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Susie slammed the passenger door with a flourish, and you got out of the driver’s side to follow her. Asgore loaned you the truck for a weekend trip, the summer after you got your learner’s permit. You promised that Asriel would be coming with to watch you drive, in case you got pulled over. You said you had booked a hotel room. You promised him and Toriel that you wouldn’t get into any trouble.
All lies, of course.
“Ralsei? Wake up, man, we’re here!”
Susie’s booming voice echoed across the valley. The bundle of blankets in the truck bed shifted with a groan.
“C’mon, Susie, five more minutes…”
Ralsei rose from the air mattress in the back, rubbing his eyes.
“Why is it so noisy? I thought you guys said we’d be in the middle of nowhere.”
“We are. That’s the cicadas, dude. And crickets. Think I heard an owl or some shit back there.”
The young goat fumbled his glasses onto his face, and opened his eyes. He found himself looking out into a wide gulch in between two mountains, the rest of the Appalachian range stretching out as far as the eye could see. The shimmer of twilight sprinkled across the river far below, piercing through the sea of green treetops.
“Woah. Hooo-ly heck.”
Susie learned over the truck bed and pulled her bookbag out from under the air mattress. She pulled out the cheap table wine you two shoplifted from the gas station on the way here, and the sleeve of red solo cups you’d brought along. She stood three Cuptains up single-file and began pouring.
“It ain’t one of your fancy magic tea parties, but I figured it’d do.”
Each of you took a cup and raised it, clinking plastic together and drinking deeply. You and Ralsei both coughed afterward.
“Oh. Heaven, that’s… awful.” Ralsei choked out, with a grin.
“Right?” you muttered.
Susie shrugged.
“You chumps just can’t appreciate the complex flavor palette of rotten grapes.”
“You drink my shampoo.” you remarked, “Wouldn’t have expected you to be picky.”
“You don’t wanna go there, Sharpie-huffer.”
You glanced back at Ralsei. He was staring straight ahead, at the wide open horizon.
“So it really just… goes on forever, doesn’t it?”
Susie nodded.
“Forever and ever.”
“I mean, I know it *looks* that way from the ground. Or up on top of the Ferris wheel, y’know. But… There really isn’t an end.”
“Technically, there is.” you said, pulling down the bed door and hopping aboard, “That’s southwest. If you kept going, way past where you can see, you’d make it down to Texas, then Mexico, South America, then Antarctica. After that, it loops around to Australia, which is upside-down from where we’re standing. Then… Somewhere in Asia. And after that it loops back around to Greenland, Canada, and back down to where we are right now.”
Ralsei was awestruck. Like how Susie looks when she sits in front of a campfire.
“Wow.”
“Yep,” Susie said, hopping over the side of the bed and landing with a *thunk*, “Get an eyeful of it now, ‘cuz you’ll see a lot less of it once the sun sets.”
“But then you’ll see the stars.”
Ralsei huffed.
“Well I know what the *stars* look like.”
“Nope.” You and Susie said, in unison.
“C’mon guys, I’ve been in the light world for months now, of course I‘ve seen the stars before.”
“Not all of ‘em.” you explained, “A lot you can’t see in town, from the streetlights and stuff. Light pollution. Out here, you can see all of ‘em.”
“Right, what they said.”
Susie stretched out, and fell backwards into the mattress.
“Just be careful if you go walking around. Take a flashlight with you. Oh, and check for ticks.”
“What’s a tick?”
“Oh shoot. Okay, so they’re like mosquitos, they suck your blood. But these ones don’t fly, they chill in tall grass and they latch onto your ankles. But once they’re on, they never let go until you find them, and if you leave it on for a few weeks, it’ll kill you.”
Ralsei rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll let you know if I see any.”
You glared at Ralsei, and shook your head. He stared at you.
“Wait… seriously? That’s a real thing?”
Ralsei immediately flung his blankets aside to shine his phone light at his ankles. Susie gave off one of her deep belly laughs.
You sidled up to him, wrapping an arm around his fuzzy shoulder.
“I don’t see anything. You’re good, Toothpaste Boy.”
He sighed.
“Thanks, Kris. I don’t know what I’d do without you two. You know so much about this world.
You shrugged.
“We kinda don’t know shit. There’s just things you pick up after living here long enough.”
Ralsei pulled up a pillow, and rested against the rear window of Asgore’s truck.
“I just… it’s so noisy. All the time. And the farther away we get from all the people-noises, you just get more animal-noises. It’s like… it’s like the whole entire world is alive.”
“Yep.”
“I had no idea the dark worlds were so… empty. So small. Looking back, it feels so cramped…”
“Hey, c’mon.” Susie said, picking up Ralsei’s half-full cup and handing it back to them.
“We’re here to put all that shit behind us, right?”
Ralsei nodded. He held his cup of wine with both hands, and begrudgingly took another drink.
“Ugh.”
You finished off your cup, and Susie poured you another. She was already on her third by now, and the bottle was mostly done.
“Want any more?”
“Please, no. I’m already feeling this one. You guys help yourselves.”
We sat quietly for a few minutes, drinking shitty wine and listening to the chittering pulse of the Earth.
“Fuck.” Susie said, “I hope it doesn’t rain.”
You shrugged, your arm still wrapped around Ralsei.
“Weather guy said it wouldn’t.”
“Yeah, well, there’s only one weatherman I trust, and we can’t ask him.”
You chuckled at that, a bit. Ralsei didn’t. He folded his knees up to his chest. You scratched the back of his neck.
“All good, Rals?”
“Yeah… I do miss everybody. I hope they’re doing okay.”
I ruffled his hair.
“Having regrets?”
“Not for a second. I wouldn’t trade you two or this world for anything. Still… I miss them. All of them.”
Susie shot us her signature toothy grin.
“Lancer runs a tight ship. They’re doing just fine.”
“I’m sure they are. Still… if they’d had a chance to see what I’m seeing now, maybe… they’d have wanted to…”
He curled fully into the Ralsei Ball Position.
“…Be here too.”
“You built them a good home. They’re happy.”
“I know.”
He sat up straight again.
“Anyway, sorry. Like you said, we’re trying to get our minds off it. My bad.”
You shot Susie the look. The Come Here, Ralsei Needs A Hug Look. You didn’t even need to, she was already reaching out to him. You both held him tight, just as the first tear began running down his cheek. You headed it off at the pass; there was no second one. He sniffled.
“Thanks, you guys.”
When the three of you eventually parted, you finished off your cup. The world beyond the truck bed began to wobble and tilt. You got comfortable. After a while, the wine was gone. Susie stacked up the cups, their quest fulfilled, and packed them gingerly away. By now, the sun had set, and the three of you stared up at the brilliant, twinkling lights above. Ralsei had that awestruck look again.
“I should take Astronomy next year or something.”
“*Excuse me, Miss Alphys?*” Susie said, in a singsongy Ralsei impression, “*remind me what the sun is!*”
“Shut up!” He cried, playfully smacking her shoulder.
“What? It’s the one damn class Noelle wouldn’t be able to tutor you in.”
“Look, I think I’m getting the hang of it, okay? The whole ‘school’ thing. Y’know, mostly.”
“One D in History is nothing to be ashamed of.” you said, “You did your best. You got A’s in everything else, your GPA is probably better than mine. Definitely better than Susie’s.”
“Hey, C’s get degrees, dumbass.”
“You’re lucky you did that well, after we botched that stupid group project.”
“Saving the world is an extenuating circumstance, it’s not my fault we couldn’t prove it.”
Ralsei was giggling again. You and Susie exchanged head-nods in acknowledgment of your success.
“Really, Susie,” Ralsei said, “I know I’ve said it a hundred times, but I’m so proud of you. You really pulled ahead this semester.”
“Yeah, well. I just needed to apply myself, y’know. Next year, maybe I’ll go for valedictorian. Berdly won’t know what hit ‘em!”
You suddenly burst into laughter. Your friends looked at you.
“I just realized…” You said, “Alphys probably thinks she’s the best teacher ever.”
All three of you laughed at that.
After another hour or so of talking, you all got comfortable under the covers. Susie was out first, as usual. Her snores were comforting, like a white noise machine. Ralsei snuggled up beside you.
“Thanks for bringing me out here. It was worth the trip.”
“The weekend’s just getting started. We’re doing kayaks tomorrow.”
“What’s that?”
“Heh. You’ll see.”
You closed your eyes, crickets lulling you into sleep. Before you got a chance, Ralsei grabbed your hand under the covers.
“…Hey, Kris?”
You opened your eyes, to see him staring into them.
“You and Susie are the best. I love you both. You know that, right?”
You smiled, and kissed him on the cheek.
“Of course.”
With that, the three drunk teenagers in the back of the rusty van drifted off to sleep, under the stars of a world blanketed in darkness.