Chapter Text
Through the tinted window of a jet-black limo, a blurry mass of spectators stand in wait beside the curb. The vehicle slows to a stop, and the door reveals flashes of light illuminating a crimson-red pathway. The two rows of velvet rope keep the ocean of fans, photographers, and newspeople in their cordoned areas. From his transportation, a slim orange cat emerges. Dressed in a black suit, with sunglasses hooked onto the breast pocket, and a smile as sharp as a knife's edge. A roar of cheers follows the reveal of this appraised actor. With a single motion, he un-sheaths his sunglasses, flicks the arms open, and rests them on his face. He struts, watching the left row of his spectators. But he walks past the sea of cheering fans, his vision is locked far beyond any TV camera crew or interviewer... he's looking for someone. And with a few more paces, he spots him. In a modest black suit, white shirt, and purple tie; With a camera around his neck and the beaming light of an expectant smile. There's the golden boy, Just as he promised. The cat approaches the rope and towers past its boundary to face him. Security has to hold back his adoring fans.
"So you made it, my V.I.P." The cat gives the photographer a smirk, as he leans over the soft boundary.
"I'd never miss something like this, tiger." The two trade creeping smiles before the feline speaks up.
"One more thing before I go."
He grasps the purple tie of the photographer and pulls him into a kiss. Strobes of light flicker around them in all directions. As the Cat pulls back he unbuttons his suit jacket...
"Here's your glamour shot." And with one fluid arch, he steps away, his jacket whipped, floating in the air; Almost in slow-motion.
The photographer's right hand raises the camera to his face, the lens focusing his sight on the star. With a push of a button, a flash of light engulfs his field of view.
The excitement of the crowd boils over into cheering... "Pete! Peter. Peetza... peezurr..."
"PIZZAPANTS!" Asriel shakes the napping cat. "Wake up! Your alarm's been going off for ten minutes!"
"Haah..." Pizzapants is drooling, "imma starr...." he smiles as his eyes open slightly.
"Yeah, sure. 'Superstar Pete'. Now get up before I drag you off that couch." he steps away while adjusting the loose drawstring knot of his grey sweatpants.
Pizzapants gets up and rubs his head. "Man, you've always gotta interrupt the good dreams..."
"Well I'll have you know, YOUR alarm, interrupted MY relaxing shower! You had it coming." Asriel picks up his duffle bag, "Besides... I've got a surprise for you!"
"Oh, yeah?"
Pizzapants follows Asriel into the bathroom. Greeted by their reflections, Pizzapants looks at himself with excitement. And just as quickly as he smiles, he sinks back into a disappointed frown.
"What the hell is this?"
Asriel smirks at him. Pizzapants is wearing an Ill-fitting green lizard costume from some platforming game...
"What? I thought you'd like it?" Asriel adjusts the sleeves of his red pullover and raises his denim overalls. "I thought we'd go as a pair! And I KNOW you didn't have a better costume planned."
"Hey! I could've planned our costumes!" Pizzapants lets out, leading Asriel to give him a doubtful look. "Uhh... We could just put on some suits and get some glasses? Like the guys from that movie?" Pizzapants gives a weary smile at Asriel. He isn't buying it.
"Oh, yeah? Like the brown suit that's three times bigger than you hanging in your closet?"
"HEY! How did you-" Pizzapants stammors.
"Don't yell at me! YOU'RE the one who gave me the tour of the place! Your 'wardrobe' was the first thing you showed me when I got here."
Oh yes, that's right. Yesterday, Asriel walked Pizzapants home from his evening shift in preparation for the morning shift the next day. Even then, he was barely lucid. By the time they made it through the door, some force possessed Pizzapants to be a 'hospitable host' to his 'new guest'. Even though Asriel has definitely been to this apartment before. Sadly, 'Pizzapants cribs' was interrupted by a glass of milk, a turkey sandwich, and the drearyness that took hold of him.
"Man," Asriel shakes his head, "my roommate after a party can walk better than you after a shift..."
"HEY! IT'S NO MAN'S LAND IN THERE!" Pizzapants can't take this slander anymore.
The two begin to bicker. They bicker some more, and as they squabble at each other, Pizzapants blindly follows Asriel out the door of his apartment, down the stairs, and out onto the sidewalk toward Toriel's house.
Asriel finds a break in Pizzapants' barrage of defensive retorts "Well, at least we've got matching costumes. We'll make a cute pair for the party!" he smiles at Pizzapants.
"Yeah... You look like a ten-year-old farmer's boy, and I'm a fluorescent dinosaur. Real cute pair."
"Yes. Very cute-" Asriel's smile fades as he connects the dots. "HEY! I'm not a farmer's boy!"
They laugh as they approach the door to Toriel's house. There are decorations littering the lawn and the doorway. Spider-webs and caution tape, plastic gravestones that are engraved with friendly greetings, and all of the pumpkins have smiles carved into them. VERY intimidating.
Asriel swings open the door. "Hello everyone-" He opens his eyes and sees only Kris standing in the kitchen, rolling out some dough on the countertop.
"Oh." Asriel continues, "Hey, Kris!"
Kris leans backward from the kitchen counter and with a smirk mouths a 'hey' back at him.
"Wow." Pizzapants looks to Asriel. "Nice party you've got here."
"Yeah, where is everybody, Kris?"
Before Kris can respond, the bathroom door swings open with what looks like a large shadow stepping out.
"Hey, Kris! What do you think of the cos-" Susie looks at the two visitors in matching attire and tries to hold back a laugh. "Uhh... where'd you guys come from?"
Pizzapants shoots her a tired look as he speaks through his teeth. "The door."
The eyes of the group shift from the new arrivals back to Susie. Seems like she's going as the Grim Reaper. Oh yeah. Killer. The black cloak? Ominus fabric from the craft store. The hand-stitched craftsmanship? Sinister work from the Toriel herself. The poorly scaled plastic scythe on the table? That's just from that retail store that always pops up this season...
Petrified from her attire, Asriel lifts a shaky finger at Susie... "Oh my god... It's a monster!!"
Everyone in the room gives a confused expression at Asriel.
"*Ahem* Let me rephrase:" he returns to his exaggerated pose, "A SCARY monster!!"
"Nice save, Azzy." Pizzapants elbows him.
"Heh, thanks guys," Susie says with a smirk. "I was worried I wouldn't top the time I went as myself."
Kris looks to Susie, "Don't forget the box."
"Oh, yeah. That was a good one. And you guys are scary too... I guess." she eyes the red guy and the green dino-dude. "Psst, Kris.!" She leans to them with a hushed tone, "I can't remember that other guy."
"Dude. We played that game like two days ago." Kris isn't whispering.
"No, I mean the guy." Susie and Kris look back at Pizzapants. Who raises an eyebrow in response.
Kris gets the slightest upward curl of the mouth, as they stare at Pizzapants. "Oh, him? His name is..."
Pizzapants' eyes grow wide in realization of the power Kris holds at this moment. He starts breathing, heavily, his face shrinks, and he's sweating. (Specifically in the places where his now shrunken face has made room for.)
"His name is Pete." Kris says with a smirk.
"Uhh... Okay???" Susie's eyebrows remain squared trying to process what the hell is going on.
As Kris continued making pie crusts, creaking stomps come from the stairs nearby. Toriel rounds the corner and spots everyone in the living room.
"Oh! I didn't hear you two come in!" She steps into the kitchen, getting a better look at the boys' costumes. "And what an adorable pairing!" She giggles behind her hand.
Asriel has his glowing smile and Pizzapants sinks back into his sour expression. Toriel finally spots Susie in full costume.
"It looks like our hard work paid off, Susie! It looks wonderful all put together like this." Toriel looks to the counter. "Oh Kris, thank you for your help. You should join us in your costume!"
Kris nods, finishes pressing the second pie crust into the pan, and rinses their hands before darting off up the stairs.
With a pause in conversation, the group takes a closer look at Toriel's costume. She's wearing a long black robe with purple cloth tied around the waist acting as a belt. Small glass bottles of various colors are tied with string on the cloth. She also has a hat with its own purple belt accessory.
Asriel shakes his head, "Mom, you can't keep wearing the witch costume every year."
"Well Asriel, this year I have something special to go with this costume. Besides, I didn't stop you from digging up that dinosaur costume you used to love so much! ... Even if you're not wearing it yourself."
As Toriel giggles behind her hand, Pizzapants tries to shake off the attention. (And the heat from his face at the realization that he's in Asriel's costume.)
"Wait... something new? You practice your alchemy or somethin'?" Pizzapants points to the bottles.
"Close, but not quite," Toriel says with a smile. Stepping backward to the kitchen counter, she grabs a cookbook from a standee. "I've been practicing my 'conjurings'! Would you like to see?"
Everybody leans in for a better view. As well as Susie rapidly bobbing her head up and down in excitement. Toriel's smile retracts into a serious face with her gaze drifting over recipes for pastries. She closes her eyes and slightly raises her head...
"Dulce frumentum, revela te!" 1
She quickly moves her hand from behind her back toward the dining room table, where a small glass dish slides to a stop. It's full of candy corn. Toriel stands tall holding the cookbook close to her with a big grin.
Pizzapants is at a loss for words. "That's uhh... pretty cool stuff... I think..."
His eyes drift over toward Toriel but get caught on Susie's befuddlement.
"HEY! YOU JUST HELD THAT BEHIND YOUR BACK AND SAID SOME FAKE WORDS!" Susie points an accusatory finger at Toriel, who giggles behind the book before closing it.
"Oh, my! I've been caught red-handed!" She sets the book down with a shrug, "Oh, well. Back to the basics, then."
With a snap of a finger, she points to her hat before lifting it to reveal the base of one of her horns. And with her free hand, she un-hooks the candy cane lying there to present to the purple lizard. There are no words to describe the earth-shattering levels of amazement sculpted on Suse's face.
Asriel is unenthused. "Aren't those a little out of season?"
"Oh, Noelle came by a little while before you boys arrived. And you know how these things always come with the holidays." Toriel swings the candy cane around.
Pizzapants' wit finally catches up to him "Wait, was there actually a party we missed? 'Cause I can't stomach any more leftovers."
Everyone looks at the myriad of baking supplies and ingredients lying on the kitchen counter.
"Err... figuratively, I mean." Nice save, Pizzapants.
Asriel turns to Pizzapants, "Every Halloween the Library hosts some event for anyone who shows up. Noelle is probably volunteering for 'Read n' Treat' this year."
Toriel's eyes light up, "Ah, Kris sent me a picture from her, let me show you." Toriel 'conjures' her phone from a pouch on her belt, slides her glasses down her snout, and slowly retrieves the photo from her text conversations. It's Noelle, in a white and gold sweater. (This is as 'autumn'
as her wardrobe gets.) She stands beside Birdly, turning toward the camera from his book sorting. He looks like some smug lawyer-type in an old-timey coat and accessories.
Pizzapants laughs to himself and elbows Asriel, "Hah! Nice jabot3 dude! Look at that brooch!"
Asriel rubs his arm. "Maybe you'll get a kick out of Kris' costume. I'm pretty sure they're a vampire this year... or maybe they-"
At the mention of this name queues a rumble from the stairs... and the arch of a leaping shadow, before hitting the ground. Kris stands tall in an AWESOME muscular costume of a cape-wearing, horned-masked, yellow-logoed superhero. (The yellow ellipse logo has 'A.Kris' scribbled on it.) The room is quiet in awe of the appearance of this vigilante...
"AWESOME KRIS!!!2" Susie lets with excitement, "I promise won't reveal your secret identity, heh!" She says to them, with an elbow to their side.
Kris' smirk grows and grows. They're the best butt-kicking, smartest villain-huntin' vigilante in all of Hometown. (Even if they're kinda the only one) Asriel laughs to himself before speaking up to Kris.
"You know, you didn't have to spend half your allowance just to wear a cape and some eyeliner."
Kris' joy immediately returns to their usual stone-faced scowl.
Pizzapants turns to Asriel, "Nah, they wanted that Utility belt! Vampires don't get those!" The boys giggle to themselves.
Kris has had enough. "I don't need a belt! And the cape is cool!" They're pointing at themselves with their thumb, "I'm a grown MAN! I can be whatever I want to be!"
A new level of silence this house has never heard before stills the air. Everyone around Kris is stunned at the words that just bounced around the walls of this room.
"Man as in human, guys. Calm down."
The entire room exhales in unison.
Toriel and Asriel stand by the kitchen countertop with rolled sleeves preparing the pies for later in the evening. Pizzapants, Susie, and Kris are on the couch watching the 'Channel 55, SPR 1-10 Horror Movie Marathon'.
Pizzapants shakes his head away from the empty space he was staring at hearing the music from the TV. "Oh man, I love this one! Have either of you seen this before?"
Susie stares blankly at the screen "Nah, I don't think so. It's all old stuff anyway. They won't show anything cool until the little kids go to bed."
Kris nods as best they can in their fully slouched posture.
"What!? Old!?" Pizzapants recoils a little bit as the title text rolls into the frame. "'Strange Meadow Lurker' has one of the best performances In Jacquing Oeüffe's4 WHOLE career in horror film!"
"Well if you like him so much why don't you marry him?" Susie says with a smirk.
Pizzapants shakes his head at the dismissal of horror film history. "He's err... not my type." he rolls his head so Asriel's in his view.
Asriel tips the milk carton toward the measuring cup... and only a drop comes out. He looks at Toriel,
"Do we have any more milk, mom?"
"Hm? Isn't that the only carton of milk?"
"That's what I'm asking you..." Asriel replies. The two pause in a moment of realization.
"Oh... I thought I could've waited another few days to get groceries..." Toriel stops whisking the bowl in front of her to check the containers on the counter. "Would you mind running an errand for me, Asriel?"
"Sure. Me and Pete could run to the store and back." Asriel looks to the couch. "Hey, Pete? You mind a trip to the store?"
Pizzapants' eyebrows scrunch up, "What do I look like, your personal butler?"
"No, I mean with me." Asriel clarifies, Pizzapants' face relaxes as his mouth shrinks a little.
"Oh. Uhh... sure. itsgettingalittlewarminhereanyways..." he trails off...
Overhearing the prospect of going out and killing time outside, Susie's head perks up.
"Hey!" she nudges Kris, while looking at Toriel "Can we go outside, too? We'll be all responsible-like!"
Toriel looks over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow, only to see Kris and Susie already assuming an upright posture with a wide, toothy grin.
"No. You already have the responsibility of helping me hand out treats for tonight." She smiles as the two slouch back into the couch with a groan.
"Aww... Sorry Kris, I thought it'd work this time." Susie sinks even further into the cushion.
Asriel and Pizzapants approach the front door.
"Well..." Toriel turns and faces them. "The library event has never gotten many visitors... So if you two would like to give Noelle and Berdly a visit, I wouldn't oppose." she says with a smile.
After a brief moment of astounded eye contact, Kris and Susie almost break the door down.
"What're you waiting for? Let's go already!" Susie says as Kris and she leans into the door.
Asriel chuckles, "We'll be back."
Toriel smiles and waves them off. "Kris, do call when you get there? Oh, and they're invited to visit if their parents give permission!"
Kris nods as they race Susie to the end of the driveway.