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Why is your hair hanging in front of your face a different color?
“What in the hell just happened!?”
And why is Ralsei swearing? He’s never cursed before. Sounds like he’s angry. You’ve never heard him be angry before. How come he’s angry like this?
“Um...This wasn’t supposed to happen.”
That’s...you...asking that. Your voice. Your hand feels weird scratching your head in reflex to hearing your own voice speak without you. Is that what Ralsei is angry about? Does it feel strange to him too? Doesn’t really explain why you heard your own voice speak though. Maybe if you scratch with your other hand it’ll feel better?
No, no it doesn’t.
“Kris! Fix this mess!!”
You open your mouth to speak.
“I-I-It's not something I c-c-can fix!”
But again your voice speaks outside of you.
“A-and I’m Ralsei!!” adds your voice. “Your face is so scary...”
No, you’re not. You’re Kris. Your voice is Kris. So why is your voice saying that it’s Ralsei? And who’s face is so scary?
You lift up the hair in front of your face to reveal a large, pink muzzle covering the bottom of your vision. Out of the corner of your eye just above the spiky bracelet on your pink upper arm bent to help your hand scratch your head you see...you...and Ralsei, with his fist raised threateningly over...you. Your face is sobbing and your body is cowering underneath the raised, fluffy fist and the rapid-fire spewing of curses uttered through clenched teeth by Ralsei’s mouth. “You said you knew what the symbols on the cards represented, Ralsei, if that is you!” ends the final threat after some more cursing. “Have we changed with each other!? Is that what you’re saying? How do we change back? Are we stuck like this?”
Changed with each other?
Guess you’re in Susie’s body then. That explains the pink on you and the bracelet on your arm, at least. Same with your own voice speaking and your own body moving on its own too. Being stuck as Susie might a problem though, you realize. Mostly with how your clothes back home won’t fit you any longer.
Although...maybe Asriel’s clothes will fit? Could be that Susie has the same size has him? You decide to check. You fail to as your neck can’t turn around enough for you to get a good glimpse at the tag at the back of the neck-hole of the purple shirt you’re wearing. Seems like you have to take it off.
“M-maybe t-the symbols a-are d-different f-for t-this Fount-tain!” your voice defends meekly. It’s weird to your ears, but that could be because you’re listening through Susie’s.
Her black vest slips easily off your arms and folds neatly in your hands. With some taps on Ralsei’s shoulders you reach it over to him. “Hold this, please.” You need both of your hands for Susie’s shirt and the vest will become dirty if you just leave it on the ground. Might even blow away with the warm colorful breeze from the fountain. Better if someone holds it.
With the black vest grabbed absentmindedly by angry Ralsei you grab the bottom of Susie’s shirt and begin lifting it up.
“Didn’t you write it down in your Manual, Ralsei? Why did you- What’s this?”
The neck-hole gets stuck on Susie’s chin and you have to awkwardly bend your head down to get if off.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!”
You look over to the side with Susie’s shirt hung from both your hands. “I’m checking the size tag,” you explain. The wind from the Fountain brushes against your bare skin, making it fluster into a more pink color. “It’s XL.”
“DON’T LIE TO ME!!”
Don’t lie to whom, exactly? And no, you weren’t lying.
With one sleeve over your own eyes and another pointing angrily to those you’re looking through at the moment, Ralsei screams with vigor. “Why the hell would the magical clothes that we get magically when we enter here have size tags!?” His eyes have completely fallen into darkness with the rest of his fur staying the same glistening white. A very similar darkness takes a hold of your looking-through eyes as Ralsei throws Susie’s jacket in your face where it slides down and hangs from your muzzle. “Put my clothes back on again or I’ll snap your neck!”
“Yours or Kris’? Um… Yours or mine? I mean, Kris’ and mine?” asks...you, which earns...you...a bonk on the head.
Ralsei then turns back to you, not...you, and extends a foreboding finger that quivers with anger. “If you so much as tilt your head down to look I’m killing you, Kris! Both of you!”
“But it’s true,” you defend while bending Susie’s shirt so that the laundry tag is visible to Ralsei. You look down to read off it. “Hand-washed, hung-dried, and-”
Your jaw shuts close by Ralsei throwing his fist at it from below. The hit dazes you, as does the strange feeling of Ralsei’s furry fist hitting you on the chin that’s so far away from your face. Before you can regain your bearings Susie’s purple shirt is draped over you with haste. It flicks at your muzzle like a springboard, and the bracelets on your arms rip through the fabric all the way from the bottom up to its shoulders. Your arms are stuck inside the shirt as Ralsei drapes Susie’s vest over the broad, pink shoulders.
“Alright!” he declares with a heavy sigh. “Let’s get things clear!” One swipe of his hand over to you. “Kris is in my body!” One swipe over to...you. “Ralsei is in Kris’ body!” One last swipe to himself. “I’m Susie in Ralsei’s body! We call us by our real names and not the name of the body we are in!”
You nod, as does Ralsei, according to Susie’s request.
“Alright,” declares Susie with a lesser sigh. “Now how do we fix this, Ralsei?”
You watch in your fabric-cocoon as Ralsei stands himself up on your shaky legs. He averts Susie’s look while he pushes up your scarf over your mouth. “M-my... Y-your f-face is s-still scary, Susie.”
Susie sighs for a third time and pushes up two fingers to rub her eyes. They bounce against Ralsei’s glasses, startling her. It’s enough to change the expression she has on Ralsei’s face though. Your scarf lowers from your mouth and Ralsei begins to explain.
“L-like I said, this is not something I can fix. We’ll have to go to your world and change the corresponding cards, I believe.”
“Back to school?” piques Susie with disbelief summoned in Ralsei’s voice. She looks back at you, and shakes Ralsei’s head so hard his hat begins sliding with the shake. “No.” She points at you standing stuck. “No way am I risking Kris being me in our world.”
“It’s t-the only way though,” repeats Ralsei pleadingly. “How else are we gonna change it?”
Susie takes off Ralsei’s glasses this time as she pinches the bridge of his nose. “Quick.” With an annoyed grunt she replaces the glasses. “We do it quick. Quicker than quick!” She looks to Ralsei and you in turn. “Right?”
You both nod.
“Good.” She swallows before beckoning you to take lead. “You first Kris, as usual.” Before you can take a step though she holds up Ralsei’s palm against you. “Not. A. Word. From. My. Mouth. Got it?”
You nod.
And are allowed to lead the way into the fountain.
As you take a first step though Susie’s vest slips off one of your pink shoulders and gets caught in step’s back-swing on her shoe, causing you to fall forward. With your pink arms locked inside Susie’s shirt you can’t brace against the ground and land flat on her chin with a loud thud and accompanying cough. Your chest gets hurt in a way you’ve never felt it hurt before.
“Kris!” shouts Ralsei with your own voice as he runs over to help you up. Susie buries Ralsei’s face inside his hands, shaking his head while muttering quiet curses that slips through the white fingers.
“Oh it is hand-wash only,” notices Ralsei as he lifts you up again. “Good thing you found out.” Once you’re up he tucks the laundry tag back inside Susie’s shirt. “I was thinking of magically laundering it after our adventure today. Would’ve most likely shrunk it.”
Your heart skips a beat for some strange reason.
Like a window blown open by a storm, Susie removes Ralsei’s hands from his face. “What,” she states. “Our clothes here really have laundry tags?” She begins to turn Ralsei’s heads around, but decides against it halfway. “You know what, nevermind. Let’s just get this over with.” She takes the lead herself instead, stopping just before the edge of the Fountain to wait in you and Ralsei. “Just remember to act like the one we look as and this should be over smoothly.”
Stepping into the Fountain is both familiar and strange at the same time. The way you change back isn’t the same. You’re not sure if it feels better or worse.
Different, definitely.
The scrambled three of you exit from a classroom door out into one of your school’s hallway. You look over to your side to see that your body and clothes is back to its normal state. You guess that Susie’s body is the same, but you don’t confirm it since if you look down she’ll most likely punch you again. Would be a bit suspicious if Ralsei was to attack Susie in the middle of the hallway, after all. Him attacking Susie in general would be weird, it’s not exactly confined to the school hallway, but it wouldn’t really make it less suspicious either if he attacked her here.
Susie’s arms that you wear seem to have untangled themselves though, and are tucked snugly inside her jacket that she normally wears. You repress the urge to flex.
“The closet is just around the corner and straight down, and-”
“Kris? What are you doing outside class?”
You turn around to your mother moving quickly down the hallway towards you and your friends, one of which is you, with her brow furrowed hard in your, plural your, direction. “Sorry, mo-” you begin to apologize, but you’re interrupted by Ralsei’s surprisingly sharp elbow in your side sent by Susie.
“And you too, Ralsei!”
Both Susie and Ralsei are grabbed by the collar and lifted up by Toriel, much to Susie’s surprise. “I thought better of you two. Class has already started.” Toriel casts a narrow and suspicious look at you through her small glasses. “You come with me too, Susie.”
You look down to Susie in Ralsei’s body to see what to do, but even with her trying her best to spin around by throwing Ralsei’s shoulder to the side, you can’t see what she’s trying to mouth to you. With her advice out of your sight you choose to act like you think Susie would act in this situation. You tuck one hand into your jeans pocket and slouch backwards while tsk-ing to the side.
“Fuck off, you old goat.”
You’ll apologize to Susie for breaking your promise later. You also make a mental note to apologize to your mom later as well.
A note is added first about how angry your mom can get, apparently. “Is that so?” drips from her tongue slicked with poison. Effortlessly she moves Ralsei’s body to her other side and grabs it with her hand busy holding your body. With her now freed hand she slowly grips one arm of her glasses and lowers them. “We’ll have a talk about this language of yours later, dear child.” Her gaze is burning, piercing through you like a spear as she looks into Susie’s eyes that you’re using. “At detention later this afternoon.” After a stern nod she replaces her glasses and redistributes the held collars back to one on each of her hands.
You look down to Susie again, but all you can see is Ralsei’s face stunned and his body gently turning side-to-side with his glasses teetering on falling off his face. You look over to Ralsei in your body, who’s not sure how to act at all!
“You’re staying in the hallway until detention, young monster. Don’t follow us, Susie.”
And with those final words Toriel carries Ralsei and Susie off to class, leaving only you alone in the quiet hallway.
Maybe you should doubly apologize to Susie later, now that you think about it.
Then you wait until you hear your mom storm off into her office and slam the door behind her. Then a couple of more extra seconds just to be sure that she isn’t coming out of it again. With the echo having died down you begin walking only to realize that you’re still shaking from her gaze.
Triple apologize, you note.
And head towards your classroom.
Once you’re close enough to see in through the window to where Susie and Ralsei are sitting with very befuddled expressions on their respective other faces you lean Susuie’s back onto the lockers. You fold her arms like she usually does to not bring suspiscion. Inside one of her jacket’s breast-pockets you find a piece of chalk which you let rest on her lower lip.
It tastes really bad.
Should only be until Alphys asks for someone to fetch new chalks though like she always does to buy some time to collect herself after flubbing some of her curriculum. Not long at all. You close your eyes like Susie does when she waits.
You almost fall asleep waiting.
“Susie?” a curious voice asks, snapping you out of your almost-sleep. How long has it been? “What have you done this time?”
You look down to the giggling doe monster hiding her buck-teeth behind her hand.
“Oh, I didn’t mean to laugh at you,” she replies with a blush warming up her cheeks. “I meant that its more that I caught myself being surprised seeing you outside the classroom again. I shouldn’t really be surprised, that’s why I laughed.” Her blush heats up to burning as she tries to backtrack from what she just said. “I m-mean...not like that. You’re s-still in class m-more than you’re out here in the h-hallway. I just...”
As Noelle looks down bashfully you take the opportunity to glance in through the classroom door window to Susie and Kris. What stares back at you is the same burning gaze your mom gave you earlier in the hallway, but from Ralsei’s eyes this time. You can see Ralsei in your body behind Susie in his body trying to calm Susie down as best and as subtly as he can.
He’s not being very successful with either parts.
“Susie,” exhales Noelle like a cough. “I’m visiting my dad at the hospital later tonight, and I need to move some stuff over there for him. Could you...help me?” She turns around dramatically. “You’re strong, that’s why I’m asking. The strongest one I know. I’m sure dad will send us to QC’s Diner as thanks afterwards, if that’s enough payment for you.”
You shouldn’t really answer in Susie’s stead, but again that would be something that Susie definitely would agree on. You again shoot a glance through the classroom door window to her.
Angrily, Susie shakes Ralsei’s head.
Noelle’s looking the other way though, and Susie forbid you from speaking. You’ve already broken that promise once already, and there’s only so many times you can apologize before it loses weight.
So you audibly sigh, and mumble while you shrug as haphazardly as you can. The answer rushes up Noelle’s spine like a cold shiver, and she emits a quiet meep as her cheeks turn red as blood. “I-I’ll s-s-see y-you l-later then!” She then hurriedly walks around the hallway corner and disappears with only a faint giggle behind her.
As you turn Susie’s head back towards your own classroom the door explodes open with Susie dragging Ralsei behind her. Ralsei’s mouth is baring with angry teeth, and the look Susie’s piercing you with his eyes has only increased in strength. You angle your head down to your own body clinging for dear life on Ralsei’s robe. “I tried...” apologizes Ralsei with your voice. “I didn’t know I was this strong.”
“We’ll be getting those chalks now, Alphys!” Susie shouts back into the classroom.
“I didn’t ask you t-”
The answer is interrupted by Susie slamming the door shut after throwing Ralsei clinging to her onto the floor so that your legs that he’s curling up don’t get severed by the closing door.
“Chalks,” she repeats with a forceful nod towards the hallway corner which Noelle just rounded. You don’t have time to say that before Susie stomps off towards it. With Ralsei’s soft feet her raging march is almost inaudible.
Once she manages around the corner she freezes in place, staring straight forward past the wall. “Oh, Ralsei,” coughs Noelle from around the corner. “Why are you here?”
“I...” Susie looks back at you with Ralsei’s eyes that shift from unmistakably hers to indistinguishable from being Ralsei’s. “I...was just wondering where you went, Noelle.”
You look down to Ralsei in your own body to confirm that he’s still in there. He is, which does little to help your confusion as to what you’re hearing.
That Susie is talking exactly like Ralsei.
From underneath the green robe Susie gestures for you Ralsei and you to stand where you are, but it takes a while for the two of you to realize that. Not that you had any thoughts of moving at all. “I was worried about you leaving. Is it something about your father? How is he?” You’re just listening, mesmerized!
“Y-yes,” answers Noelle after a pause. “Thank you, Ralsei. I asked Susie if she could help me though.”
One of Ralsei’s eyes twitches. “I see. Well I’m sure she’ll be of the best help. She’s a really good friend.”
Another long and bashful pause passes by.
“Yes, yes she is.”
And another one.
“I...I need to go to him now. I’ll see you tomorrow, Ralsei.”
Susie smiles exactly how Ralsei would until she hears the front doors close. In that moment the smile drains, and she pushes up a balled fist against her mouth to quell a heave. “...I feel sick having to talk like that.”
However, you hear that it is a lie what she is stating. That she’s only doing it to keep up her facade.
You have her ears and are walking in her shoes, after all.
“Chalk,” Susie says for a third time and beckons for you and Ralsei to follow her again, which you do after Ralsei whispers a little something to himself.
“Why did she feel sick talking like me?”
Once in the supply closet again Susie asks you, with naked indignation, to reach up and grab the game board you three used to get near the Fountain that did this all to you three. “You know which symbol means which now, Ralsei?” she asks with an eyebrow raised.
“Did you really feel ill talking like me?” he asks back as he retrieves his manual from underneath your striped sweater. His inexperience with talking using your voice makes it difficult to hear exactly which tone he wanted to get through.
Susie completely ignores it though. “Just tell me which is which!” she spits back. “I want to fix this.”
The sigh Ralsei exhales is again hard to determine with exactly what he wants to get through with it. “Human is this one, monster is this one, and darkner is this one,” he still explains to Susie squatted down next to the game board causing Ralsei’s robe to cover over his feet and make him look incredibly cute. “Put them on here for Kris, here for me, and here for you,” he finishes after taking in how cute he looks.
You guess that he’s learning it for the future.
“And then just enter into the Dark World again?”
Ralsei closes his manual and walks over to where in the room the transportation takes place. “Yes.” You follow him there.
“Alright.” With haste Susie places down the three cards down on the game board. “Fixed!”
The room turns dark and you begin falling down as you’ve done so many times before.
The strange quasi-familiarity returns, although it’s a different different than before. The darkness envelops your eyes, and you drift away.
This isn’t hair in front of your face…
“D-did I s-say w-wrong about c-card was w-which?”
And why is Susie stammering? She’s never been modest before. Sounds like she’s upset that she’s done something wrong. You’ve never heard her be upset that she’d done something wrong before.
“Nope! The cards were correct!”
That’s...you...asking that. Your voice. Your hand feels weird scratching your head. Is that what Susie is stammering about? Does it feel strange to her too? Doesn’t really explain why you heard your own voice speak though. Maybe if you scratch with your other hand it’ll feel better?
Actually it does.
“B-but I’m y-you, Susie...”
“Until my detention is done you’re me! Don’t you dare tilt your chin down during that time, by the way! Kris can punch much harder than you can, Ralsei.”
You sit up, seeing a marvelously soft green robe stretch below the small, white muzzle in your vision.
“You tilt you head down as much as you want though, Kris. I’m now the only one that’s acted normal today at school, so I’m not the one that doesn’t have to explain anything! Hahahahahahaha!” roars your voice with mischievous glee. Susie gets that tone through very clearly with how much she pours into it. “Don’t think I won’t take revenge on what you did before though, Kris! I’m not gonna have to explain anything today, but you’re gonna have to explain so much tomorrow!”
You reach up over your head with a soft and furry hand. Up there you touch something rigid. There’s one on the other side of your head too.
Horns.
And they’re not plastic.
They’re real.
Just like Asriel’s.
You smile.
“Nice.”