Chapter Text
The two stood at opposite ends of the coffee table, the prize between them along with the very different futures it promised depending on who claimed it first.
Chara and Clover had weathered countless conflicts over the course of their relationship, each one overcome with stubbornness or sheer persistence. This however felt… different.
Could this be the limit of the strength of their relationship?
Clover’s hat cast a shadow over their eyes, leaving their expression unreadable.
Chara stood perfectly still, face blank.
“Clover,” Chara said evenly. “I’m afraid I can’t allow you to go through with your plan.”
Clover lowered their head.
“Then fate has placed us on opposite sides.” they murmured.
Chara blinked. “…What?”
They had gotten used to most of Clover’s oddities, even their bizarre eating habits. But they’ve never heard them talk like this before, not even at formal events.
“I had hoped it would not come to this,” Clover continued, voice heavy with burden. “That we might yet continue to walk the same path. But it seems that the road has long since split.”
Chara looked at Clover unimpressed. “…It’s a TV remote Lucky.”
“And yet,” Clover said, lifting their gaze, “how many bonds have been tested by similar things?”
A “tense” silence passed between the two.
“The answer,” Chara said flatly, “is zero.”
“The answer,” Clover countered, “is unknown.”
A battle loomed, one of legendary stakes! The duo’s unyielding will, with potential consequences neither side was willing to accept!
“I cannot–no–will not subject myself to that… thing you call ‘entertainment’,” Clover declared. “I have seen its kind before, and it scared me beyond anything I thought possible.”
Chara rolled their eyes. “You watched one bad anime that Alphys made you watch with her.”
“I barely survived that ordeal.”
Chara sighed. “You know her taste is questionable.”
“I have born witness to narratives that defy reason, to conflicts resolved through “nyah”, the show has yet to explain Mew Mew Kissing Cutie’s abilities, not even a mention of it—”
“You’re being dramatic.” Chara stared at Clover unimpressed.
“I can recite the ‘sacred verses’ of Mew Mew Kissing Cutie from memory,” Clover pressed on. “Each line etched into my mind as though carved by the universe itself.”
“…It’s an opening theme.”
“A warning,” Clover corrected. “A warning of a terrible fate for those who watch it.”
Chara pinched the bridge of their nose. “This is a completely different show.” They tossed the DVD case onto the table. “I saw some interesting things about it on the surface. Of course I couldn’t watch it since…you already know why.”
Clover caught it, staring down at the cover tensely.
“And you ask me,” they said slowly, “to once more step into that abyss.”
“It’s a cartoon.”
“All the more reason to fear it.”
Chara began circling the table. “As good as westerns are, a little variety wouldn’t hurt.”
Clover didn’t move.
“…Very well,” they said at last. “Twenty minutes.”
Chara paused.
“Twenty minutes,” Clover repeated, solemnly. “I will tolerate it for twenty minutes.”
“…You’re setting a time limit?” Chara said amused.
“I am setting boundaries,” Clover said.
Chara grinned.
“Sure.”
…
Clover’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Hold on…”
“What?”
“The remote,” Clover muttered. “Where is it?”
They glanced back toward the table.
The remote was gone.
‘Oh, that little thing.’
Chara raised it smugly in their left hand.
Clover froze.
“…Ah, man!” The cowpoke frowned, the grandeur collapsing instantly. “I knew you were up to something when you were getting closer!”
Ah, there was the Clover they knew.
“I took it while you were delivering that oh so passionate declaration,” Chara said. “Honestly, I’m a little hurt. I think you put more emotion into that than when you asked me out.”
“W-wait, I–hey, that’s not–!” Clover sputtered, flushing. “That was different, I didn’t–you–”
Chara softly laughed.
“Relax.” They nodded toward the couch. “Now sit down and stop being such a baby.”
“I am not being a—!”
“Three episodes,” Chara cut in. “That’s it. I heard it’s good.”
“…From who?” Clover asked, narrowing their eyes.
In truth they did see some of the show when they were on the surface, although in brief moments since the other kids in the orphanage also liked it to the point of pushing them out of the only TV in their so-called home.
Chara wagged their finger. “Tsk tsk tsk, Clover I thought you loved me.”
Clover hesitated.
“…Fine,” they grumbled, dropping onto the couch beside them. “But if this turns into another ‘power of friendship saves the universe’ thing, I’m walkin’ out.”
Chara smirked, handing over a corner of the blanket on the couch as they sat.
“You say that as if that wasn’t what saved the entire Underground.”
“Frisk’s case is different!” Clover defended.
…
…
…
Chara hung over the side of the couch, watching Clover with quiet curiosity. “So?”
“It actually wasn’t that bad.” Clover leaned back into the cushions. “I mean, the plot barely made any sense ‘cause it starts in the middle of some battle with some pink dude, half the story feels unexplained, and I liked the transformations, but that one guy screamed for, like, five whole minutes before anything actually happened, then—”
Chara looked at them fondly.
“Lucky,” they said, “that DVD box was season eight. Of course not much would make sense since we started near the end of the show.”
“Huh?” Clover blinked at them. “Why would we start at season eight instead of the beginning?”
Chara rolled their eyes. “I wonder too.”
Clover tilted their head confused.
“…”
“...?”
“...”
“Ooooh.” Clover snickered, finally catching on. “I guess Waterfall can only give so much huh? “ They sighed. “We’re not finding the rest are we?”
Chara nodded. “Unfortunately that appears to be the case.” Chara picked up the DVD box on the coffee table. “The box looks pretty valuable, and I doubt anyone’s dumb enough to throw an entire collection into the Underground.”
“Aw man!” Clover threw their head back dramatically. “No wonder all the anime down here sucks. People only dump the bad ones!”
If humanity dumped anything that they didn’t like into the Underground then…
“A surprising number of westerns have ended up down here…” Chara mused aloud.
“Hey!” Clover immediately sat upright.
Chara looked away innocently. “Is something wrong?”
“I—” Clover huffed before turning away. “Whatever.”
A faint smile tugged at Chara’s face. “So does this mean you’re more open to anime now?”
Clover winced. “You found one good one by luck. A single one! And considering Alphys probably grabbed every she could in Waterfall and that we’ve watched through it all…”
“She likely doesn’t care for these types of shows, as I said,” Chara responded, “her taste is questionable at best.”
The cowpoke visibly shuddered at the reminder. “You mind hanging out with her next time she does one of those watch parties?”
Lately, Clover had been spending more time with Alphys since Frisk had become increasingly busy with ambassador work on the surface. Apparently, even after the barrier broke, humans and monsters still needed ‘time to adjust’, meaning that humans weren’t so keen on allowing monsters on the surface just yet.
Disappointing yes, but not surprising. Humans were unsurprisingly useless when it came to changing.
Regardless…
Frisk was one of the only people besides Alphys who actually liked the marathon sessions of Mew Mew Kissing Cutie along with the show itself. And Clover being who they were…
Well, they didn’t have the same mental fortitude to withstand such a thing.
“Ah…” Chara suddenly found the speck of dust on the ceiling to be interesting. “Well, I suppose I could, theoretically speaking, in a very specific circumstance, however—”
They scrambled for an excuse.
Ordinarily, Chara would of course, but they had certain royal responsibilities as the child of monsterkind’s king and queen, and they couldn’t risk–
Clover grinned. “Cool! I’ll let her know.”
“Great,” Chara said weakly.
It wasn’t that they disliked Alphys–they genuinely liked her. Without her, neither Chara nor Clover would even be here right now. But unless either of them managed to convince her to branch out a little, their options during hangouts were…limited to say the least.
Actually, that gave them an idea.
Chara slowly looked back toward Clover.
“I trust,” they said carefully, “that you’ll be there as well?”
“Huh?”
Chara sighed dramatically, placing a hand against their forehead. “Surely you wouldn’t abandon your lovely partner to such a fate.”
Clover looked at them flatly. “I absolutely would.”
“You wound me!” They dramatically sighed. “After everything we’ve been through together?”
Clover snorted softly. “I’ll buy you chocolates if you do it.”
Chara immediately straightened.
“…I suppose those terms are acceptable.”
And thus, the not-so dramatic battle of the couch potatoes came to an end.