Chapter Text
Chara was by no means a cuddly person.
They could show they cared, and they did, but typically hugs weren't their go-to. Neither were "I love you" 's. It was for the Dreemurrs, but not for their little adopted human kid. Gifts were more their thing. That, and quality time.
So safe to say it was quite surprising to the goat family when they suddenly started giving out hugs and words of affection as if they suddenly got a lifetime supply of those to give out, and with a deadline. They did so with such urgency, everytime they walked into a room or left it, as if they wanted to make up for the months they'd spent without verbalising it.
Oh, the Dreemurrs were not complaining about this, no. Chara finally feeling comfortable to that much touch was heartwarming. They were finally starting to fully trust them, be comfortable, after a full year of living underground.
That, and they were getting out of bed again.
The last few days had been... hard, on the whole royal family. Asgore being sick, Toriel worried just as sick about him all while trying to maintain to the kingdom that everything would be alright; all that while the two children were drowning in guilt in very different ways that made it hard to care for them both equally at the same time.
Asriel was constantly apologising, sobbing, by his dad's bedside while the king pat his head with his slowly but surely coming back strenght. The prince was helping with the treatment, or more so its delivery, running faster than Toriel ever could from Doctor Gaster's lab to the castle with all the medicine to give his father. Besides those trips, he never stepped a foot outside the room, not even to sleep.
The princet was another story altogether. Chara hadn't spoken a word since Toriel had gotten out of them and Asriel the ingredients of the pie, laying in bed as their eyes were as dead as they were quiet. It was even worse than the 'moments' they had where they just didn't do anything, 'having the blues' like Asriel's parents explained to him. They looked like all life was sucked out of them, even when they let out giggles as only reply to updates on their makeshift father's recovery.
So when they finally snapped out of it, it was a breath of relief for the whole family. Chara had ironically taken more time than Asgore himself to recover from the illness, but now, they were back on their feet and more affectionate than ever. It was good that everyone was finally over this, the Dreemurr parents believed. An incident with just as much hurt than fear, but a one with a happy ending, that could be put behind.
"Asriel?" Chara stepped in the living room, their hands folded over one another.
Toriel looked at her son from the chair, a book in her hands, seeing him tilt his head at the table next to his father.
"Yeah?"
She watched him grab the family's camescope, hopping towards the little human. He wasn't taller than them by a lot of inches, but when they were all calm and composed like they often were and he was all excited, he often seemed much bigger.
"Would you follow me in the garden?" They asked him.
He hummed. "What for?"
They looked at him, quiet for a fraction of second longer than they usually were. "To play."
Toriel's heart fluttered when she saw her son beam ear to ear. It'd been a while since Chara had wanted to indulge in any game of theirs. He'd been waiting just for them to come around, patient as per her request, and now that they did, he nodded enthusiastically.
"Yay! There's so many games we have to get back to! Oh, I'm so happy, Chara!"
They smiled at him.
"Last one to the garden's a rotten egg!" He giggled and dashed away.
Now was the part where Toriel expected Chara to run after him, potentially trip him (warranting them a slight sermon from herself) to win, competitive as they were. However, they asked him to wait. He stopped in his tracks, confused but listening to them.
They seemed to ponder something, then came to whatever conclusion they were looking for, breathing in and out, eyes closed. Then, reopening them, they walked to Asgore, who was sitting at the table. They hugged him, unprompted. He rose his brows, but as he had stopped doing since the child got so affectionate, didn't question it and rubbed their back. Then, when he let them go, they walked to Toriel. Sensing a similar intent behind their approach, she lifted them in her arms to fully embrace them. She felt them stiffen for a second, but they softened quickly. They even held her back, and quite tightly so too. They also buried their face in the crook of her shoulder, staying like that for a while. Until, she felt them take a deep breath. They pushed themself away from the tight hug, but not away enough to break away from her arms. They could look her in the eyes, and were in fact doing just that. They spoke, words steady.
"You all know that I love you, right?"
Toriel cupped their cheek. They didn't flinch. They'd stopped flinching when she did that, and that warmed her heart.
"I need you to know this." They repeated, voice ever so slightly strained.
Their goat mother nodded. "We know, Chara. We love you back. It is important you know as well."
Chara seemed relieved. They lightly headbutted the woman. She smiled some more. Chara picking up goat mannerisms was a funny little thing, but it felt natural. Especially for the little human, who struggled with words or conventional ways to express their care.
"Good."
Then they pushed some more, signaling they wanted out of the embrace. Toriel dropped her arms, and Chara slided to the floor. They walked to Asriel, and before taking any more step to leave the room alongside him, they looked at both the Dreemurr parents.
"I mean it. I love you more than I have ever loved anything in my entire life."
Asgore smiled at them. So did his wife.
The child gave the room a last look, before they turned away, Asriel almost dragging them by the hand. Before they left the room, their father remind them they'd need to leave for a meeting soon. Royal duties, and what not.
Asriel claimed to remember in a way that suggested it'd slipped his mind. Toriel found it endearing a little. At least, he was more embarrassed by the fact he'd forgotten rather than any anxieties about being alone in the house for a few hours. It used to be quite the issue. Though now that he had Chara with him to stay, he handled no adults in the house way better than before.
Chara nodded. For their part, it was clear they had not overlooked that part of today's schedule.
And off the children were. Toriel stayed looking at the place they'd been mere seconds before, grinning.
Things were finally starting to look up again, after that pie incident.