Chapter Text
It was just another day in HOMETOWN. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the cats were singing, and a skeleton with a bowl of spaghetti on his cranium walked by, though nobody cared to question it. Behind him was another, much shorter skeleton, who kept bond hands in his pockets while humming a familiar tune. It wasn't the first time NormalNPC had heard this specific song—such a song was discovered by someone else, from deep under the waves, akin to a siren from the sea. It also wasn't them who first heard it. They'd been informed of a creature in the water wishing to investigate the sound, which was something they'd already dealt with.
It didn't matter to the bird, so they kept walking. NormalNPC passed by a man's head sticking out of a clam, a hoarde of prisoners haggling with an officer for extra outside-time, and a man enjoying a wonderful donut. Upon squinting their ridicoulously large eyes, the donut man's facial expression was one made out to be fear. It appeared as if the donut scared them for whatever reason, and despite NormalNPC's dismisal of the sight, they walked up to the man to form conversation.
"I spent 2G on this," he began; "I didn't even know I had G!"
NormalNPC knew of "G", the currency. It existed, a gift to be granted to HIS most loyal followers, as granted by the prophecy. Was this man a follower as well? It appeared that way. Unlike who a truly loyal follower would act, NormalNPC began his reply with the word "I". This confused the man with the donut, who held a hand up to their temple.
"I … You also spent G on this?"
NormalNPC bit their comically-shaped tongue before they slowly walked away. There was no reason to converse with the man, and yet, they suddenly changed their mind, and decided to walk back.
"I, 2G," they blurted out.
This scared the donut man even more. "You're 2G? … Did I spend you, 2G?"
"I, 2G, I, 2G," the bird screeched, now in pain. NormalNPC shoved a wing in their mouth before turning around and running away, too fast to describe the surroundings around them, until they reached HOMETOWN's apartment buildings. It was rather unfortunate that the prophecy had not granted them the ability to avoid basic necessities such as stopping to breathe, as they suddenly wished to walked back to the man and ask him about his donuts.
The wing in their mouth began to hurt, so they pulled it out, and watched it as it bled. They couldn't have a bleeding wing while talking with a cute man about the G he spent on donuts, so they went home.
What? Home was where the heart is, and they ended up right beside the fearful man with his donut again.
The bird began to screech loudly. "2G! 2G! Only for free!"
The fearful man screeched as well. "That's how much I spent myself!"
"2G! 2G!"
"Only for free!"
The noise was annoying, so NormalNPC shut up immediately. There was no pain, and the wing didn't bleed hard enough for it to be of much concern. The donut man shut up as well. " … Are you spare me by running away?"
NormalNPC thought for a moment. How should they get away? They wouldn't be spared if they just ran away, it wasn't as easy to deal with such things. "Don't."
" … Don't?"
"Wait, don't," they remembered. Wait, don't, what? Don't wait, perhaps. They couldn't wait any longer to communicate with the man with the donut! Wait, don't, don't wait. Don't wait! "Especially the don't!"
"Don't wait? I won't wait! I just bought this donut for 2G, and now I'm out of G!"
NormalNPC had no G. However, NormalNPC was perfectly willing to offer him plenty of light-world dollars, which was stuck somewhere within the feathers on their skin. Pockets, pockets, what are those? Who needs a purse, when you have no G? NormalNPC took the opportunity provided by this confusion to walk ten steps away from the man while nobody was looking.
" … Did the spider send you to me?" asked the donut man.
"Lickin Ficus," NormalNPC responded.
"Ficus?"
"Ficus, licking, Ficus. Licking."
This cheered up the fearful man. Thinking about licking ficus made him feel happier, especially when he would consume the dew. He was too embarressed to leave his spot after falling into the spider's trap, and buying a donut due to it. Donuts, donuts, dew, dew. Is that all there is with you? The man doesn't care for due, or licking some ficus—that's what the other one does!
NormalNPC rubbed their wing. It must've hurt quite a bit, or perhaps they don't care for pain at all, because why would His followers care for it? Hiding their head in a clam-shell right now would've been perfectly well. If they're flustered, then they should bring the man to the library, then see to it later.
What do you say now, NormalNPC?
" … Wait."
"Wait … ?"
" … Wait. Wait, lo—"
Stop. It was meant to be a form of "slow-burn" romance, so they bit their wing once again. It was hard for them to see their wing, and finding the light-world dollars in their fur was akin to not being able to find them at all. And they're a parrot, but they're not a parrot, so they must keep to their role and make what must happen come true.
"They're books upstairs. You should read them, the library ones."
Had someone said that before? They couldn't remember. It interested the donut man, though, which was good enough. "Are there spiders in the library? Can Undyne be spared there?"
"You're going to go to the books upstairs."
"Is that my resolution?"
"You should read them."
"Oh, I hate holidays…"
It worked, good enough.
Seriously, the bird was rather pathetic. They couldn't initiate communicate with other suspected followers unless they were prompted to do so. Always near them, feeding them balls of Takoyaki … say, does the donut man remember the balls of Takoyaki they made on Festival Day?
"Didn't you try one? It was only 2G. It was only for free."
"T … the donut? For free? For me?"
"Fresh balls. Of Onion and Octopus."
"For me?"
"For you, love. Books in the library, you should read them."
Knowing that they could speak more comprehensibly if they wished to, yet didn't care enough to, it was much appreciated that they managed to convey their message to the man with minimal words. They'll get what they want, soon enough, with a possible higher power as their wingman, who they could communicate with if they tried hard enough.
" … You should go to the hospital."
" … ?"
"Your wing is bleeding. The doctor should be able to do something about it."
"The books at the library will fix it, hospitals have spiders," which was said by the bird in an attempt to scare the man away from staying with him for too long. If they stayed together too long, then it wouldn't work as NormalNPC wished for it to. And, as the man was now terrified of the idea of meeting the bakesale spider at the hospital, they'd be alright.
It would work out the way He would want it to. Who was he? Someone nobody remembered; not important, and not too unimportant. They could be together when the time was right.
"Go to the library, read the books. Especially the books upstairs. I will be with you shortly."