Work Text:
“Frisk, are you serious?” You stare up at them, feeling exasperated. They shrug helplessly, sitting precariously on the top branch of the tree. You sigh loudly in response. Frisk had admitted they had never climbed a tree and, of course, you had to find a good, tall tree for them to climb. They did indeed climb it, they didn’t save all of monsterkind by not taking risks, but now—
“Chara, I don’t know how to get down,” Frisk says, looking at you from high above with a sheepish expression on their face.
You sigh again. Welp, only one thing left to do – time to go climb up to them. You hug the trunk and grasp the first branch with ease and pull yourself up. You do this repeatedly until you’re right under Frisk.
They wave at you.
You snort. “Frisk, you think that branch is strong enough for the both of us?”
They press at the branch and then nod their head. You put your hands on it, sticking your tongue out in concentration, and pull yourself up. You sit down on it cautiously and turn your head to grin at Frisk. “Am I cool or what?”
Frisk smiles before tilting their head. “How are we getting down?”
“It’s obvious!” You try and make a dramatic pose. It’s a bit hard sitting on a branch but you succeed. Frisk giggles in response. You then point dramatically at Frisk, “We’re going to wait for someone to get us down with a ladder.”
Frisk laughs and you glance at their legs to make sure they don’t accidentally fall off the branch. Then, they ask, “Then why didn’t you just go get and someone? Why’d you climb up, too?”
You shrug. “I figured it would be funner sitting up here with you with no way to get down than going to get Mom or something.”
Frisk is smiling in that affectionate way you’ve come to see a lot and you feel your cheeks warm up. You turn away and quickly add, “If we’re both stuck, I’ll get in less trouble.”
Frisk remains quiet, but you can tell they’re content. You relax some, too. You remain in a comfortable silence for a while, just taking in the sights from above. Neither of you are in a rush to get down anyway. You think you might’ve seen Sans and turn to point him out to Frisk, but they’re staring at your legs. You tilt your head.
“What’s up?”
Frisk brings their gaze to your eyes. They ask, “How are you sitting like that? Without holding the branch, I mean.”
You blink then look down at yours hands, which are in your lap. You glance at Frisk’s hands and both of them are gripping the branch.
“Oh,” you say. “I’ve climbed a lot of trees in the past. I’m pretty used to sitting on a branch for a while.”
Frisk furrows their eyebrows. “Then why did you say there’s no way to get down? You could still get down by yourself, right?”
“Well,” you draw out. “I don’t know how to climb down.”
“How did you climb a lot of trees, but not know how to get down?” Frisk asks curiously.
You look away from them. Ah, right.
Frisk hesitantly calls your name after a moment.
You gaze at all the houses, the gardens, the park, the school. Then, you reply, “I would just jump off.”
Frisk doesn’t say anything, and you continue, “I would climb up to the very top of the tree. Then, I would just jump off.”
You have nothing else to say and Frisk understands. You know they do.
You glance back at them when you feel a pull on your sleeve. Frisk is holding your sleeve tightly. You pull your sleeve away from their touch and they let go immediately. They understand that, too. But, instead of moving away like you usually would, you take their hand.
They’re surprised. Quickly though, Frisk holds your hand tightly. Or maybe you’re holding theirs tightly. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that the two fallen children will keep each other from falling again.
There's another silence, but it's warm and comforting, and it's weird to think that you're both ghosts in a different timeline. You shake those thoughts away. There's only this timeline to think about and that's all that matters.
You let go of their hand first. Frisk gives your hand a squeeze before taking their hand away. You look down at the ground again.
“Frisk,” you say after a few moments. You take a breath, “Let’s try to climb down.”
When they don’t answer immediately, you look at them. They’re smiling at you in that warm way again and it’s just too much to handle. Stupid Frisk. You rip your eyes away to focus on your hands and how you’ll get down.
“Climb carefully, okay?” they say, without really needing to. Or maybe they did. Who knows?
“Okay,” you agree anyway. You grip the branch with both hands and slowly drop a leg down to settle on the branch below. You do this as carefully – you glance at Frisk – as you can. It’d be easier if Frisk went first, since they’re the closest to the trunk of the tree, but Frisk would feel more comfortable if you went down first, you’re pretty sure. And, judging by the shy smile they have, you’re right.
“It’s basically the same as you went up,” you say to them. “Just test a branch before you fully step on it.”
They give you a thumbs up and wait for you to go down one more branch. As you get yourself down to another branch, they start climbing down, too. You hiss as Frisk nearly kicks you in the face going too fast.
They apologize. “Are you okay?”
You roll your eyes. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Oh, that’s a re-leaf.”
You cringe at the pun. But, admittedly, it was pretty good. You hurry and go down another branch, ignoring Frisk’s grin. You get a pretty good rhythm going and you think to yourself that this is easier than you thought.
“Almost done,” you say, more to yourself than anything. You grip the branch you’re on, swing your legs down, feel the branch, let go. You grip the branch you’re on, swing your legs down, feel the branch, let go. You grip the branch you’re on, swing your legs down, let go.
Oh no.
You got too excited and forgot to feel for the branch. You panic because you’re still too far from the ground to safely land. You realize that you should probably try and move, land on your back or something, but the only thing moving is one of your hands above your head, still trying to grasp at the branch. The whole point of this was not falling again. You hope that your pocketknife doesn’t jab you or something on the landing.
Suddenly, you stop falling. Your hand is holding something. You blink your eyes a few times and look upward. Frisk is holding your hand. You both just stare at each other. Frisk looks scared and relieved at the same time, a weird combination. They must’ve jumped down two branches at once to grab you, the idiot. You try calling them that, but nothing comes out. You only mouth their name and you’re pretty sure it’s synonymous for good or amazing or saviour.
Suddenly, time starts again for you and you realize how heavy you must be. Frisk is physically weak, they're not going to be able to hold you much longer. You hurry to bring your other hand up to grasp the branch Frisk is on. You pull yourself up and sit yourself down so that you can take a breath. You make sure Frisk isn’t going to topple over and just breathe for a while.
You feel like you should say something after a point, but you really don’t know how to say it. Instead, you head-butt Frisk’s shoulder, the only affectionate act you really know how to do. They make a small noise in response. You figure they get what you mean and you rest your head on their shoulder, looking at their dumb double-striped shirt. You feel them lay their head on yours and you blush and sit right up. Too much.
“Let’s go down now.” You’re pretty sure you stammer as you say it, but you’ll pretend you say it calmly.
You both make your way down and when you touch the real, solid ground, you’re relieved. Your arms feel a bit sore and you really just want to go rest. You pat the tree twice.
Frisk is shaking their hands out when you look back at them. Once they catch you looking, they get this soft smile on their face. You curse your pale skin and start walking the way home. Frisk rushes to meet your stride and you slow down, just a little.
"Frisk," you say.
"Hm?"
You don't answer. You meant their name as a statement, really. You almost reach for their hand, but stop. You don't think you're ready to initiate that warm feel-y stuff. Instead, you grasp their sleeve with your fingers. They still hum delightedly in response, and that's embarrassing. You shuffle a little away from Frisk, still holding onto their sleeve. They're pouting or something, and that's also embarrassing. Stupid, dumb, Frisk. You move a hair closer. You can tell they're looking at you. You feel like looking at them, too, but you don’t. This is just too embarrassing. Instead, you look ahead, Frisk walking alongside you, and you think that this is alright.