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Kris was exhausted. They'd spent the whole night and half of the morning working on their project (finally), and they were very much regretting not making the soul do it while it was still in their body. It was the least it owed them, for one, and for another, it didn't seem like it would have minded at all. After all, it'd been given a choice by Alphys of whether it wanted to sit out the project, and it'd happily accepted instead.
Kris did not get it. If it'd been them, they'd definitely have taken the out. Honestly, they thought they deserved an out after literally saving the world (they may have also technically caused its near-destruction, but most people didn't know that so it didn't count), but their mom had firmly refused their very good argument.
They grimaced a bit. Well, from the way the soul had reacted to finding out they wouldn't be in the same group as Kris (blubbering tears and extra clinginess), they could guess most of the reason why it'd even tried. Only most - apparently it 'enjoyed' the research and making slides. That alone was enough to make Kris regret the fact they hadn't ended up in the same group too.
Well, at least this was an excuse to escape its clinginess. At first, it had latched onto their arm and said it wanted to join in their study session too. Kris had bluntly turned it down, given this wasn't a study session, it was a last minute cram session for them and Susie. Yes, despite how childish it could act, it was generally well-behaved, but Kris was not going to risk a distraction. Not to mention, they'd barely had time alone with Susie since it had gotten its own body. Not that they'd gotten alone time with Susie before that, either...
They grimaced again.
But. Presentation submitted, 5 seconds before the deadline, praying to the angel for the wifi to work faster included. Celebratory shakes at the diner, done too. And they'd finally stumbled home, dark bags under their eyes. So all that was left to do was brace themselves for the full force of a clingy, separation anxiety-filled soul, and reenter their house.
They pulled the door open, fully ready to be caught in a tight embrace, and then were met with...Absolutely nothing.
Kris frowned, stepping in further. The house was completely dark, with no noise either. Was it just asleep? It was pretty late, though, and for some reason the soul was a morning person. Kris regretted sharing a bed with it every single day they woke up to find it looking at them. At least kicking it in the shins a few times had finally gotten it to stop calling them cute. Out loud. Its facial expression still seriously ticked them off.
But maybe it'd gotten lonely and stayed up late and had fallen asleep only a short while ago? Kris hated to admit it, but the image was actually pretty cute. They still refused to say this to its face ever, though - they were pretty sure it'd latch onto it and hold onto it for the rest of its unnatural life. It did not need more encouragement.
They walked up to their room, pausing to look in the mirror. Just them. Only them, for now. It was a little weird, after a week that felt like much longer of something else being inside them, and then a few weeks of that same something hanging off them all the time.
They didn't want to look anymore, so they hurried into their room. "SOUL-"
The room was completely empty. Kris stopped, stymied, something they didn't want to call concern growing inside them. An illness, maybe, given to them by an annoying parasite. An annoying parasite that wasn't here, for some reason.
It didn't go anywhere without them, so where could it even be? The town wasn't that big, so Kris could probably search, but the town being small hadn't prevented people from going missing in the past. Nor had it stopped dangerous things from happening. Kris would know, being involved with both those things in different ways.
Or maybe it was something more supernatural? It wasn't like the soul was something normal in the first place. Maybe it had gotten sucked into another dark world, even though it shouldn't be possible for those to form anymore? Or maybe it had gotten banished, like it was meant to be...
They cast away the latter thought, focusing on the first one. Maybe in one of the closets, or something...They walked through the house, checking every closet or door, even the fridge, faster and faster as they go. But there was nothing.
Kris felt a little shaky, almost like the time they'd spent without their soul during the time they were possessed. But it's not the same - back then, they could barely survive the separation, but the connection is gone now. There was no need for them to be together now. But it was still their soul, wasn't it? It should be with them. There was no reason for it to go anywhere else.
They tried to ignore how much their current thoughts contradicted their usual annoyed monologue.
Everywhere in the house was checked, but there was nothing. Then where else? They needed to think. What if it was gone? No, it couldn't be. They should've dragged it along to the library with them, even if it was going to be annoying about it. Why didn't it have a phone, anyway? Isn't that basic safety? Where was it?
Dark worlds...Ah. Kris left the house, walking so fast they might as well be running, headed straight to the school. They thought they heard Catti greet them, but they ignored it. They didn't have time to talk right now, and the soul had always used to be the one who wanted to be overly social, had always taken every single side quest.
Not used to. It did, present tense. They dug their fingernails into their palms.
The door to the school was locked. Of course it was, today was a weekend. They rummaged through their pockets until they found a hairclip, and then unceremoniously fiddled with the lock until the door came open.
They'd forgotten to check for people around. Well, no one had called after them, so it was probably fine. They hurried through the halls, heading to the familiar closet and twisting the knob.
The floor fell out under them, a familiar sensation. They landed on their feet, something that'd make them smile in triumph if they weren't in such a hurry.
Actually, they weren't in too much of a hurry for this. They posed quickly to an audience of thin air, and then continued on.
Castle Town was bustling as usual. Kris grabbed the first Darkner they saw by the arm, someone they didn't remember the name of, one of the many, many recruits the soul had collected.
"Have you seen someone who looks almost like me?" They asked, urgently.
"Hmm..." it pondered, and they resisted the urge to give it a shake. "Yes, I have! Right in front of me! "
...Useless.
They didn't even bother responding, just hurrying on. Their target was in sight: the looming castle. Ralsei should be there, at least, and if nothing else, he should be aware of what was going on with the soul.
Should be.
They pulled open the door, and stopped in their tracks.
The soul was standing there, chatting happily with Ralsei, both of them covered with flour. In front of them was a counter, various baking ingredients laid out, and next to them the cauldron was already bubbling.
Kris' first emotion was a swooping sensation of relief, almost dizzying, seeing it right there in front of them. The second emotion was annoyance.
A lot of it.
They stood there, quietly seething, until the soul turned to the side slightly and caught sight of them.
"Kris!" It rushed up to them for a hug, beaming, completely unaware of all the trouble it'd put them through. As punishment, Kris grabbed onto its cheek instead, pulling it, hard.
"Owww?!" It responded. "Kwis, it huwts..." Its tone was plaintive, but the way its words were mangled did absolutely nothing to convince Kris to let go.
"Kris, maybe you should-" Ralsei started. Kris turned their glare on him, and he wilted. They didn't blame him, of course - it was all the soul's fault, for wandering off without telling them. Seriously, they'd wasted so much effort on this!
After what they deemed to be a sufficient amount of time, they finally let go. Like an idiot, the soul just went for a hug of Kris again. Used to it, Kris just let it happen.
"Kris! You ruined the surprise! Ralsei and I were making you a pie!” It whined into their shoulder.
"...I didn't know you were making a pie for me until just now," Kris pointed out. It drew back, eyes wide, like their mistake had just dawned on them. Kris couldn't help but snicker.
"Shut up, meanie...Come sit down, though! You spent too long away, I missed you..." It let go of its hug, and grabbed onto Kris' hand instead, intertwining their fingers. Kris could have tried to pull away, and usually they would, but they didn't bother this time. The exhaustion from their lack of sleep and their wild goose chase, they justified.
"And who's fault is that?" They were still sore about it.
"Yours? Because you didn't let me come along with you and Susie...Susie's my friend too, you know..." well. That was technically true, but Kris didn't want to admit it, so they just let out a hmph instead.
"Well, I was happy to have you here, SOUL! You can come and spend time with me when Kris is gone, if you want! " Ralsei clasped his hands together, smiling.
"Okay, Ralsei! Let's bake more things! " the soul smiled back. Annoying...Kris squeezed its hand in retaliation. It just looked at them and smiled, though.
"Oh, Kris, you look tired! Do you want to sleep upstairs? " Ralsei asked, with a well-meaning worry in his voice.
"Kris?! Kris, you need to sleep, now!” The ever-oblivious soul seemed to finally notice the dark bags under Kris' eyes, and it gasped loudly, tugging them towards the stairs. Kris kept their feet firmly in place.
"No. I'm staying here to supervise your cooking." They responded, firm.
"Um, Kris, are you worried we'll eat the pie without you...?" Kris nodded in response to Ralsei's words, in a way they hoped was convincing.
The soul seemed conflicted, its concern for Kris' health very obviously warring with its desire to keep Kris near them, from the way it was glancing back and forth at their hands. Finally, it seemed to come to a decision.
"Okay, Kris, you can sit at the table while we bake!” It tugged at Kris again, and this time, Kris went. When they finally sat down, they felt like all their exhaustion was flowing back into them, their eyelids growing heavy. Maybe it was just the soul being nearby. No, it couldn't be something as stupid as that...
Hand still gripping the soul's tightly, they drifted off into sleep. The soul just stood there, bending down at an awkward angle, helplessly glancing between Kris and the cooking setup.
"Ah, SOUL...Do you want me to finish the rest of the baking? We're almost done! " Ralsei offered, standing slightly awkwardly.
"Thanks, Ralsei!" It beamed again. But moments later, its expression changed to confusion. "Why do you think Kris came down here in the first place, if they were so tired?"
"Maybe it was loud at their house...?" Ralsei responded, equally puzzled.
The soul pondered this while Ralsei continued his baking, finishing up assembling the pie crust with the filling they'd prepared.
"Hey, do you think I could fit a ring onto their fingers while they were sleeping..." It wondered aloud a few minutes later, staring down at Kris' slumbering form.
"Um...I don't think you should...?" Ralsei responded, awkward expression on his face.
"You're right...plus, the only rings they have here would probably hurt..." It replied, wincing at the thought.
"But why would you want to put a ring onto their finger while they were sleeping?" Ralsei asked, honestly curious.
"Um...vessel-soul things..."
They fell back into an awkward silence.