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Everyone has their fair share of bad habits. Although some are more shameful than others, be it anything from lying, pick-pocketing, or putting people in danger.
Chara's bad habit, recently, has been affection.
Well, not affection per se, but rather their show of it. Chara, for the past few months or so after settling themselves as well as their friends into surface life has been very…
…touchy.
Frisk knows this well, with them having been Chara's ghostly companion for so long in the underground, becoming familiar with their mannerisms and tendencies. In fact, they were at Chara's house this morning—more commonly recognized as Alphys and Undyne's house—baking red velvet brownies. Monster Kid comes home from summer camp today, (annoyingly texting Frisk every night about it) and they're making these as a little surprise for them, in case they come back before the pastries are ready.
It wasn't too difficult, actually. Frisk just stood in front of their door for an hour until Undyne let them in with a big grin on her face and not-so-subtle encouragement to burn the kitchen down while they're at it because she allegedly arson-proofed the house. Frisk didn't particularly want to try.
They have a nice house. It retains the classic blues and grays from Alphys' house in Crystalline as well as the pale whites from Cliffside…including the decorations. One side of the wall, closest to the front door, is lined floor to ceiling with remnants of swinging axes, bright neon swords, and continuously falling magma rocks, all obstacles in the old searing area of Cliffside that Undyne designed, implemented, then took to her new home on the surface.
Frisk shudders with a laugh, but unfortunately for them, the motion makes their hand jerk, the one holding the hand mixer.
"Oh, shoot!" They yelp. A good eighth of the batter flings onto their apron. They turn the mixer off and try to get the batter off, but the red dye just stains their hands. Frisk sighs, "Dang."
"Ma?" A crisp voice calls from the staircase, coming down and turning the corner. "I thought Mum told you not to use the— Oh, Frisk. What are you doing here?"
Frisk turns towards Chara, who's wearing a ridiculously baggy sweater and tan cargo shorts. "Sorry for the noise. I thought I'd do something nice for Monster Kid since they're planning to come back from camp today, but my head's just in the wrong place right now… Good thing that these are easy to make, huh?"
"Hm, yes, I'd say so. You might've been better off using a rubber spatula, though. I think we have a red one in the leftmost drawer…" Chara puts all their weight onto their left hip, tapping their chin then giving Frisk a sly smile. "No, now I've just caught you red-handed instead."
"Yeah, I should've—" Frisk pauses to give Chara an irritated look. "Were you proud of that one?"
"Indeed I was." They look proud of themselves, Frisk notes.
Frisk sighs, setting the hand-mixer down. "Of course you are. Well, if you're not in a hurry, could you grab that spatula for me? I was gonna just take the blades out and mix that way, but I feel like the spatula might be more efficient."
"Yes, yes," Chara sighs happily, skipping over to the corner of the kitchen adjacent to where Frisk stands.
"So, were you planning to stay home all day? Just because Missuses Undyne and Alphys said they were going out on a hike but you were sleeping in."
Chara feigns a dramatic gasp. "What a snooper you are, Dreemurr! For your information, I'm going out to buy some supplies and visit the Tunturi ranchers just East of here."
"I was just wondering. I feel like I never see you anymore."
Chara stops for a second, their face falling. "Really?" They reach deep into the maple wood drawers, shuffling around and pulling out a red rubber spatula with cartoon fish patterns all over the silicone. "Here it is," Chara smiles, turning to Frisk with the utensil in hand and a small smile on their face. Then they stop.
Frisk furrows their brow, blinking at them. "What's up? Do I have something on my face?"
"Yes, actually," Chara says, pointing a finger to their own left cheek. "You have some batter right there."
Frisk swipes at the left side of their face, wondering if the residue already on their hand will just leave a bigger stain. By the cheeky grin on Chara's face, they might've missed it completely.
"Here, let me get that for you." Chara says, walking closer to Frisk, who stands awkwardly still as Chara brushes their thumb across Frisk's cheek.
Their faces are really close. Not only that, Chara's hand is strikingly cold, and it's taking everything in Frisk not to shiver and pull back.
The two humans briefly make eye contact and Chara retracts their hand, coming back to their normal height. It's just then that Frisk realizes that Chara was on the tips of their toes.
They're really close from this close up.
Chara smiles, sticking their thumb into their mouth to lick off the excess. "I got it."
"I—" Frisk stammers for a moment, "You shouldn't eat raw batter."
"It's fine, I've consumed worse bacteria, you know." Chara grins.
"That…" Frisk's shoulders slump and they sigh in defeat. "Yeah, yeah. I've eaten worse too." They're about to continue, but then they follow Chara's unassuming line of sight, where they're still staring at Frisk's face. "I thought you said you got it. You messing with me, partner?"
"Mm," Chara hums for a moment, creasing their brows like they're contemplating something. Quickly, they grab onto Frisk's jaw, pulling their face close as they give a quick peck where the batter just was.
"I—"
Quickly Chara pulls away, shoving the spatula against their chest with both hands before fleeing with their tongue stuck out. "Okay goodbye Angel, see you later!"
Frisk scrambles to catch the spatula, watching Chara run off and out the front door. Loudly they shriek, "Stop that already, you idiot!" and they're not too confident that Chara even heard.
The human breathes loudly, touching their cheek. Their face wasn't this hot before. Frisk backs up to the fridge, slumping all the way to the ground and holding the spatula in hand, smacking it against their forehead.
That was the ninth time Chara's tried to kiss them. It was the third time they've kissed Frisk on the cheek, the first time it's been in the comfort of their own home, and the second time that Frisk's just let them do as they please.
And every time, they just giggle and tease like it means nothing.
Glancing down at their buzzing phone, Frisk takes notice of a =] emoticon sent by the little nusience occupying their mind and screen time.
"Whatever," Frisk murmurs, yet after a beat they relent, "I hope you don't kiss all your friends like that."
Frisk knocks their head back on the fridge with a resounding thump, immediately followed by an "Ow!"
‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅
Clover stands up straight, bending backwards with a hard crack. "Yuck, I'm gonna feel that in the mornin'…"
"Yer barely 16, kid!" North Star yells from the stables, his voice as loud as his attitude. "You ain't feel nothing yet, lemme tell you that much!"
"I got it, Star…" Clover groans, tipping their hat upwards to look out at the plentiful fields.
They, that being Chujin, North Star, and most of the residents of Tunturi Town bought out and continue to occupy a ranch just east of Ebott City barely 24 hours after monster-kind was freed from the underground. How long ago that seemed now, though it's only been shy of 11 months. In all fairness, before that, it had been over a year of living underground with Chara, the last fallen human.
Over a year of living peacefully, and still to this day Clover stays on maintenance duty, hammer in hand, making sure the sprinklers and fences are up to speed. For almost 2 years they were the sole sentinel of the Tunturi Meadows, and yet…
"I kinda miss it."
"Miss what?" North Star asks, who walks up to them, pressing his cheek to their shoulder. He used to be able to rest his elbow on their shoulder with ease.
"Patrolling. Going 'round the areas, makin' sure nobody's died and allat." Clover pauses to say, "Not that I don't love doin' farm-work…"
"Uh-huh," Star chuckles. "Nah, I get it. 'Yer a protector. It's in the Tunturi blood! But unfortunately, you can't do none of that 'til you're a bit older, I know. I'd miss it too, I understand."
"Right. It's not just that," the human chuckles hollowly, examining their bruised hand, tattered with wood scratches, "I miss not gettin' hurt by every single thing in the fields."
Star whistles a long note. "Hoo, yeah. Magic can't heal you all too well if nothing attacked yer soul! You gotta stick to those band-aids and disinfectants for a long time to come, buddy," the monster laughs brightly, slapping Clover on the back, who groans in response. "I think Morray left the first aid at the entrance! You can pop over there for a bit and get yourself patched up, alright? You earned it."
Clover nods, picking up their toolkit and heading for the front gate of the farmland, where the sun is high over the Earth and its rays make the dark ebony wood hot to the touch. It's not a long walk at all, only about a minute and a half from the far end where the stables are to the gate, and the first aid kit is right at the top of the wooden gate.
They reach for the blue plastic box adorned with a white plus sign, snapping it open and searching for the wider band-aids.
"Clover!"
"GAH—" Clover yelps, nearly dropping the box out of surprise. Looking around, their eyes meet Chara's, who wears a feisty grin and rests their head on their arms folded atop the wooden fence. It's a little bit taller than they are, so it looks like their head is sinking. Clover puts a hand on their hip, "You like scaring me half to death, Princess?"
"Only as much as you let me, Cowgirl," Chara remarks, winding around the gate and leaning against the fence post. "I dare to say that you're starting to get off your game, Clover."
Clover scoffs. "Yeah, right. And still I could rock you around back to last week."
"Well, as much as that might be true, it has nothing to do with my stealth or your lack of awareness of your surroundings."
Chara smiles. Clover lets out a bubbly laugh, waving their hand around. "Alright, alright. What're you doin' here, Shortstack?"
"Just visiting, Sunshine," Chara bites back swiftly. "I was actually headed down to the train station later this afternoon and I wanted to come see my favorite people, like Starlo, Chujin, Ceroba, Ed…"
Clover squints.
"…Morray, Virgil, and Mail Whale!" Chara grins. After a nod or two to the left and the right, they add, "And Clover, I guess."
"You guess," Clover repeats sarcastically. "But I'm sure they'd want to see you too. I know Kanako would jump for joy just seein' you."
"She would, wouldn't see?" Chara laughs, but blinks when their eyes snap lower. "Is something wrong with your hand?"
"Huh? Oh, that. I wasn't bein' careful with myself and got pricked by a bunch of loose wood chips try'n'a fix up these fence posts all 'round. But I'm completely fine," Chara says, waving their hand around nonsensically, trying to give a small demonstration. "See? All good. Star said I should get a band-aid, that's all."
Chara looks unconvinced, and they take a hold of Clover's right hand using both of theirs, leaning in close as if to examine it.
"Jeez, you're cold," Clover shivers. "C'mon, it's not gonna stop hurting just 'cuz you're lookin' closer at it…"
Chara brushes off all the bark off of Clover's hand, taking one last good look before closing their eyes and pressing their lips to Clover's knuckles.
Clover tries not to breathe too sharply. In turn their knuckles jolt, flexing their fingers instinctively. They curse themselves in their head.
Chara continues to kiss around Clover's hand, all the way until they reach their palm. Chara opens their eyes and looks up at Clover.
Clover breathes too sharply. Chara pulls away, clearing their throat. "All better?"
"What?" Clover turns, trying to hide their hot face with their hair. It doesn't help that they have a low ponytail today, so their head feels extra hot. "Kissing a boo-boo ain't gonna make whatever it is hurt any less."
"Mm," Chara hums affirmingly, "But you feel better, right?"
"Um," Clover starts, but not long before a whistle and a holler comes from far behind them. Turning slightly, they see Chujin and North Star waving towards the two.
Star calls out, "Hey, is that Chara? You shoulda told me we were invitin' friends over, bucko! Chara, c'mere, I got some game to show 'ya!"
Clover chuckles. "Now you got everyone's attention."
"Oh, boy. Okay," Chara smiles. "That's fine."
"That's fine?" Clover echoes. "Last I checked, you hate the spotlight."
"Indeed I do. As much as I hate attention," Chara smiles, yanking Clover's hoodie strings to drag them down for a quick kiss. "I just wanted to distract you for a change. Goodbye!"
"I—Hey!" Clover yelps, feeling for their mouth as they watch Chara run away.
Clover's face burns hot.
All things considered, they should be used to Chara messing with them. Because Chara loves messing with them.
They really wish Chara had said I just wanted your attention instead.
Clover tips their hat downwards and groans loudly into the bucket.
.°˖⋆ ℧ 𓃗 .°˖⋆𐚁
"How was seeing MK?"
"What?" Frisk sets down the platter of leftover brownies onto the dining table. "Oh, it was fine. They're staying with Dad and Asriel right now."
"Is that why you keep crashin' at my farmhouse?" Clover remarks snidely, setting their phone face down and placing their chin on their palm.
Frisk huffs. "It's only for when Mom needs me out of the house. I only ever hang around your house and Papyrus' house."
Clover shrugs, grabbing a brownie out of the platter and taking a bite. "I was just joking. Hey, these are good."
"Obviously." They place a hand on their hip. "I made them, and I learned from the best."
"Can't I ever give you a compliment without the verbal slap on the wrist?"
"I'm joking too. I like making gifts for you guys anyway," Frisk sighs. "I guess I've had the wind knocked out of me recently. Especially with MK coming back, dealing with residents still in the Underground, and…" They pause.
"And?" Clover tilts their head.
"And…" Frisk groans. They know Clover wouldn't stop pushing them for questions anyway. "And Chara…"
"No," Clover says. "You too?"
"What?" Then, Frisk repeats in a more deadpan tone, "What."
"As in, like, for the past few months they've been such a little shit, and they'll just come up to you and get all touchy?"
"Like they're trying to mess with you? And you can tell they're trying to get a reaction out of you because they'll have this cute giddy look on their face?"
"Yes!" Clover points, standing up, "Those stupid doe eyes when you try to ask and they just pretend that nothing's wrong!"
"All the time! Especially with those stupid kisses!"
"Right!?"
"Then they just run away!"
"And they're really good at running away…"
"What?" Frisk turns.
"What." Clover clears their throat. "I mean, what's wrong with them?"
"Well, we've always known something's wrong with them." Frisk sighs, crossing their arms. "This is just adding to the long list of strange things they do."
"Right." Clover agrees. "I guess it's just harder now when—"
Clover pauses. They lift their head to stare directly at Frisk, tilting their head. Frisk looks contemplative for a moment. "What?"
"Pfft…" Clover grins, putting their hand up to their mouth. "Wow, Firefly, you got a crush on the human too? That must be pretty embarrassing for you…"
Frisk stops before glaring at Clover. "What are you even talking about?? And by that logic, you too??"
"Ah, potato, potato," Clover sits back down, waving their hand at Frisk. "Hey, this might actually be the first and only thing we bond over?"
"Really? I guess it is… What are we gonna do about it?"
Clover taps their chin. "Wanna get them back?"
"Oh yeah?" Frisk pulls up a chair, sitting across from Clover at the table. "What were you thinking?"
"I'm not sure…"
"Hm…" Frisk hums. "Chara's just trying to get a reaction out of us... So what would get an reaction out of them?"
"Ehh…" Clover and Frisk sit at the table for a moment, one long enough for North Star to walk in and out of the kitchen with a laundry basket, before Clover speaks up again. "Oh!"
"You got something?"
"I did," Clover smiles, folding their hands together and placing their chin on their knuckles. "It involves nicknames."
Frisk grimaces. "I won't be tricked by your guyses' weird love for complex nicknames just yet."
Clover stands up again with a laugh, pointing at Frisk accusingly. "That's what you think!"
જ⁀➴♡
Chara sits on a metal foldable chair in the back of the dining hall, scribbling away at their journal and occasionally looking up at the large crowd of people serving and eating at the buffet table.
They almost don't notice Monster Kid walking over to them with a basket in their mouth.
"Greetings, MK. Is that yours?"
They set the basket down. "For you, actually. We appreciate that you took the time to set this anniversary buffet up for us, especially Mom and Dad. They're really excited for the new year."
Chara blinks before blowing how air out of their mouth. "You don't have to, um… say all that. Thank you for the basket, regardless. What's in it?"
"Oh, just a crap ton of chocolate and hand-written cards. Your favorite!" Monster Kid grins wide, showing their sharp teeth.
"Aw, thank you," Chara smiles, clasping their hands together. "Did you just get here, by the way? Or maybe I forgot to check you off on the list…"
"No, I just got here! I brought some of the Tunturi folk, like—oh shoot, where'd he go…" Monster Kid spins around once or twice, and upon closer inspection, a small grinning flower is attached to his tail. "Well, Flowey WAS just here…"
Chara holds in a chortle.
"Okay, well, I have to go find my siblings! I'm sure they're around here somewhere—Bye, Chara!"
"Farewell, MK," Chara waves as they watch the clumsy monster scramble off to the rest of the crowd.
This is quite the nice venue. A bit of a budget crunch, but Chara found it necessary for the grandiose one year anniversary of monsterkind leaving Mt. Ebott.
Chara smiles to themselves. It's been a long period of peace, and a long time coming. They scribble away at their notebook, content just where they are.
…So content, in fact, that they didn't notice someone looming over them.
A little startled, Chara lifts their gaze to meet Clover's. Noticeably, without a hat. Their hair is tied into a braid in the back, and it looks like one that Frisk or Toriel would do. They look really good.
"Greetings, Clover. Were you looking for me?"
Clover's lips form a large grin, only after their eyes dart side to side. "Howdy, cutie," they coo before pointing around and back. "Did you do all this?"
Oh.
Chara opens and closes their mouth a few times. Then they clear their throat, "Hey, you're asking because you already knew."
"That's true, I guess," Clover shrugs. "I heard from MK and Asriel that you set all this up. Real nice of you, Princess."
"Well, someone had to do it, and it sure as hell wasn't going to be Sans," Chara huffs, setting their notebook down on their lap.
"I- Haha, no, really, I mean it," Clover softens their voice, taking Chara's hand and interlocking their fingers together. "I'm real proud of you, lovely."
Chara jolts and makes a strained noise, an embarrassing one at that, and tries to divert attention by saying literally anything other than what's on their mind—"Um, what… I- Uh- You- Hey-"—but all that comes out is equally as shameful stammers. Good going, Chara, as Frisk would have spit out by now.
"Cute," Clover teases, and before Chara can retort Clover lets go of their hand, putting it back in their hoodie pocket. "I'm gonna go find the others, kay? I'm sure you'd much rather stay back here away from all those crowds and all."
The human begins to walk off, but slows when turning their head over their shoulder for a split second to look at their dumbfounded friend. "What?"
"I- Um," Chara attempts, fumbling around with their hands, trying hard not to pick at their cuticles. "Er…"
"Did you want something else?" Then, with their tongue stuck out of their mouth, Clover adds, "Like a kiss?"
"I—Cowgirl, I swear to—"
"Haha, see you later, princess!"
Chara groans as their friend walks off towards the main event, while they're stuck in the back near the employee door, burying their face in their hands. Their face is incredibly hot, and so is…
Chara slaps themselves across the face.
˗ˏˋ ꒰ Ⰶ ꒱ ˎˊ˗
Knock, knock.
"Hey, Chara, are you awake?"
Chara rubs at their eyes, turning on their side towards the sunlight. Opening their eyes they spot the desk-dresser against the wall, taking notice of the mirror tilted slightly downwards as well as the the loose accessories and cartridge paper scattered all over its surface. One of the drawers was partly open, showing a few unironed clothes that they just stuffed in carelessly the night before.
"Yeah, Mom?" They call out.
The knob jingles a little, the signs of a flimsy hand working with metal, and Alphys pushes the door open. She yawns before speaking, "Morning. D-did you know your friend is h-h-here?"
"Which friend?" Chara sits up, still hugging their body pillow. "Have they been waiting long?"
"It's j-just Frisk again. They spent t-the night here yester- yesterday, and your mama let them in while I was sleeping. You k-know how I am, especially a-after we got rid of that doorbell."
"The doorbell," Chara groans, pinching the bridge of their nose. Their doorbell used to be a bloodcurdling scream from Alphys and Undyne's favorite anime, the same one where their last name comes from (regrettably). Chara only recently convinced Undyne to program the doorbell to be a dog bark instead. "Did you say Frisk spent the night? On the couch again?"
"Yup. Y-your mama wants to go on a run right n-now, so I'm just letting you k-k-know so that you don't get s-scared when you go downstairs. Capiche?"
"Capiche," Chara sighs,
"Oooookay," Alphys nods, exiting the room. "Don't sleep in t-too long. It's b-b-bad for your development."
"I know, Mom."
"L-love you."
"Love you too."
Click.
Chara manages to stay down for another 28 minutes before sitting up. They put on a velvet cardigan and pair of black slacks loosely thrown onto their bed, as well as their puppy house slippers before walking out and down the stairs.
"Frisk?"
No response. They're either purposefully ignoring them or asleep. It's the latter, it seems, because Chara immediately spots Frisk curled up on the sofa.
Chara comes up to Frisk, kneeling down and dragging their nails around Frisk's scalp. "You awake?"
Frisk lets out a strained groan.
"This is the seventh time you've come here," Chara frowns. "I doubt just staying at Toriel's house is worse than making the walk here in the dead of the night."
With no response, Chara gets up. "Okay. I will make you your coffee, I suppose."
Frisk rustles a bit, but Chara doesn't stay long enough to check if they've opened their eyes. They type a quick text to Toriel, met with a patient response almost immediately, before turning on their brew & drip coffee machine.
Frisk likes their coffee sweet with just a hint of chocolate syrup and a mother load of creamer. Chara makes it for them with latte art, though Frisk always notes how the froth is subpar (their exact words are "mid as hell", much to Chara's dismay.
Chara hums a short tune, hearing the machine whirr while they grab leftover creamer from the fridge. It's easy to get lost in thought like this, when it's just them, since Undyne and Alphys are always out of the house either due to work or their gross exercise dates that always have them coming home sweaty.
Well, they're not really alone. Ever since their revival, Frisk tends to stick around Chara like glue. They're around the house a lot, even though they love talking to a variety of people, they always find their way back to Chara eventually, somehow.
Chara lets their head hang lower, pulling the mug out. Frisk, recently, has been…
"Mmn," Frisk murmurs from behind, letting their arms snake around Chara's torso, resting their chin on Chara's shoulder. "Hi."
"Ah—Greetings," Chara smiles, patting Frisk's head. "I texted your mother and made you coffee. You're welcome, by the way."
"Aw, that's so sweet of you," Frisk smiles. A beat passes before Frisk speaks into Chara's shoulder, "Thanks, Starlight. I really appreciate it."
"I—" Chara nearly drops the mug, setting it down on the marble surface with a hard clink.
Frisk tilts their head, watching how easily Chara's face heats up. They smile. "Is something wrong, dummy?"
"Urk…" Chara turns away. "I think I liked it better when you were—when you insult me instead."
"I find it hard to believe that you prefer it when I'm mean to you, bedbug," Frisk laughs more to themselves, rubbing Chara's side with their thumb. Then Chara stays silent for a little while longer, their mouth occasionally opening and closing. "Chara?"
"Shut up," they quickly blurt out, rushing through the phrase.
Frisk raises their head, smiling. Feeling Chara trying to escape, they hold onto them tighter. "Hey, where are you going? I'm only judging a little."
"Stooop—Frisk!" Chara struggles, but unfortunately for them, Frisk is about twice as strong as them and manages to spin them around, holding them even tighter. They're really close. "Oh, wow."
"Aww, is little Chara embarrassed for once?" Frisk grins, tilting their head towards Chara, indicative of affection that Frisk never initiates. "Idiot."
Chara's chest almost hurts from how fast their heart races. "We're in my house!"
"Huh. Doesn't that sound familiar?" Frisk smiles at Chara's sputtering. Then, they let them go, grabbing the coffee mug off of the counter. Chara stumbles back onto the door of the cold fridge. "No, no, you're right. In your own house…scandalous! Only a real rascal would flirt with someone while nobody else is looking."
Chara huffs, fixing their cardigan and touching their face anxiously. They look up at Frisk, who's trying not to grin while they sip their coffee.
"What? No…" They gasp sarcastically. "Were you thinking of something else?"
Chara chucks a fridge magnet at Frisk.
°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
"What?" Asriel laughs, placing his hat on the table and leaning back in the lawn chair. "Well, hey, Frisk really is just like that, aren't they?"
"Yeah, but Clover's in on it too!" Chara blurts out, almost letting their pastry slip out of their hands. "And—well, you've known Clover longer than I have—they're- You know! You can never tell if they're joking or not!"
Asriel giggles watching Chara slump in their chair, sighing wistfully. "What's even the problem, then?"
"Well, it's not a problem, per se… I— Frankly, I won't get into it, I'll spare you the embarrassing details. I'm simply 80% confident that my partners are retaliating against me!"
A little ways away, eavesdropping on Asriel and Chara's conversation are the two culprits in question.
Clover turns to Frisk. "I think we sorely misjudged our game plan."
Frisk deadpans, "This is all your fault, Clover."
"Hey!"