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Asriel’s day has been going fine so far, just the usual routine of waking up and seeing Chara standing over his bed (creepy, but he’s used to it by now) getting dressed, him and Chara walking to where their classes are, talking to Chara in between classes, pulling Frisk out of the dumpster after they got stuck there doing…something. (Asriel doesn't even remember why they were in there anymore, but he knows it was something dumb)
Then when he could finally pack up for the day and go home he did some baking. He made some “special” brownies (and some regular ones incase Chara isn’t in the mood for that) and now he’s just relaxing on the couch, wearing his space-themed pajama set and scrolling on his phone he ate a brownie or two earlier so he’s feeling a nice buzz from that. So yeah, his day’s actually been pretty good in hindsight.
Well, except for one thing…
Chara isn’t here.
Which not only bums him out a little, but it also worries him because Chara barely goes out, much less until this late and without telling him.
Of course, Chara is an adult and he’s not their father. They can come and go as they please without telling him a thing but...they usually do tell him, especially if they're planning on staying out late (their definition of “late” is anywhere between 7-9 pm) and right now it’s far past that.
Asriel looks in the upper right corner of his phone to check the time…
10:23 pm.
Asriel blinks and re-checks.
10:23 pm. That’s what it says.
Now Asriel’s really worried.
The absolute latest Chara has ever come home in the rare case they do go out is 9:08 pm.
This is way past that.
(Should I…call them? I mean, I don’t want to interrupt whatever it is their doing, and I don’t want them to feel pressured to come home if they're not ready but I’m really worried and-) He opens his phone app, hesitating to press call as he way overthinks this.
While his mind is spiraling into a mess of over thinking and anxiety. He suddenly hears the sound of a key being inserted in a door lock, he already knows its Chara, they always have a specific way of doing things and opening a lock is no exception. They insert the key slowly, carefully and turn the lock at the same incremental pace. It makes almost no sound but Asriel can hear the slight rumbles coming from the lock causing him to look towards the front door.
The door is opened just as slowly and quietly as the lock and Chara enters, slipping into the dorm room and locking the door behind them with the same slow careful movements.
If Asriel wasn’t in the living room and staring straight at them, he would have never known that Chara ever entered.
They turn around, facing him.
They look nice. Wearing brown trousers with their usual well polished dress shoes, a button up shirt with a blazer layered over it and a long brown trench coat to complete the look.
Just as he’s about to say something about how nice they look today (which, they always look nice every day, they go to great lengths for their appearance. Seriously, they spend like two hours getting ready every morning.) or ask them about where they’ve been he locks eyes with them and takes pause.
They look exhausted. Not even just regular tiredness, a bone deep weariness that’s almost shocking to witness on them. That same damn smile, still etched into their face like carved stone, it seems no matter what they feel they're determined to keep it up no matter what and it worries him.
Their eyes look so…human. Usually their eyes are empty. Like staring into the eyes of something that died a long time ago. It's creepy, really creepy especially with how intensely they stare back like they're looking into his very SOUL. But right now? Their hazy, half closed and red rimmed. Nothing like the wide eyed piercing gaze he’s gotten used to.
They almost seem to stare through him, rather than into him today. They say nothing, and Asriel doesn't need them to.
He doesn't say anything either, just opens his arms in case they need it. He doubts they'll take his offer but it's still good to give them the option.
Then, something surprising happens. Instead of walking away, or outright saying no like he expected they just…drop straight into his arms. Just like that. Approached the couch and plopped themself down on him like its their birthright, they didn't take off their coat first, hell they didn't even take off their shoes (which, they never wear shoes in the house) they just bury their face in his chest and wraps their little arms around him (or well, their arms seem little in comparison to Asriel.) Their knees clamping around his sides, holding him tight.
He kind of just…freezes. When he offered a hug he didn't even expect them to accept let alone like this. But he quickly snaps out of his surprise. They clearly need comfort right now and he's not going to let his own disbelief get in the way of taking care of his best friend.
He places his phone on the couch and slowly, almost hesitantly wraps his arms around them giving them enough time to say no or pull away if they want to.
But they don't.
They just sit and hold each other. Asriel can feel Chara’s chest rise and fall with each breath, their face, especially their little button nose pressing into his soft fluffy chest. Their small fingers press into his back, their arms just barely wrapping around his broad frame.
They feel cold against him. They always feel cold, like they're constantly being blasted by an ac unit. Asriel can't help but be a little envious, he always feels warm, sometimes a bit too warm.
Chara can solve their problem with a few extra layers of clothes but him? No matter how thin the T-shirt or how short the shorts he will always be constantly at the mercy of the weather if it ever decides to raise by even a single degree higher (sure, he could shave his fur down shorter but then it'll ruin the whole “rugged” look he's going for).
He feels Chara shift, and nuzzle their face deeper into his band t-shirt. This reminds him of when he and Kris were younger, how they would make a ruckus like they were having a nightmare and he had to wake them up and hold them just like this.
He hears Chara either sniff or sniffle; he's not sure which but he doesn't mind either way If Chara wants to sniff him then they can go right on ahead. Kris used to do the same when he was comforting them, like his scent helped to ground them. He thought it was just a weird Kris thing but it seems to help Chara too as he can feel them relax a bit.
And if it was a sniffle, then they can cry on him as much as they need to.
He looks down, a mound of reddish-brown hair is there to greet him.
He's always liked their hair. They keep it short, the sides cut to exactly the end of their jaws, the back cut shorter than the nape of their neck and the front is always cropped to just above their eyebrows.
They always keep it perfectly straight and brushes it near constantly. He's always thought about how nice their hair must feel, a constant temptation and battle of will not to just stick his hand in there and feel for himself
Of course, he's never bothered to ask them if he could because, well, who asks that? And because he knew they would almost certainly say no. If they try so hard to keep it so straight and perfect why would they want his grummy mits anywhere near it? So he could only long from a distance.
Until now of course. Those perfect stands pooling on his chest, almost begging to be stroked. He removes one hand from around them, his other hand holding them closer to make up for the sudden loss and then he just goes for it.
He places his huge heavy paw on their head and runs his claws through their hair, being extra careful not to accidentally slice their scalp open or unnecessarily mess up any of their well crafted hairstyle.
It's just as good as he thought it would feel, their hair is smooth and yet coarse. The length of the strands drawing out the feeling of their hair running against his paw pads before he goes back in for another stroke. It feels different from Kris' hair, their hair is much longer with messy tangled strands that would always snare on his claws, their hair is much coarser, and nowhere near as smooth as Chara's. The absolute lack of knots is nice.
He feels Chara tense slightly and he starts to regret ever thinking that touching them without permission (much less like this) was okay, but as he starts to pull his hand away he feels them just melt against him, their firm grip loosening from around him completely, just limp.
He can't tell if this is a good or a bad thing, but they didn't push him away or protest so…
He strokes their hair again, savoring the feeling against his paw, they seem to relax more if that's even possible.
They stay like this for a while, Asriel's warm hand running through Chara's hair. Chara’s completely limp body against Asriel.
After a while of absolutely no response from them (not even a shift, a shuffle or any noise at all. They don't even speak) he becomes a bit concerned.
“Chara?” He calls their name, hoping to get any indication that they're still in the land of the living.
…
Nothing, they don't even stir.
(They probably fell asleep…) Asriel, reasons to himself.
It dampers his concern but only slightly, he's still worried about what could have possibly happened to them that could have left them in a state like the one they came home in. Does he even want to know? He probably shouldn't ask. He knows how private Chara is about themself and even though they're close he doubts they would tell him anything.
“If you can hear me, which you probably can't seeing as you're probably asleep and all. Just know you can tell me anything okay? I won't judge you or tell anyone. Not that I even have anyone to tell anyways, heh…”
He resumes stroking their hair he hadn't realised he even stopped in the first place. He hopes his message went through, but in case it didn't he'll just tell them again in the morning.
He starts to feel his own eyes get heavy, he thinks about going to bed but Chara’s sleeping on him and he doesn't want to risk waking them up, they barely get enough sleep as it is and he doesn't want to contribute to that. Besides, the couch is perfectly comfortable especially since Chara is here with him.
His eyes start to drift closed, he missed this. He missed holding someone close like this…
The position is a little uncomfortable, his neck being braced weirdly against the couch cushion and his legs certain to go numb from being compressed under Chara’s weight all night, his chest feels warm and damp probably because of condensation from Chara's hot breath on him (it could also be tears or drool, who knows?) Either way the wet warm feeling isn't the nicest.
But honestly?
He wouldn't have it any other way.
Asriel’s eyes slip shut.