacket and collapsing into their bed. It was only a momentary beat of relaxation salvaged after such a night before they heard a knock at their door and Toriel’s face poking through.
“ Oh! You are both here. Well, would either of you like some pie?”
Kris groaned while Chara raised their hand, “ I’d love a piece, Mrs. Dreemurr.”
Guided downstairs, the party had entirely died out, everybody apparently having headed home just minutes before. As they came down the stairs Asriel nearly jumped from his seat at the kitchen table.
“ Hey, there you guys are !”
“ Boy, I told you I was going upstairs to mess with your sibling,” Chara ruffled the hair on top of Asriel’s head, making sure to dodge the two sets of horns he had. He giggled and the two chatted as Kris made their way to the table, Toriel retrieving the pie.
They all thanked Toriel in unison before digging into the pie, Chara managing an appetite despite all that greasy pizza and fruit punch --- Kris wasn’t so good on the other end, only managing half a slice before feeling like they were going to die.
“ So, what are the plans tomorrow? Anybody gonna show me the sights around here?”
“ Kris can show you around tomorrow, I gotta pack up some more stuff,” Asriel said, jabbing at his leftover crust.
“ Now why Kris? You don’t wanna show your own friend around town, fluffyboy?” They ruffled his fur and it made him giggle.
They talked and tormented each other at the table, and Kris just watched as the two bounced off each other like they always did. It felt nice. It felt like home.
It was weird, but what about this night wasn’t?