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Ceroba sighed, walking down the stairs. "Kanako's asleep," she called a little tiredly.
Star nodded, grinning as he sat up. "We gonna play that game of Monopoly now?" Martlet nodded eagerly. "I've been waiting kinda-patiently but I'm out of patiently now! Last night was super fun!"
"Alright, alright," she laughed. "Snacks?"
"I could do with some."
"Sounds great! Thanks, Ceroba!"
She came back to the table with a bowl of potato chisps and chowder for herself. "Don't get the game pieces dirty," she reprimanded as Martlet reached for some. "If you do, you're cleaning the mess up."
"Okay, okay, fine," she grumbled, picking one up with chopsticks, much to Ceroba's amusement. She'd gotten surprisingly good at using the utensils in the short time that she'd had to adapt to them.
Starlo did not have such courtesy and threw a few into his mouth. "Alright, who's going first?"
...
The game went on. Starlo had a lead late into the game, and reached for some more potato chips, only to find an empty bowl. "Oh. Well, I'll order a pizza. Late-night meal?"
"Sounds nice to me." Ceroba finished her chowder and stretched, standing up for a moment. "I could do with a break."
"Yeah, me too. Oorgh, we've been sitting for a while." Martlet got up and sighed, reaching for some fruit.
"Martlet, he just ordered a pizza," Ceroba said amusedly. "I think you can wait a little while longer."
"Yeah, but I'm hungryyyyy," she replied. "Okay, fine, I'll wait." Grumpily, she crossed her wings and sat back down. Starlo finished making the order and sighed. "Alright, well, let's finish up this game and maybe one more before we turn in for the night."
"Sounds good!"
Ceroba nodded. "Let's keep going."
...
"Heck yeah!" Martlet cried as she drove Star into bankruptcy, "I may have nine dollars to my name, but that's more than you two," she crowed smugly. Ceroba laughed.
"Congrats on the win."
"Well played, Feathers!"
"Well, are we up for another?" Ceroba asked. "How about Catan?"
"Never played before. How's it work?"
"Well, first, let's clean up this game and pack it away before getting into all that." Ceroba said a bit tiredly. "Can't go around leaving messes everywhere." She started packing away the pieces of the game, and Starlo went to grab the next board game. The doorbell rang. "Martlet, can you grab that?"
"Yeah, on it!" she chirped, opening the door. "Thank y-" Her voice cut off. "CEROBA! STAR! GET OVER HERE!"
Star dropped the game and rushed towards Martlet. "What's wr-Clover!"
Ceroba hurried over at the name, stopping at the doorway to see the face of a familiar human. They smiled a bit nervously, looking up.
"Um.. howdy."
"OhmygoshCloverIthoughtyouwere-" Martlet, with great effort, stopped herself and cleared her throat. "It's- it's so good to see you again," she said, barely containing her excitement, hugging him tight. "I just missed you so much!"
"Welcome back, deputy," Starlo laughed. "Glad to see ya 'round these parts again."
Ceroba sighed, smiling. "It's good to see you again. I..." She paused to wipe a stray tear from her eye. Star and Martlet didn't hold back.
"Glad to see y'all... missed me." He sighed contentedly, wrapping his arms around Martlet. "So, umm... got room for one more?"
"Come on in," Ceroba said with great amusement, a snile painting her snout as she practically peeled Martlet off of the flustered cowboy. "It's been a while."
Martlet continued to burble tearfully and held his hand in her wing as she brought him to the table. "Wai', I... wha' happened? exactly? You know, after I gave my soul? Couldn' find any monsters to ask, and the humans didn't really know, so..."
"The seventh human fell into the Underground." Ceroba said flatly. "And they were kind. Never met them though. No one knows what happened between them and Asgore, but... the barrier was broken. And we're free now."
Clover nodded. "Can' believe... 's all real, is all," he said in a voice tinged with awe. "An'... did you ever... see Kanako again?" he asked a bit tentatively.
"Yes. She's... she's upstairs."
"Oh." Clover nodded. Ceroba put a paw on his shoulder. "It's okay. We... we're all together again."
We're all together again.
The doorbell rang.
"Who's getting it?" Starlo asked.
"I got it last time," Martlet said argumentatively.
"Yeah, well I paid for the pizza," he shot back.
"Fine, but-"
"Calm down, you two. I'll go get it." Ceroba sighed, shaking her head, and grabbed the pizza, though unable to wipe the smile off of her snout. "Thank you." She forked over some cash for a tip and closed the door with her foot.
Returning with a pizza, steaming hot, Ceroba put it down on the table next to the board game being set up. "Last game of the night, okay? Then we all go to sleep. Especially you," Ceroba said, tapping Clover on the nose.
"'kay," Clover said a little vacantly, with the beginnings of tears on his face.
"...you okay, deputy?" Starlo asked with a tinge of concern in his voice. "You look a lil'..."
"m'okay," he said emotionally. "Just a lot to take in, yaknow?"
"It's okay if you want to just lie down and do nothing. That's... probably what I would do." The blue bird gave an embarrassed smile.
"We don't have to play if you don't want to." She paused. "Want to grab a movie or just sit down?"
"Sounds...good," he agreed, eyeing the pizza but too afraid to take some.
"Clover, if you don't mind me asking... don't you have family on the surface to go back to?"
The simple question from the bird monster unleashed a torrent of emotions, none of them positive. He was momentarily lost in his own head, starting to shake from an unpleasant memory.
"Clover? Clover!" Ceroba held his face towards hers, bringing him back into the moment. "You okay down there, kid?"
"don't... make me..."
"Shh, shh. Listen. Listen to the sound of my voice." Ceroba's voice had falled to a low, soothing assurance. "It's okay. If you don't want to, we won't make you. I'm sure the others would appreciate having you around." Clover sat on her lap and buried his face into Ceroba's shoulder, tears staining her kimono. She didn't care. Martlet joined in, trying to help Clover. "She's right. We'd all be happy to have you around, you know. I know I would."
"Let's lie down. Sound good?" She laid Clover down on the couch. He stared up at the ceiling, silently letting out a sigh. "You okay, Clover?"
"Yeah," he said in a small voice. "Yeah..." His tone of voice was convincing no one.
"Clover, it's okay," she said quietly. "Do you want some pizza?"
He failed to make a sound but gave a small nod. Starlo grabbed a slice, put it on a plate, and handed it to Martlet, who gave it to Clover. "Here, you can have it."
Clover took the plate, his eyes widening before taking a tentative bite. It tasted good. Really good.
He devoured the rest in record time, and realizing what he'd done, flushed red. Starlo said, "Healthy cowboy's gonna have a healthy appetite." Ceroba chuckled, still holding the human in her lap as he passed Clover another slice.
He managed to eat half of the pizza before being stuffed. "Oh, I... sorry, there's less for y'all now..." he said a bit self-consciously. "Didn' really think..."
"'S fine, Deputy. We had dinner already," he said, waving his hand before also practically inhaling a slice of pizza. "You humans sure know how ta cook, though. Stuff is real good." Martlet nodded, grabbing and eating hers in a more slow and far more dignified manner.
"An'... where's Dalv gone? Did he melt in the sun?" he asked, suddenly panicked. "'Cause I heard vampires melted in the sun, 'n I got worried."
"Oh, Dalv is fine with sunlight. Though he said himself he dislikes it," Ceroba said a bit offhandedly. "He lives a few houses down, I think."
Clover nodded. "Bit sleepy now."
Ceroba chuckled. "Well, the available rooms are mine or Star's, and I think Martlet's nesting on the couch if you'd prefer that."
"Hey! I don't nest!" she protested weakly, much to Starlo's amusement. "What's tha' then?" He pointed to a suspiciously circular bundle of pillows, blankets, and feathers.
"...okay, maybe... maybe I do..." she trailed off. "Just... a little bit..." This drew a laugh from Starlo. "What?" she cried.
"I can sleep on the floor if you want me to," Clover said quietly amidst the noise.
Martlet almost jumped. "No. You are not sleeping on the floor!" Martlet said adamantly. "You can stick with Kanako, Ceroba, or Star. Or me, I guess. Not sure I'm the best couchmate though. And Kanako might freak out with a human in her room when she wakes up, so..."
"Is it okay if I... settle down with you tonight?" he asked tentatively.
"Hmm?" She wasn't exactly expecting this, but in her eyes, it was a welcome surprise. "Oh, sure! Sounds really fun!"
Ceroba snorted to herself. Despite being practically a grown adult, she had a feeling the bird was still somewhat of a kid at heart.
Though Martlet would absolutely complain about being called a "kid", she was still somewhat immature. The thought brought her a great deal of amusement.
"Somethin' wrong, Roba?"
"No, it's fine. Good, actually. I think I'll retire to my room now." She waved goodbye to the other three and retreated to her bedroom. "Seeya tomorrow, Roba."
Starlo was next. "I should probably be off as well. See you two tomorrow!" With that, he went upstairs and the sound of a door softly closing was heard.
Martlet and Clover, finally alone, looked at each other. Martlet patted Clover's cowboy hat. "Well, it's... good to have you back. Really... good, actually. I missed you a lot. Pretty much every day."
"Martlet?"
"Hmm?"
"I-" He stopped himself from saying something that would have only brought up more questions. Maybe he'd tell her one day. "I missed you too."
...
As they both started to drift off, Martlet whispered, "Clover? Can you promise me something?"
"Hmm? Okay. What is it?"
"Don't scare us like that ever again. Please? I thought... I thought you were gone for good."
Clover sighed. Nodded.
"I promise."
She took a deep breath. Sighed as the tension left her body. "Thank you."
Clover nestled into the warm embrace of Martlet's wings and finally managed to fall asleep.
...
Someone watched from outside with a hint of what they would never admit was affection.
"Idiot."
the end.