Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You woke up to the sound of voices and movement around you. Sitting up, you looked around and realized you were somewhere with lots of trees and grass. You then looked over to where the noises were coming from to see people not far from where you were.

Standing up and stumbling a little, you made your way towards them, watching curiously as some passed by you, talking, shouting, smiling and laughing.

It wasn’t long until you realized something. None of the humans seemed to be aware of you, almost as if they were ignoring you for some reason. One child almost ran into you if you hadn’t quickly moved out of the way.

Raising an eyebrow, you saw a young man coming your way and tried to reach for him, but he walked right through your hand as if it had been nothing.

You brought your hands close to your face and stared at them. Unlike everyone else, your hands were extremely pale and your clothes were all grey…...colorless.

Your brows furrowed in confusion, unsure of what to make of this. Frowning, you lowered your hands and glanced around. Everyone continued walking and chatting, completely oblivious of you. Not knowing what else to do, you decided to look around some more and disappeared through the crowds.

Many weeks later, you found out that you could take on a human form. It happened by accident the first time you changed, but then you tried to make use of it. You always wondered what it’s like to be noticed by others, what it’s like to actually exist, but it didn’t exactly turn out the way you had hoped.

No matter how hard you tried, you never managed to fit in with the other humans. You felt out of place, like you didn’t belong wherever you went. Some humans even grew wary of you. After a while, you stopped trying to find a place for yourself among them and resigned yourself to staying unseen.

That was a really long time ago.

Right now you were silently making your way through the crowd down the sidewalk. That’s how it had been for you. You moved from one place to another, watching the world progressing and changing around you, but never interacting with anybody. You got used to being alone and unnoticed.

Suddenly, you saw an armless monster child coming your way followed by other kids from his kind. You watched them chase after each other and giggle excitedly, unaware of the disdainful, annoyed looks some humans were giving them.

About two months ago, creatures of all shapes and sizes came from the mountain led by a small human child.

Convincing the humans that these creatures meant no harm was not easy and it took a lot of persuading from the young ambassador and the royal family before monsters were finally allowed to live in the city.

Of course, not everybody was willing to let monsters into their lives and those people weren’t quiet with their opinions on them. You couldn’t really understand the reason behind their fear and distrust. You hadn’t sensed anything malevolent or dangerous in the monsters. You finally stopped when you reached a house and looked over the fence to see a very large monster in his garden tending to some weeds. He was a bipedal goat monster with curling horns, wearing a floral shirt and dark pants.

The first time you saw him you could tell he had a good soul, but you sensed something else underneath his features, something almost empty, sad.

Sometimes other monsters would come to visit him and he would greet them with a smile. They would sit down and talk about their daily lives, sharing stories and laughing together, but when he was alone or thinks no one was looking his smile would disappear and his face becomes downcast. He then would spend hours in his garden all by himself.

You don’t know why, but something about that always bothered you. You never felt this way towards anybody before as far as you remembered. You wanted to do something about it, but you didn’t know what. 

Which was why you were here today.

You made your way to his backyard and hid behind the wall, glancing around to make sure no one was looking.

You then carefully tapped into your magic and you changed to your human form. You looked down at yourself. You were wearing a thick dark brown jacket over a white shirt, jeans pants and boots.

You quietly moved closer to a window and stared at your reflection. You had long brown hair, slightly pale skin, and your eyes were a deep shade of crimson which have startled a lot of humans in your past encounters, but this is what you change into.

Finally, you peered around the corner only to find that no one was there. Confused, you made your way to the garden and looked around for the goat monster, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Did he go somewhere when you weren’t looking?

Sighing, you were about to turn around to leave, but then you noticed the patch of flowers he was tending to and knelt down to get a better look at them.

They were really beautiful. You reached out and touched the bright golden petals. You can’t really feel things in your other form so you savored the tickling sensation they left on your fingers.

“Excuse me,”

You turned around and yelped at the towering figure in front of you, falling backwards. Luckily, you didn’t crush any of the flowers.

“Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Wincing a little, you glanced up to see the goat monster holding his hand out and looking at you in concern.

It felt weird, to be addressed by someone like this. You were always part of the background. People looked right through you, but never at you. You hesitantly took his hand and let him help you up.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” you said, surprised at the sound of your own voice. It’s been so long since the last time you had used it.

“May I ask what you are you doing in my garden?” the goat monster asked. He didn’t sound accusing, just curious.

You bit your lip and tried to think of an answer that didn’t involve telling him the real reason you were here. You looked over and quickly pointed to the golden flowers.

The large monster tilted his head in confusion. “You wanted to see the flowers?”

You stiffly nodded.

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Oh, well I’m glad you like them.” He said before remembering something. “Golly, where are my manners? I am Asgore, nice to meet you.”

Asgore then set the watering can he had down and then took off his gardening gloves before turning to you again. “Say, would you like to join me for a cup of tea? I just made some.” He offered kindly. You nodded again, letting him lead you to a small table where a tea set was left.

Asgore took the teapot and filled two cups before passing one to you. “Careful, it’s hot.”

You held up the teacup and stared at the hot beverage, unsure. You hadn’t actually eaten or drank……anything before, you never had to.

You slowly brought the cup to your lips and took a sip. The flavor was really sweet, but had subtle bitterness to it. It was refreshing in a way.

“So, are you new here? I haven’t seen you around before?” Asgore asked curiously.

You thought for a moment and then raised your hands to sign.

Just passing by.

“Hmm, not many humans usually come here,” Asgore stated, taking a sip from his cup. Monsters mostly lived in this part of the city so humans often tend to avoid passing here. Even though most humans have been accepting of his kind, there was still some tension between the two races.

As you drank the rest of your tea, you listened to Asgore talk about the monsters who lived nearby, the flowers that grew in his garden and how he made his own tea from them.

You hadn’t spoken through it all, you were quiet by nature, but you still listened attentively to him. Your teacup had long been emptied.

And that’s when you suddenly felt something off. There was a strange tingling sensation on your left hand. You looked down to see your hand had gone blurry, slowly vanishing.

Eyes widening, you immediately pulled your hand down and hid it before Asgore could see it.

“Is something wrong?” the goat man asked.

I have to go. You signed with your other hand. You couldn’t let him see you disappearing. You needed to leave now!

“Oh right, I’m sorry for keeping you.” Asgore said.

Thanks for the tea. You quickly sat up and turned around, making sure to keep your hand hidden and began heading towards the gate.

“Wait!”

You froze and glanced back at the goat monster.

He fidgeted awkwardly for a moment. “You’re welcome to come back anytime. We could have tea like this again perhaps?” he said hesitantly.

You frowned, unsure of what to do. He looked so hopeful despite trying not show it and to be honest you did want to meet him again.

You finally nodded, watching him smile warmly at you one last time before you left. You kept walking down the street and avoiding people until you made it to an alley.

You looked down at your arm to see that most of it was fading now. You quickly tried changing back, watching the colors fade from your form and returned to grey. You checked on your hand again and were relieved when it was back to normal. You never stayed human for this long before so it must had something to do with it.

You finally walked out of the alley and began heading down the street, invisible to everyone’s eyes once again. You thought back to your meeting with the goat monster earlier and felt your lips quirk a little.

You looked forward to see him again.

Chapter Text

You hesitantly made your way down the street, trying your best to not bump into anyone.

You thought spending more time as a human might help you gain better control of your magic so your body won’t start vanishing like it did before, but that turned out to be a lot harder than you previously thought.

Crowds didn’t used to bother you in the past, but now being surrounded by so many people, both humans and monsters, made you tense. You spent years wandering these allies and streets without having to worry about being hurt or addressed by anyone.

Now your mind was having a hard time processing all these sensations along with the fact that anyone can see and interact with you. One woman had accidentally bumped into you and you flinched back as if the contact had physically hurt.

You felt displaced and very vulnerable. You closed your eyes and pressed a hand against your head as it began to ache. Cracking one eye open, you saw you were near the park. You recalled coming here many times because of the open spaces and also because of how usually busting with activity the place was. It always sparked your curiosity.

There were times when you would sit down and watch children play or listen to adults chatting and telling stories, clueless to your presence among them.

Shaking those memories away, you made your way through the playground. Some kids stopped what they were doing just to look at you funny for a moment before continuing on. You soon came across a lone swing set and decided to rest on one of the swings.

If anything good had come from this, it was the fact that it allowed you to experience things that your real form didn’t allow you to before. You could now actually feel the warmth from the sun rays, the breeze on your skin and the grass underneath your feet instead of the cold numbness you were used to. It was strange, but not quite unpleasant.

Just when you were starting to relax, your brows furrowed when a different uncomfortable sensation crept on your skin.

Glancing down, you saw grey mist snaking around your feet and consuming them. Eyes widening in panic, you tried to shake it off and get your magic under control again. It took a little bit of effort, but the mist soon dispersed. Panting, you looked around and were glad to see that nobody seemed to have noticed that.

Sighing tiredly, you gazed around the playground for a while until you noticed a patch of yellow flowers near the fence. They reminded you of the reason you were doing this.

It had been three days since you met Asgore.

He said you were welcome to come back anytime, but you couldn’t go see him just yet, not when you still could vanish at any second. You barely managed to get away without being found out last time.

Time. You just needed more time.

--------

Asgore was in the middle of sweeping floor of his house, humming softly to himself when he suddenly heard someone knock on the door. “Just a moment!” he called out and placed the broom against the wall before making his way to the door.

“Howdy, how can I….” he began, but trailed off when he saw you standing in his porch. “Oh….it’s you,” he said, unable to hide the surprise in his voice. You blinked and tilted your head in confusion.

“S-Sorry, please come in,” he backed away to let you in and then led you to the living room. “Wait here, I’ll go prepare the tea,”

With that, Asgore turned around and headed to the kitchen. He placed the kettle on the stove and began heating the water with his fire magic, his thoughts drifting back to you. He didn’t think you would actually return, assuming you accepted his offer out of politeness and nothing else.

After all, he found you, a complete stranger, wandering around in his garden. It’s been a week since that happened.

But seeing you have actually came back made his soul grow warm. Snapping out of his thoughts, he filled two cups with tea and carried the tray back to the living room.

And that’s when he tripped.

Asgore yelped and barely caught himself as he fell onto one knee, his hands clutching the tray tightly and almost shaking. He was relieved to see that he somehow managed to not spill any of the tea.  

He looked over to see you staring at him in worry for a moment before a small bubble of laughter left your lips, making him blush slightly and stand up. He missed the confusion that took over your face next.

“Sorry about that.” He apologized with a smile before passing you the teacup. “Here you go,” You nodded and accepted it.

Asgore smiled and took a small sip from his own teacup. “So, how have you been doing….uh...” His brows furrowed when he realized something. “Excuse me, human, but I don’t think you actually told me your name.”

You paused and looked back at him stiffly.

Asgore watched you expectantly for a moment and frowned when you didn’t answer immediately. Thinking that he was making you uncomfortable, he quickly spoke up. “Hey, it’s alright if you don’t wish to tell me.” He stated. You nodded without looking at him.

You still looked uneasy even after several minutes. Asgore played with his empty cup anxiously, worried that he upset you, but he couldn’t think of anything to say to break the tension.

He was startled when his phone suddenly rang. He reached into his pocket and stood up. “Excuse me for a moment,” he said before leaving the room.

-------

As soon as the sound left your lips, you pressed a hand on your mouth, a confused frown on your face. When was last time you had actually laughed? You couldn’t really remember, but something about the sheepish smile and the embarrassment on this large monster’s face made it slip from you without a thought.

It’s been so long since you felt anything other than neutrality to the world around you.

You accepted the teacup from him and brought it to your lips, savoring the warmth it gave you. The moment of peace though was shattered when he asked you about your name. You froze up and the teacup nearly slipped from your hands. Blinking, you stared at the monster in stunned silence.

Your...name?

Probably sensing your discomfort, Asgore said you didn’t really have to tell him. Not knowing what else to do, you nodded.

Once the monster left to answer the call, you were left alone with your thoughts.

A name. As far you remembered, you never really had one. You were always just…..there. You were alone all the time. There was nobody to call you anything.

Asgore soon returned to the room, looking worried and a little disappointed. “I’m sorry, human, but something came up. I have to leave.”

You frowned. What happened?

“A friend of mine called and said that my child is sick. I need to go check on her.” Asgore explained.

You thought about this for a moment and raised your hands to sign. Can I go with you?

Asgore blinked and then his eyes lit up. “O-Of course!” he muttered excitedly and quickly led you outside the house. He turned to lock the door and stuffed the key inside his pocket. He stopped to stare at his garden thoughtfully before he held up his hand towards you. “Hold on a moment,”

You watched him kneel down and pick up a few flowers. “Perfect, I’m sure she’ll love these!” Asgore smiled and turned to you. “Alright, let’s go.”

You nodded and let him lead the way. As you walked by his side, you noticed him glancing at you every now and then. You could tell he wanted ask you some more, but was holding himself back.

Which reminded you of your current problem.

If you were going to continue pretending to be human then you would need a name. You brought a hand to your chin and tried to think of one for yourself, but nothing came to mind.

“We’re here!” You snapped from your thoughts at his voice and looked over to see a large white house with a blue roof up ahead. While Asgore made his way through the gate, you stood there unsure. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe you should turn back and leave.

“What’s wrong?” Asgore asked when he noticed you weren’t following him. You hesitated briefly and then shook your head before walking over to stand with him in the porch. He raised an eyebrow at you then rang the doorbell. He did that a two more times until someone answered.

To your surprise, it was another goat monster. She was slightly shorter than Asgore and wore a purple robe. “Hello, Asgore,” she said, her voice seem to strain a little bit.

Asgore smiled nervously. “Howdy, Undyne called and told me about Frisk so I came to check on her. I also brought a friend if you don’t mind.” He replied, placing a hand on your shoulder.

The goat woman finally seemed to take notice of you with him and looked surprised. “Oh hello there. I’m sorry for not noticing you.” She said with a smile. “I am Toriel, it is nice to meet you.”

You nodded.

Toriel then stepped away from the door to let you two in. Asgore had to bend a little to get in. You bit your lip in hesitation before following him inside.

Chapter Text

Quietly walking behind Asgore, you looked around at the interior of Toriel’s house in wonder.

You soon stopped when the two of you entered the living room. There were two skeletons sitting on a couch while a fish and lizard monster sitting on the floor in front the couch watching TV.

You remembered them. You saw them stopping by at Asgore’s house a few times before which meant….

You looked closely and saw a child with short brown hair, wearing purple pajamas and covering herself with a blue blanket. Her skin was slightly pale and she started coughing all of a sudden.

“Frisk, you have visitors,” Toriel said, getting their attention.

 “Howdy, everyone!” Asgore muttered.

“Finally, took you long enough, old man-” the fish lady began only to stop when she looked passed him to see you. The others noticed you as well and stared at you in confusion.

“Asgore, who is this?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at you.

“Calm down, Undyne. This is a friend of mine. She came to check on Frisk.” Asgore said and made his way to the child. He knelt down in front of her. “How are you feeling?”

The child grunted and tightened her grip on her blanket. Asgore smiled sympathetically and handed her the flowers. “I got you these. I hope you like them.” He said, ruffling her hair playfully.

“Anyway, these are Sans and Papyrus.” He said gesturing to the two skeletons.

“sup,” Sans said with a lazy wave as he hopped off the couch.

“And these are Undyne and Alphys.” The lizard smiles at you shyly while the fish woman looked away with a huff.

“And this is Frisk,” he finished, gently placing a hand on the kid’s head.

The tall skeleton suddenly took your hand and shook it frantically. “HELLO, HUMAN! IT IS A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HOPE WE BECOME GREAT FRIENDS!” he exclaimed, beaming down at you. He was slightly taller than you, but shorter than Asgore. “FRISK AND I ARE WERE ABOUT TO DO A PUZZLE. WOULD YOU LIKE TO JOIN US?” he asked hopefully.

You blinked and carefully pulled your hand away to sign. But I never done a puzzle before.

“WHAT!?” Papyrus screeched, looking at you horrified. “HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE!? PUZZLE ARE THE BEST! WE NEED TO FIX THAT RIGHT AWAY!”

You yelped when he took your hand again and quickly pulled you over to couch where the child, Frisk, was.

“WAIT HERE, I’LL BE RIGHT BACK!” he muttered urgently and ran upstairs. You stood there watching him leave and turned to the kid who was staring at you curiously as if you were some sort of anomaly.

You hesitated for a moment before bending down in front of her and signed. Hello.

This seemed to surprise the kid.

Are you okay?

She slowly nodded, but continued eyeing you in wonder. You frowned a little. Was something wrong?

“HERE IT IS!” Papyrus came back with a red box and spilled its contents on the table. You hesitantly sat down with the two and watched as they began piecing the puzzle together. When they asked you to join them, you curiously picked up a piece and tried to find a place to fit it in.

“Forgive me dear, but I don’t think you’ve told us your name yet.” Toriel said suddenly.

You froze up and looked away. Not again!

 You could feel everyone’s eyes on you waiting for an answer. You felt cornered, trapped. What were you supposed to say? You can tell they were bothered by your silence, but you just couldn’t think of a response.

Luckily, Asgore spoke up. “Uh…I forgot to mention, but she is very shy about her name.” He said with a smile, giving you a reassuring look. You blinked in surprise at him.

Toriel raised an eyebrow at this, but then cleared her throat and turned to you. “Well, if that’s the case then don’t feel that you have to tell us if don’t want to, dear. We understand.” She said and everyone murmured in agreement though some were more reluctant than others.

You stared at your lap, not knowing what to do, but nod.    

------

Once everyone settled down, they began talking among each other about their day. Toriel’s job at the new school, Asgore’s shop and Alphys’ interview at the university, but Sans wasn’t listening to any of it. He was thinking about you. He still didn’t really know what to make of you yet. He had never seen a human with eyes like yours. He didn’t even recall seeing you around in the city before.

He also couldn’t shake the feeling he got when he first saw you at the doorway as if something that should be there wasn’t. He had eyed you closely and noticed how hesitant you were in helping them and picked up the puzzle pieces slowly as if they were made of glass. You weren’t very expressive either. Your face rarely showing anything other than curiosity or confusion.

He rubbed his skull and his brows ceased. He just couldn’t get you.

“H-Hey, where did the other human go?” Alphys suddenly asked.

Sans blinked and looked around to find that you were nowhere to be seen.

How did you manage to sneak away without him noticing?

“I don’t know. She was here just a moment ago.” Asgore answered scratching the back of his head in confusion.

“Did she mention going somewhere?” Toriel asked Frisk and Papyrus. The two shook their heads.

“NO, YOUR MAJESTY!”

Sans extended his senses and felt someone standing in another room. He walked over to the doorway and let out a sigh. “found her,”

The others came over to see you standing in front of a bookcase, staring at the books curiously. Toriel sighed in relief and walked over to you.

“I see you found my book collection. Are you interested in reading some?” she asked.

You slowly nodded.

The goat woman smiled. “Well, feel free to choose whatever you like, dear. I don’t mind at all.” She said, seeming excited to share her books with another person.

Frisk suddenly walked over and started pulling on her robe. “My child, what are you doing here? You shouldn’t leave the couch.”

Frisk began to sign, but Sans couldn’t see what she was saying since her back was to him. Toriel’s eyes lit up and smiled. “Frisk suggests that we all have dinner here.”

“THAT’S A WONDERFUL IDEA, TINY HUMAN!” Papyrus muttered excitedly.

“Yeah, that would be awesome!” Undyne grinned.

Sans’ smile only tightened at this. He silently glanced at you and decided to keep an eye out for now.

-------

Due to her mom’s demand, Frisk was back on the couch once again. She huffed and sat there feeling miserable. She really wished she wasn’t this sick right now. There was much she wanted to do, especially with you around.

Frisk wasn’t sure how to react when you showed up with Asgore and had been a little nervous, but after spending some time together, you didn’t seem bad.

Frisk noticed how uncomfortable you were and tried to make feel a little more welcomed by inviting you to help with the puzzle and having you stay for dinner. Speaking of which….

Frisk looked down at the remaining pieces of the puzzle and decided to finish it alone since Asgore had stayed with you in the other room, Sans napping right next to her on the couch and Papyrus, Alphys, and Undyne have left to help Toriel in the kitchen.

Though judging by the noises coming from the kitchen, the child wasn’t sure how well that was working out.

Soon enough, she completed the puzzle. It was a picture of a mountain during sunset with birds and clouds. Coughing a little, she leaned back and sighed tiredly.

“Hey, punk! Can you go tell Asgore and the other human dinner’s ready?” Undyne asked, carrying some plates out of the kitchen. Her voice grew harder at mentioning you.

Shrugging, Frisk hopped off the couch and made her way to other room where you and Asgore were.

“What is it, Frisk?” the former king asked.

Dinner is ready. She signed.

“Alright,” he stood up from the love seat and stretched up. “It smells quite good.” He noted with a smile.

Frisk then made her way to you and signed, but to her surprise you didn’t respond. You continued reading, your eyes never leaving the pages.

Frisk stepped closer into your field of vision and tried again, but you remained oblivious to her presence next to you. She exchanged a confused glance with Asgore and placed a hand on your knee. You yelped and pulled back a little from her touch startled before relaxing once you looked at her. Is something wrong?

“Uh…Frisk has been trying to get your attention for the last minute or so.” Asgore said awkwardly. “Are you alright?”

You looked taken aback by this and signed. Yes, sorry.

Asgore smiled. “It’s fine, now come on. The others are waiting for us.”

-------

Once Toriel offered you the chance, you immediately picked a book and began reading it. It’s been a long time since you got a hold of one. You remembered liking to read in the past.

This one was about the Underground, the place where the monsters had come from. You didn’t know much about it other than what you heard from snippets of conversation while passing by.

But even that wasn’t helpful since a lot of people didn’t exactly describe it as a pleasant place.

Suddenly while you were engrossed in the words, something touched you and you recoiled back from the contact. You then realized it was Frisk looking at you in confusion.

You titled your head and signed. Is something wrong?

The goat man then told you how Frisk was trying to get your attention and you blinked in surprise. You glanced at the brown book in your hands and then back at them before apologizing.

You should have expected this. Over the years, you slowly became less and less aware of your surroundings. The sounds, the voices, you learned to block them out and distance yourself from everything. After all, no one knew you existed and nothing good or bad could happen to you so it was hard not to.

You sat the book down and followed the two out of the room.

You’re going to have to be more careful from now on if you wanted to maintain your secret.

Chapter Text

You watched from a distance as the monsters prepared the dining table. You felt a large hand on your shoulder and looked up to see Asgore smiling down at you.

“Come on, you can sit with me,” He said leading you to the closest seats. You quietly sat down and soon everyone began eating.

You stared at the plate in front of you unsure for a second before grabbing your fork and taking a bite from your food. You haven’t eaten much in the past, but you thought this was not bad.

Throughout the dinner, you could feel everyone giving you curious glances every now and then, but your gazed remained fixed on your plate.

By the time you were done, Toriel came over to pick up your plate, but you shook your head and picked it up yourself.

“Oh thank you, dear. Just put it on the sink, alright?” You nodded and headed to the kitchen. You found several dirty plates and pots left on the kitchen counter. You made your way to the sink.

The creeping sensation suddenly returned and before you could place the plate down gently, it slipped right through your hands falling into the sink with a loud clutter. You winced and glanced back at the door, fearing someone heard that, but luckily nobody came in.

You then glanced down at your hands to see them flickering in and out of existence. You panicked and tried to change them back to normal.

While incidents like this became less frequent than before and you were getting better at controlling them, they were still unpredictable.

Outside the kitchen, you could hear the monsters talking in the other room. You couldn’t make out everything they were saying, but you knew they were probably talking about you. You ignored that and concentrated, hoping no one walks in on to find you handless.

You couldn’t imagine everyone’s reaction if this happened earlier while you were eating dinner and they saw your hands disappearing. A shudder ran through you at the thought.  

You huffed and focused your magic until your hands finally returned solid again. You sighed in relief and flexed your fingers for a little bit before turning around to leave.

------

Asgore watched you enter the kitchen and leaned back against his chair with a content sigh. “Hey Asgore.”

He turned to Undyne. “Yes?”

“Where exactly did you meet this human? I don’t recall you mentioning her before,” She asked and everyone’s attention was on him now.

Asgore blinked and smiled. “Oh! Well….I was tending to my garden and had to leave to refill my watering can. When I came back, I found her there,” he explained.

“W-What was she doing there?” Alphys asked curiously.

Asgore tried to remember. “Um…she said she liked the flowers and wanted to get a closer look at them.”

“So she sneaked into your backyard,” Undyne concluded, crossing her arms.

Asgore frowned. “Undyne…”

“She went in there without permission. She had no right to do that!” the fish woman pressed on.

“Well, she hadn’t done anything bad so there is no reason to be upset about it,” Asgore reasoned.

She huffed. “Only because you caught her.”

“UNDYNE, THAT’S NOT VERY NICE!” Papyrus muttered.

“Papyrus is right, Undyne. We shouldn’t be making such assumptions about our guest,” Toriel added.

Undyne scowled at that. “Hey, I’m not trying to be the bad guy here! Haven’t you noticed how weird she acts around us? She wouldn’t even tell us her name! How do you know she’s not planning something?”

“I gotta say, I kind of agree with Undyne on that,” Sans said, surprising everyone in the room.

“NOT YOU TOO, BROTHER!” Papyrus exclaimed in disbelieve.

Sans shrugged. “I just find it odd why a human would approach a huge monster like Asgore considering how her kind feels about monsters right now. Not unless she would gain something out of it.”

“Our two races are still warming up to each other, Sans,” Toriel stated. “The fact that a human approached us by her own will and gave us a chance is a good sign. Maybe if we give her time, she will be willing to tell us more about herself.”

Asgore gave a nod to her words, but the goat lady quickly broke eye contact with him. He sighed and looked over to the kitchen door, wondering why you were taking so long. It was just putting a plate in a sink.

He was about to head in there to check on you when you finally came back, looking a little tense. He worried if you had overheard what the others were saying about you, but you silently made your way back to your seat and mentioned none of it.

The next hour was spent with everyone talking about their day and laughing together. Asgore watched them silently from his spot on the love seat with a smile, but then slowly he began to feel….uneasy for some reason. He watched them as they joked, bickered and teased each and felt something within him ache.

He stared at the half empty cup in his hand for a while before sighing and setting it down on the table.

Standing up, he clasped his hands together and forced a smile on his face. “Alright everyone, I probably should be leaving now,” he said. He noticed you eyeing him for a moment with unreadable look and then you stood up as well.

Me too.

Asgore blinked, surprise by this. He thought you would wish to stay and have fun with everyone else.

A lot of his friends made disappointed noises at this. Can’t you stay a little longer? Frisk signed pouting a little.

“I wish, but it’s getting late. I have work tomorrow and…I’m sure our friend has to get home too,” he said, looking at you uncertain.

Frisk sighed and then seemed to have an idea. Can we exchange phone numbers? She signed, looking at you hopefully.

“YES! THEN WE CAN CONTACT EACH OTHER AT ANY TIME, NEW HUMAN FRIEND!” Papyrus muttered excitedly, taking out his phone and waiting for you to tell him your number.

You looked lost at the request and Asgore wondered what was wrong. You finally raised your hands and signed back. I can’t.

“WHY NOT?” the skeleton asked confused.

I don’t have a phone. You hesitantly answered and everyone looked at you in surprise. How come you don’t have a phone? Asgore thought all humans your age must have one.

“OH,” Papyrus’ face fell in disappointment and put his phone away.

You then turned to Toriel. Thanks for the meal.

The former queen smiled. “It’s nothing, dear. Be sure to visit us again sometime,” she stated and Frisk nodded frantically.

“PLEASE DO COME BACK SOON, HUMAN, SO YOU CAN TRY MY FAMOUS SPAGEHTTI!” Papyrus said perking up and you couldn’t help nodding at him.

After saying goodbye to everyone, Asgore led you outside and the two of you were soon walking on the sidewalk alone. The street was quiet with the occasional car passing by.

Asgore eyed you for a minute before stopping and clearing his throat. “Is it okay if I accompany you to your home? I won’t feel right letting you go back all by yourself,” he offered hopefully.

You stopped ahead of him and after a moment you shook your head. No, thank you. I’ll be fine.

“Oh…um…alright.” Asgore’s face fell and he looked down at the ground, feeling disappointed and a little hurt.

Why? He just wanted to know you a little better. Why do you refuse sharing anything about yourself with him? The argument they had in the dining room when you left them replayed in his mind and he felt a dull ache in his chest.

Suddenly, he snapped from his thoughts when he felt you place your hand gently over his. Confused, he looked down to see you staring up at him earnestly.

Thanks for letting me come with you. You signed, your lips quirking upward into a small smile.

Asgore’s eyes widen. You rarely express how you feel. Most of the time he couldn’t tell what you were thinking or feeling so to see you smile at him for the first time threw him off.

“O-of course! It was no problem,” he stammered nervously.

Goodbye. You finally stepped back and turned around to leave.

Asgore stood there watching you head down the street until he lost sight of you. He found himself smiling a little.

It’s alright. He can wait until you were ready to tell him.

Chapter Text

You quietly walked down the street after parting from Asgore. You hoped you hadn’t offended him when you left like that. You just couldn’t let him find out you didn’t have a house.

Despite trying not get any attention on yourself, your crimson eyes and pale skin made you stand out too much. Sometimes when people walked past you, they would either give you weird looks or try to keep their distance from you, but you didn’t let that bother you.

You stopped and glanced down a staircase to see you finally reached the park. You began walking down the stairs, your hand sliding down the railing the whole time. You’ve been coming here a lot lately. You felt comfortable being in a place you were familiar with.

You stopped by a light post and glanced around, noting how quiet it was. At this hour, the park was empty of people which was something you preferred. This was the only time when you didn’t have to worry about other people approaching you in your human form.

You slowly walked over to a nearby tree, stepping over some fallen leaves on your way there. You curiously reached out your hand and placed it on the tree bark. It felt nice to able to interact with your surroundings again, to be able to feel how thick or smooth something was.

You then sat down against the tree and gazed around, trying to decide what to do to for the rest of the night until the sun rose up again. Maybe you’ll go to the playground again or head to the lake or-

You immediately froze up at the sound of nearby footsteps. Someone was coming.

Who would be here at a time like this?  

You quietly stood up and peeked from behind the tree to see two humans. They both seemed to be young adults with one of them being blonde while the other had brown hair. The latter was carrying a sack with him.

You wondered what they were up to at this hour of the night. Curious, you stepped forward and then stopped. You glanced down at yourself and changed back to your invisible form.

You then walked towards them, your pale bare feet never making a sound when stepping on the grass. You followed the two to an old shed and your curiosity grew even further on what these two were planning to do. Were they looking for something?

“Okay, let it out,” The blonde said, looking around warily. It was then you noticed something moving inside the sack.

The brunette nodded and dropped whatever was inside the sack in the ground. You stepped closer to get a better look at it and realized it was a frog monster. It let out a weak croak as it stared up at the two humans fearfully.

“I can’t believe they actually let these things wander the streets.” The blonde said, glaring down at the creature.

“Yeah, I don’t know what they’re thinking. I mean, just look at it!” The other said, not bothering to hide the disgust in his voice. He raised his foot and stepped over the frog monster making it let out a pained sound.

Your eyes widen in alarm. You had to do something. There was nobody around here to stop those two from hurting it.

Your lips set into a thin line, feeling your magic pulsing and cackling in your hand. Your then raised your hand and released it. Slowly, thick grey mist began gathering and snaking around the three of you causing the humans to stop what they were doing.

“Huh? What is this?”

Suddenly, all the benches and trash bins nearby began shaking, much to the two’s horror.

“What the- what’s happening!?” The blonde stammered in panic. You took a step forward and when he glanced at your direction, his face instantly gone pale. He then let out a bloodcurdling scream and ran away with his friend leaving you standing in stunned silence.

What happened?

You knew nobody could actually see you in this form, but that young man saw……something and whatever it was, it had been enough to make him run away in terror.

You commanded the mist away and went to check on the frog monster that had been shaking in fear the entire time. When it noticed the two humans were gone, it looked around in confusion and didn’t seem to see you were there. The frog then soon hopped away now that it wasn’t in any danger.

You stayed there for a while not knowing what to make of what just happened before sighing and walking away.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Several days had passed since that incident. You were sitting on a wall watching people down below going about their day.

You began to play with a lock of your grey hair in boredom. It was much longer than when you were human, reaching your waist in length.

After a while you decided to go somewhere else. You hopped off the wall and landed on the ground with grunt before heading down the street.

You were passing by a convenience store when you suddenly sensed something nearby. You looked around and realized the feeling was coming from the mall. Your brows furrowed. It felt familiar to you, a strong soul, but something was wrong. You sensed fear and distress in the person it belonged to.

You hurried over to a near alley and changed there. As you took the first few steps out of the alley, you immediately grimaced and pressed your hand to your forehead. Having to switch forms so frequently was starting to take its toll on you. The sudden assault of sensations on your mind and body was making your head ache.

You pressed your hand against the wall to steady yourself and took a few deep breaths before deciding you were ready to head inside the mall. You frowned when you noticed how crowded it was, but you refrained from turning away. Your eyes scanned the crowds and walked further in.

You began searching the place. While occasionally you spotted a monster here and there, the mall was mostly filled with humans.

As you passed a bunch of stores, you sensed the soul was somewhere up ahead. You hurried over and stopped in front of a fountain. You gazed around for a minute and then spotted a familiar mop of brown hair.

It was the child, Frisk.

The kid was looking around frantically at the people towering over her and seemed to be looking for someone.

Frowning, you slowly walked over to the child and knelt down, placing a hand on her back. She yelped and jerked away from your touch. You blinked, having not meant to scare her like that.

The child looked relieved when she recognized you and threw her arms around your legs, much to your surprise.

You awkwardly placed your hands on her head and had her look up at you. You signed.

What happened?

Frisk pulled away and whipped her eyes before answering. I was separated from my mom when we were shopping. I can’t find her.

You tilted your head to the side. Can’t you call her?

Frisk lowered her head in shame. I forgot my phone.

You frowned and thought for a moment before coming to a decision. I’ll help you find her. You signed and held your hand out for the child.

Frisk immediately perked up and took your hand. Thanks.

You then closed your eyes and extended your senses through the entire building, hoping to find the child’s mother. You could feel countless souls moving around in the hallways and the rooms of the mall, but you continued searching through them until you found what you were looking for, a Boss Monster soul.

From what you knew, Boss Monsters were very rare and you knew Frisk’s mom was one. It had to be her.

You opened your eyes and looked down at the child who was staring up at you confused. You nodded at her and began leading her through the crowds, keeping a tight hold on her hand the whole time. Since the monster wasn’t standing in one place, you occasionally had to stop and try to locate her again.

She was closer now, you could feel it. You squinted and finally saw her asking some people, her expression beyond worried. Upon a closer look, you could also see Alphys talking on her phone anxiously. It wasn’t long until the two noticed you coming their way and perked up.

“Frisk!” Toriel muttered, her voice filled with relief.

Frisk immediately let go of your hand and ran into the goat woman’s arms. She gently stroked the child’s hair and began inspecting her. “Are you alright, my child?”

Frisk nodded and Toriel sighed in relief before looking up at you. “Thank you for bringing my child back, dear. I don’t know what I would have done if something happened to her,” She said tearfully. Unsure of what to do, you nodded.

Now that the child was back with her mother, you had no reason to continue being here. You were about to leave when Frisk walked up to you and signed. Would you like to stay with us?

Your eyes widen in surprise. You raised your hands and shook them frantically. I can’t. Sticking around for much longer will only lead to more questions, ones you can’t answer.

“B-but it might be fun,” Alphys said. When you looked at her, she shied away from your gaze.

No money. You signed which was no lie. You had no money on you. You never needed it.

“Oh, did you forget your wallet, dear?” Toriel asked and you shrugged without elaborating on that. “Well, we won’t mind paying for everything. It’s the least we could do,” She stated kindly.

You raked your head for a way out of this, but you ended up with nothing. And with the hopeful look the child was giving you, you found yourself sighing in defeat.

Okay. Maybe there was no harm in staying a little longer.

"Wonderful!" Toriel clasped her hands together while Alphys cracked a shy smile.  

You yelped when Frisk took your hand again with a grin and pulled you after the two monsters.

XXXXXXXX

Asgore was humming quietly to himself watering the flowers in his shop. Once he was done with that, he headed over to tend to the ones on the counter when the sound of a tinkling bell hit his ears. He turned to see an old lady entering his store. He quickly put the can down and straightened up, putting on his brightest smile.

“Howdy, how can I help you?” he asked, but as soon as the woman got a good look at the huge monster, she gasped in fright and quickly left the store.

Asgore sighed and his shoulders sagged dejectedly. This wasn’t the first time something like this happened and he had a feeling it won’t be the last. A lot of humans were still wary and even borderline scared of them.

Most of the customers he got were monsters and rarely any humans. There are also monsters who are having a hard time finding jobs and weren’t being treated well by the humans. No matter how much Asgore wished he could, he knew there was not much he could do to change that.

It would take a lot of time before they could gain the trust of the humans. He knew that, but the thought didn’t help him feel any better.

Suddenly, his phone buzzed. He reached into his pocket and took it out to see a text from the doctor. Didn’t she mention going to the mall with Toriel and Frisk today?

Alphys: Hi, Asgore!

Asgore: Hello, doctor. How is your trip to the mall going?

Alphys: It started out fine....but then we lost Frisk in the crowds.

Asgore frowned in worry and quickly fumbled with the tiny device in his large hands.

Asgore: What happened? Is she alright?

Alphys: She’s back with us now, but you won’t guess who found her.

Asgore: Hmm, was it the skeleton brothers?

Alphys: No, it was your human friend! :)

He blinked in surprise and it took him a moment to process this. You found Frisk?

Asgore: Really?

Alphys: Yeah, she’s here with us right now!

He soon received some pictures from the doctor. The first was of you, Frisk and Toriel looking inside a store. He smiled and scrolled down to the next one. Frisk was resting on a bench with you, signing something to you excitedly.

He finally went to the last one which seemed to be have been taken while the four of you were walking outside the mall, probably leaving. It was of you carrying some bags and looking away from the camera shyly, taken off guard. A hearty laugh left Asgore, warmth filling his chest.

Chapter Text

Sans was walking back home that afternoon when he passed by the park and stopped when he spotted a familiar figure down below. It was you, sitting on a swing set by yourself.

He stood there and watched you, rubbing his chin in thought. An idea then struck him and he disappeared.

-----

You were sitting on the swing, watching parents take their children from the playground much to the dismay of a lot of them.

Suddenly, you heard the sound of someone sitting on the other swing and looked over to see the familiar skeleton grinning up at you. Strange, you hadn’t sensed him coming.

“hey there,” he said and you signed a greeting. “how you’ve been?”

Fine. You shrugged.

Sans eyed you for a moment and then asked. “are you free right now?”

You raised an eyebrow at the question and nodded.

“well, if that’s the case then I would like to take you to Grillby’s. You know, for bringing Frisk back to us.” He said. “Whaddya say?”

You blinked at the offer and thought for a moment. Grillby’s? You recalled hearing monsters mention that place many times before, usually in a good way. Well, you didn’t see anything wrong with accepting and it also gave you something to do.

Alright.

“good, follow me.” He hopped off the swing and began walking away. You followed the skeleton up the staircase and were startled when you found yourself suddenly staring at a building that you knew wasn’t there before.

You looked behind you to see the staircase and the park were nowhere to be seen. You were somewhere entirely different in the city. You briefly felt magic cackling in the air and realized it was the skeleton’s doing.

“great shortcut, eh?” he winked and entered the building. You hesitated a little before following him inside. The soft light and the warmth in the restaurant put you somewhat at ease.

All the monsters in there seemed taken aback by the sight of you, but soon relaxed when they saw Sans standing with you and started greeting him.

“hiya,” he said as he walked past them with you slowly trailing behind him.

A group of dog monsters playing cards around a table turned to greet the skeleton too, but then froze up when they saw you. Their ears drooped as they stared at you blankly. You felt a little uneasy under their gazes.

“what’s wrong? see something hot?” Sans asked them with a chuckle.

You blinked in confusion and saw the fire elemental behind the counter slap his forehead. The dogs didn’t even react to his joke and continued staring at you, much to your discomfort.

It wasn’t until the fire elemental walked over and cleared his throat that they snap out of their daze and immediately return to playing their game. He then returned to his spot and waited for you two patiently.

You slowly walked over and took a seat next to Sans. You could still feel the dogs sneaking glances at you every now and then, but you ignored them.

“the usual, grillbz,” Sans stated. The fire elemental, who you were sure by now was Grillby, nodded before turning to you.

“What about you?”

You pondered over this. You didn’t feel like eating anything right now, but you did feel a little cold after staying outside for so long. Winter was approaching so it was getting chillier outdoors.

A warm drink please. You signed.

Grillby seemed to think for a moment before turning around and making his way to the back. After waiting for a bit, he returned with a tray and placed a steaming mug in front of you along with a bottle of ketchup in front of Sans.

You slowly picked up the hot mug carefully and then noticed the skeleton drinking from the ketchup bottle. You didn’t recall seeing a monster doing anything like that before. Was it normal?

Then again, they have been only around for less than three months so you couldn’t say you understood monsters completely.  

When he caught your curious gaze, you turned to your mug and took a small sip from it, letting out a quiet sigh.

“soooo, what were you doing in the park?” Sans asked.

I like it there. You simply shrugged.

He did the equivalent of raising an eyebrow at you and seemed to ponder over your answer for a second. You continued drinking from your mug in silence. “How long have you been living in this neighborhood?”

You frowned, finding his line of questioning to be odd, but you still answered. For years.

You knew you’ve been around for a long time, but you couldn’t say how long exactly. You never bothered keeping track of the years passing. You saw no point in that.

“but I don’t remember seeing you around before.” He pressed on. You tensed up at that, but you didn’t let him see you were nervous, simply offering another shrug in response. You quickly finished your drink before he could ask any more questions.

I should leave now. You stood up and glanced at him. Thanks for inviting me. With that, you turned around and began heading to the exit.

“hey, wait!”

You stopped and glanced back.

“uhh….never mind, see ya,” he muttered quietly and looked away. You raised an eyebrow at his hesitation before turning around to leave.

-----

Sans sighed and slumped in his chair, rubbing his skull tiredly, but he didn’t have the time to relax because as soon as you stepped out of the door, the dog squad immediately scrambled over to him.

“Sans, who was that human you were with?” Doggo asked urgently.

“whoa, calm down.” He answered, confused by their sudden eagerness. “she’s just one of Asgore’s friends. why do you guys want to know anyway?”

The mention of your connection to their former king seemed to surprise the dogs and they exchanged unsure glances with each other. Dogamy scratched his head. “W-well, something felt….weird about her.”

“what do you mean?”

“I don’t know. There was just something off when I looked at her, but I-we couldn’t tell if it’s good or bad.” He explained and the others nodded.

Sans blinked and stared at the door silently.

-----

Asgore didn’t feel like working in his shop today so he decided to spend it tending to his garden. He was in the middle digging holes for some new flowers he got when he heard his phone ring. He carefully took it out and answered. “Howdy,”

“Hey, Asgore!” Undyne’s loud voice greeted him.

Asgore smiled. “Hello, Undyne. How have you been?”

“Great, now listen. We’re gonna go hang out in the city today. Wanna come with us?”

Asgore’s smile dropped a little and he felt a familiar uneasiness settle in within him. “I…I don’t think I can. I have too much work to do today. Sorry.”

“Nah, don’t worry. It’s fine. I’m gonna bring you something from there though!”

“Ah, thank you.” He muttered, forcing cheer in his voice. “Anyway, I have to go now. Have fun!” Once he ended the call, his cheery expression vanished instantly and he sighed.

He hated lying to her like that, but he couldn’t bring himself to accept either. Whenever he was around them, he would always feel out of place, like a puzzle piece that just won’t fit no matter what.

They’ll be better off without him tagging along and worrying them. He didn’t even deserve-

His ears suddenly picked up the sound of footsteps behind him. He turned around to greet whoever it was and was surprised when he saw it was you.

“O-oh! Howdy, I haven’t noticed you coming. Forgive me,” he muttered with a smile as he stood up, towering over you. For a moment he thought he saw a flash of concern in your eyes, but he shrugged it off as his imagination.

What are you doing? You signed, looking down at his potted flowers curiously. They were white flowers with splotches of yellow in the center.

“Um...I…I was just planting some surface flowers that I have ordered a while back.” He said, rubbing the back of his sheepishly.

Can I help you?

Asgore blinked in surprise, having not been expecting that. “S-sure, I don’t mind at all!” he stammered, kneeling to the ground.

What do I do? You signed as you knelt down next to him, staring at the flower pots in wonder.

“Here, let me show you,” He answered as he picked up one of the pots with his large hand. With great care, he removed the flower from the pot and gently set it in the hole, filling it immediately with soil using his hands.

“Alright, your turn.” He muttered.

You hesitantly picked up and got a hold of the flower’s stem, slowly removing it from there the same way Asgore did, but ended up setting it in its chosen spot less gently than he had. You winced at your mistake, but he gave you a patient look.

“It’s fine. Keep going,”

You nodded and used your hands to cover it with soil like you’ve seen him do.

Asgore hummed. “Good. Now let’s finish the rest.”

XXXXXXXX

The two of you then spent about a half an hour working in the garden. You got better at this during your next attempt and Asgore looked pleased with your work so far. He explained to you why he picked these flowers specifically then he mentioned other kinds that he’s planning on getting later and what he could use them for.

Most of the flower names went over your head, but he sounded so eager and excited to share all of this with you so you didn’t mind it much.

“There, all done!” He grinned when he finished planting the last flower, patting the soil gently. “Thank you for your help.” He said gratefully with a big smile on his face while he watered them.

A genuine one and not like all the fake ones he keeps giving out to make everyone around him happy.

Your mouth quirked a bit as you whipped some dirt that had gotten on your face.

You then watched him head inside the shed only to return looking disappointed.

You frowned. What is it?

Asgore sighed. “It seems I’ve ran out of fertilizer. We’re going to have to go to the store to buy some.” He said, taking off his gloves.

You nodded and followed him outside, not minding spending more time with the monster.

After walking for a while, the two of you reached the store. You stepped through the door and looked back at Asgore. Since the door was smaller than him, he had to bend down again in order to get in.

“Howdy!” Asgore greeted, waving at the man behind the counter.

“Hello, sir.” He replied with a smile. While the man was trying his best to look calm, you could sense he was actually nervous by the sight of large monster. You didn’t mention this to Asgore and quietly followed him further into the store.

“Wait here, I’ll go get the fertilizer and be right back, alright?”

You nodded and watched him walk away. You turned to look at the various items on the shelf and examined them curiously. Just then, a woman walked over to you.

“Dear, I saw you coming in and talking with that monster. Is everything alright?” She asked anxiously. You frowned in confusion, not understanding what she meant. She seemed to see this too and elaborated in a hushed whisper. “Is he making you go around with him?” 

It took you a moment to process the question and your eyes widened. You raised your hands to explain to her, but then you realized that she might not understand sign language so you shook your head to assure her that it wasn’t the case.

You then attempted to walk away, but she grabbed your hand immediately and kept you standing with her. “Listen, whatever he told you is a lie. You don't know what his intentions are. He could be dangerous and you need to stay away from him. If you don’t then he might hurt you or worse!” She said.

You felt something within you stir at her words and you ripped your hand out of her tight grip. “I’ll be fine with him,” you said firmly, giving her a hard look. As you much you disliked using your voice, you couldn’t let her say something awful like that about Asgore.

With that, you turned around and walked away leaving her gaping at in you disbelieve. You didn't have to search for long until you found Asgore with a bag of fertilizer in his hands.

He immediately noticed how you tense you were and frowned in concern. “What’s wrong?”

Nothing, I’m okay. You signed, unconsciously averting your gaze from him. He didn’t seem to buy it, but he didn’t press you for answers. You appreciated that.

Soon enough, Asgore payed the cashier and the two of you were on your way back to his house. You found yourself glancing at the store one last time and your mouth morphed into a frown.

Chapter Text

What? You asked, blinking in confusion at the boss monster. You had stopped by to have tea with Asgore like usual when he asked you something that caught you off guard.

“Are you looking for a job?” He asked again. When you still looked confused, he elaborated. “I’m currently looking for someone to help me in my shop. There are times when I’m too busy to take care of the flowers there and I need someone to look after them when I can’t, but I haven’t had any luck finding anybody yet. So….what do you think?” He muttered, rubbing his neck nervously.

You frowned and looked down at your teacup in uncertainty. You didn’t know what to say. You never had a job before, never needed one to begin with, but you weren’t sure of that now.  

“H-hey, it’s alright. You don’t have to decide now! You can think about it and answer me later,” He said quickly when he noticed the conflicted look in your eyes. “Just don’t feel obliged to accept if you don’t want to.”

You nodded and finished your tea. Once you were done, you stood up and made your way to the door with him.

“Thanks for stopping by. Come back anytime,” He said and you signed a goodbye before leaving.

-------

As soon as you left, Asgore groaned and rubbed his forehead, fearing he had ruined everything.

He had been trying to find someone willing to work in his shop all week, but it had been fruitless so far. Humans were out of question and the other monsters either had their own jobs or weren’t interested in working in a flower shop.

You looked so lost when he asked you that question and he couldn’t help feeling guilty for that now. He might have just upset you or even drove you away for good because he hadn’t thought this through!

He was snapped out of his bleak thoughts when he noticed droplets of rain beginning to fall. Eyes widening, he was about to call for you to come back in and stay with him until the rain stopped, but he saw you were already gone.

Asgore hoped your house was not too far away and you wouldn’t get drenched by the downpour. He watched the rain in his porch for a while and then headed inside.

-----

By the time you made it to the alley that usually you changed in, your clothes were dripping wet from the rain. Not that you paid it any mind.

You closed your eyes and changed back, feeling heaviness in your clothes instantly disappear and replaced by the familiar cold numbness.

You turned around and walked outside the alley. You stopped and held your hand out, watching the raindrops fall right through it. You lowered it and began making your way through the street.

It wasn’t long until your mind drifted off to Asgore’s offer. What were you supposed to say? You couldn’t just say yes. You never worked before and had no experience at all. What if something goes wrong? What if you fail at it? What if you lose control over your magic in front of the customers? You gulped at the thought.

Asgore said he wouldn’t be bothered if you declined. You should go back right away and tell him you weren’t interested. It’ll be for the best.

Your encounter with Frisk and the other two monsters in the mall then replayed in your head. You remembered how they paid for everything you bought because you didn’t have any money with you.

You frowned. You had to do something about that. If you were going to continue being a human then you will need to stop relying on others for everything all the time.

Still, would it really be a good idea to work in the monster’s shop? You were already involved in his life far more than you thought would be at the beginning of all of this.

You glanced down at a puddle you stepped over. No ripples were made in the water and no reflection to be seen.

You sighed and disappeared into the rain.

A few days later, you finally came to a decision. You went to Asgore’s house and accepted the job offer. He looked really excited at that and also relieved for some reason, but he wouldn’t tell you why.

He told you where to find his shop and when you to come over. Despite all the doubts you felt, you were looking forward to begin.

-------

Asgore was beaming excitedly when he left his house that morning and hummed softly as he made his way down the street. He didn’t come across many people on the way since it was too early in the morning.

He had gotten up a half an hour earlier than he usually did to prepare everything for when you finally arrived.

The thought was instantly dashed though when turned around the corner and saw you standing silently in front of his store.

Morning. You signed once you noticed him.

Asgore blinked and finally spoke up. “Uh….good morning. How…how long have you been waiting here?”

A while. You shrugged.

The former king briefly found himself at a loss of words before clamming up and deciding not to dwell on it. Maybe you were just excited for your first day working in the shop and came much earlier than he asked you to. He walked over and unlocked the door before stepping inside.

-------

You slowly followed Asgore into the shop and gazed around at all the flower arrangements in slight awe. Asgore walked over behind the counter and bent down, taking out a few items including a notebook and a light green apron.

“Here, you’re going to need this,” He said as he handed it to you.

You blinked and hesitantly took the apron from him. You examined it for a second in your hands before taking off your brown jacket and finally putting it on. You glanced down at yourself unsure and then looked up at him expectantly.

The former king blinked before he realized you were waiting for him to tell what he thought of it. “You look great!” He said with smile and your posture relaxed a little.

“Write anything you can’t remember down on this in case you forget,” He stated and passed you the notebook.

You then spent some time learning about the flower names, how to take care of them and what to be mindful of when running the shop alone.

You gave Asgore your full attention and wrote everything he said down, occasionally asking questions. Your pen kept “slipping” from your hand and you had to bend down twice to pick it up.

Luckily, Asgore wasn’t bothered by that and was too busy giving you instructions to notice your fingers disappearing for a split-second, much to your relief.

You found the amount of information to be a little overwhelming at first, but Asgore said this was normal and you will get the hang of it.

Soft sunlight streamed through the glass windows and you could hear the sounds of cars passing by and people walking on the sidewalk as if the city was slowly coming to life.

“Alright, I think we’re ready. Could you go turn the sign please?” Asgore asked.

You made your way over to the glass door and reached for the sign, but then hesitated. Were you really ready for this? What would you do if your magic acted up again?

You glanced back at Asgore who gave you an understanding smile and nodded. You felt the tension seep from within you and you flipped the sign to OPEN. You felt your lips turn upward a little before turning around and walking back to him.

It’ll be fine.

Chapter Text

You were watering some flowers near the counter when the bell tingled. You tense up and look over to see a rabbit monster enter the shop. He had blue fur and was wearing a yellow shirt with a bright red pants. Your first customer of the day.

“Good morning, Mr. Dreemurr!” He said with a smile.

“Morning,” Asgore nodded. “How is your Nice Cream truck doing?”

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Pretty swell actually.” He then blinked when he noticed you standing there. “Oh, you finally found an extra hand? That’s great!”

“Thank you,” Asgore replied. “So, what can we help you with today?”

The rabbit tapped his chin as he looked around the shop. “Hmm…how about those? They will look wonderful on my window,” He said, pointing to some daisies on the shelf near you.

“Alright, would you mind getting that?” Asgore asked, turning to you.

You nodded and walked over to the shelf. You could feel their eyes on you as you reached for the pot. Holding it tightly, you made your way back to them.

Suddenly, you stiffened when you felt the familair coldness creeping through your body and knew what was going to happen next. Your fingers flickered out for a split-second causing the pot to fall from your hands.

Since you were ready this time, you quickly threw your arms around it and prevented it from hitting the floor. Taking a shaky breath you look up to see the rabbit monster staring at you worriedly while Asgore sighed in relief. 

You carefully stood up and hurried over to the counter, placing the pot in front of Asgore.

Soon enough, the rabbit monster thanked you two and then left the shop with the flowers. You should feel relieved that your first meeting with a customer didn’t end in disaster, but you weren’t. You felt tense the entire time Asgore was putting the money into the cash register, waiting for the inevitable.

He then turned to you and…..smiled? “Don’t worry, you did just fine. Just try to be more careful when holding the pots, alright?”

You blinked in surprise. He didn’t see it? Your shoulders sagged in relief.

It’s okay, neither he nor the other monster saw anything. They would have said something if they did, right? The fact that he also wasn’t upset with you for nearly smashing his pot made you feel a little better.

-----------

Asgore got a call later and said he had to leave to run some errands somewhere. He asked you if you were okay with managing everything alone and you assured him that you will be fine.

To pass the time, you tasked yourself with sweeping the floor. As you moved around the shop with the broom, you began thinking about your new job.

It wasn’t quite what you were expecting, but it wasn’t so bad. The only problem right now was getting your magic under control. You were nearly found out earlier if you haven’t been lucky. You needed to think of a way to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Hopefully, it won’t be that hard.

Just then, you stopped sweeping when you heard a strange noise and looked over to see the flowerpots on the shelf shaking violently.

You sighed and with a wave of your hand they went still again.

Okay, maybe it won’t be that easy after all.  

Once you finished, you placed the broom against the wall and sat on your chair behind the counter. You reached for your notebook and began looking over your notes, brows furrowed in concentration. You still struggled with remembering flower names and telling them apart.

Speaking of flowers, you couldn’t help getting distracted by the different smells around you. They weren’t unpleasant, but actually soothing in a way. You closed your eyes and breathed it in for a second. This was another thing that you never got to experience, well, at all in your real form and you wondered briefly what else you have been missing out.

You began tapping the pencil against your cheek in thought as you flipped over the page and-

“Human?”

You snapped out of your thoughts when you felt a hand on your shoulder. You looked up and jerked back a little when you saw Asgore staring down at you in concern. W-when did he come back? He wasn’t here a moment ago!

He noticed your confusion and smiled. “My, you really haven’t heard me? I called you three times when I came in.”

What?

You felt your head spin a little as tried you processing this. When? How?

It must have been another lapse. You thought those would eventually stop, but apparently you were wrong.

Sorry. You signed, looking down at your lap.

“It’s alright, no harm done. Anyway, I….brought this on my way back.” Asgore said sheepishly.   

You tilted your head when you noticed the purple bag in his hands. It had spider web patterns and the name Spider Bakery written neatly in black at the bottom.

Asgore slipped his hand into the bag and held a pastry out to you. You took it and looked down at it curiously.

It was a…..croissant, you forced yourself to remember. You recalled seeing these a lot in bakeries around the city. You never tried one before though.

You hesitantly brought it to your lips and took a small bite. You hummed. It wasn’t bad at all.

Asgore smiled and took out one for himself. The two of you sat there for several minutes until the bell tingled again.

“Hi Asgore!”

You looked over to see the fish woman, Undyne, walk into the shop. She was wearing a black jogging pants and a light blue shirt.

Asgore grinned. “Morning, Undyne. What brings you here?” he asked as she took a swig from her water bottle.

“I was on my to do some training with Papyrus near the park and thought about stopping….by….“ She trailed off immediately when her eyes met yours.

“You!?” The fish woman growled incredulously. “What are you doing here?”

I work here. You answered.

“What!?” Undyne muttered, nearly crushing the water bottle in her hand.

“Oh, yes. Isn’t that wonderful?” Asgore asked, clasping his hands together.

Undyne stared at him for a moment before the fakest grin you have ever seen split her face. “Of course it is. By the way, would you mind if I took her for a moment?”

She didn’t wait for an answer as she marched behind the counter, grabbed your hand and dragged you into the storage room.

She then closed the door and let you go, dropping her fake cheery demeanor instantly now that you two were alone. “Alright, tell me. What are you up to?” she asked, crossing her arms and glaring at you sharply.

You blinked in confusion and shook your head, not understanding what she meant.

This seemed to infuriate her even more. “Don’t play dumb with me! I know you’re up to something. First you sneak into Asgore’s backyard and now you’re here working in his shop. What is it you’re after?”

You frowned and answered. Nothing.

“Then why are you here of all places?” she snapped.

He asked me.

Undyne opened her mouth and closed it shut at that. Her glare then returned full force and she held her hand out, summoning a green glowing spear and pointing directly at you. “You wanna work here? Fine, but if you ever try hurting Asgore, I’m gonna smash you to pieces, got it?”

You glanced down at the spear briefly and then gave her a nod. The fish woman blinked, taken aback. She was clearly not expecting this reaction from you.

She then huffed and dismissed her spear. With that, she turned around and headed to the door. The second she twisted the knob you two heard a yelp coming from behind the door and saw Asgore standing nervously by the counter. He looked relieved when he saw you coming out of the room with her.

“Well, I better be going. Can’t keep Pap waiting.”

“Hey, um, can you two be more careful during your training and not use any benches this time?” Asgore muttered hesitantly.

“No promises. See you later!” She smiled at Asgore and shoot you another glare though this one was less hostile than the previous ones.

Asgore followed the fish woman to the door and then turned to you. “I’m sorry about….that. I assure you she doesn’t mean any harm.” He said, fidgeting nervously.

It’s okay. You shrugged.

The rest of the day went by without any incidents. More monsters came to the shop either to buy flowers or just to talk to Asgore. They all gave you funny looks, but said nothing. It was later that afternoon that something unexpected happened when two customers entered the shop.

They were both humans.

The first was a man with brown hair, wearing a button up shirt and black pants. He had an uncertain look on his face as he gazed around the shop.

The other was a little girl with brown hair tied into pigtails and wore a dark blue dress. She looked about six years old.

“Howdy!” Asgore muttered and the man flinched, looking intimidated by the monster’s size and appearances.

Asgore’s smile fell a little and he turned to you. “Umm…could you….?” He said, gesturing to the two humans.

You understood and nodded. You went over to them while he sat back on his chair. You stood before them and waited expectantly.

The man fidgeted nervously. “Uh…hello. w-we are looking f-for s-some-”

“It’s a present for mom!” The girl cut him with a cheerful grin.

“Y-yes,” her dad nodded anxiously.

You nodded and led them to the corner of the shop. You showed the man the plants and flowers while the kid looked around the shop in awe.

Even after several minutes passed, the man remained uneasy and you knew your lack of speech and expressiveness wasn’t helping. You were never an expressive person to begin with. Still, you tried to soften your features to help put his mind at ease. Thankfully, it seemed to kind of work.

“I-I’ll take that one,” He was pointing at a purple flower at the far corner. You picked it up and carried it back to the counter. Once you found a container for it, you handed it back to the man.

“T-thank you,” he said and turned to leave.

“Hey!” You looked down to see the child standing in front of you. She motioned for you to come closer and you bent down to get to her level. She then took your hand and placed something in it.

A piece of candy.

You blinked. What were you supposed to do with this?

“Dad gave me this, but I want you to have it!” The girl smiled and waved at you before hurrying after her dad. “Bye!”

You stood up and watched them leave, puzzled at what just happened. You felt Asgore place his hand on your back and looked up to see him smiling down at you.

“Well done, you did great.”

You turned to stare at the door and slowly felt warmth fill your chest.

Chapter Text

It was probably around midnight. You were standing against a tree in the park in your human form. Your eyes flickered to your surroundings and then above to the tree branches. All the leaves have fallen from this one and the same went for most of the trees. You felt a small sense of longing at that.

Your mind then wandered off to your job at the flower shop. It had been several days since you began working there. You would usually come at the shop early in the morning and leave during the evening. You didn’t get customers all the time and when that happened you spent that time taking care of the shop and the flowers.

When customers did come to the shop they were usually monsters, but whenever humans show up (which was still a rarity) you would take over for Asgore and help them out.

You gradually began feeling a little more and more comfortable with your new job.

“Hey, who’s there?”

Your eyes widened and you glanced back to see someone approaching you with a flashlight. Panicking, you quickly went behind the tree and changed back, vanishing instantly.

“What are you doing-huh?” The man blinked when he got there to find nothing. He looked around before scratching his head in confusion, wondering if he imagined someone standing here.

You stood in front of the man and looked at him curiously, wondering who he might be. You don’t recall seeing him around here before, but then again you don’t usually stay in one place for long. You leaned over to read the name tag. John. He must be one of the people working here then.

You walked past the confused man and made your way to the other side of the park where the lake was. You changed into your human form again and sat there, gazing at it quietly. You leaned closer and could see some of the colorful fish swimming in the water despite how dark it was.

You dipped your finger into the cool water and began moving it around, creating ripples in the surface.

Just then, you noticed a rock nearby and you remembered something you saw humans do many times before. Curious and a little excited, you picked up the rock and stood up. You then threw your arm back before flinging the rock into the lake, watching as it bounced off the surface twice before sinking.

You felt your lips quirk up a little before something suddenly fell on your neck and you jerked back in surprise, looking around cautiously while rubbing your neck.

Something white then moved into your vision and fell into the grass. Blinking, you gazed up to the dark sky to see more of it falling down.

Snow.

Your eyes widened a little bit, watching as little by little, the snowflakes began falling all around you. Over the years you witnessed many winters come and go. You had watched the city become completely covered in snow after every snowstorm, but you never experienced it before.

You hesitantly held your hand out and a single white flake slowly fell into it. You shivered slightly when the air grew colder and you decided to change back. You then began wandering the area as snow continued falling around the sleeping city.

--------

You carefully moved through shelves as you dusted the flowerpots, feeling at ease today. You occasionally glanced over to the glass door to the snow covered ground for a brief moment before returning to your work.

“Hey, um, human?”

You stopped what you were doing and turned to Asgore who was sitting behind the counter.

“I’ve decided to close the shop early today,” he stated.

Did something happen? You asked.

“Oh no, not really. I just……” He trailed off and you tilted your head at him questioningly. “It’s just a nice day and I thought of going out. Would you…..like to come with me?” his voice was barely above a whisper by the end of it.

You blinked in surprise and looked down at the floor, unsure of what to do. Well, you didn’t see anything wrong with that. You also didn’t mind spending more time with the Boss monster either.

Alright. You signed and he immediately perked up.

“Wonderful. Let’s be on our way then!” He grinned. You placed the duster on the shelf where it belonged and began taking off your green apron. You then reached for your brown jacket and put it on.

“You go on ahead, I’ll catch up to you,” Asgore said as he took off his gloves.

You nodded and made your way to the door, the chilly air immediately hitting you as you stood outside. Standing there, you gazed around the shop. Fresh white snow covered the area. It was almost hard to recognize it despite passing here countless times before. You looked over to the tree near the shop to see all of the leaves had fallen off of it too and it was left bare.

You placed your hand over your mouth when your breath began forming before you. You remembered being completely thrown off when it happened the first time. You stepped forward and hesitantly picked up a handful of snow. You held it in your hand curiously, feeling the cold tingling sensation on your palm.

You then dropped it at the sound of the bell ringing behind you. You turned around to see Asgore locking the door, wearing a dark blue coat and a red scarf around his neck.

He stuffed the key in his pocket and then turned to you, a slight frown forming on his face. “Are you sure you’ll be fine in just that? It’s quite cold today,” he said, pointing at you.

You were wearing your jacket, shirt, pants and boots like usual, but you didn’t really have anything else to wear. I’ll be fine. You signed and added, don’t worry.

Asgore scratched the back of his head and his concerned frowned only deepened at this, but he didn’t argue. “Alright, let’s go.”

He began walking away and you followed him. The two of you made your way down the sidewalk quietly. You passed many people, all wearing winter clothes. Some of them gave you two weird looks as you passed by them, but it didn’t seem to dampen Asgore’s mood.

He seemed to be really excited as you walked by him through the streets. It wasn’t long until you made it to the center of the city where the park was. Your raised an eyebrow. Was this where he wanted to take you? You walked over near the staircase and were surprised at the number of people down there. It wasn’t this crowded before when you left earlier this morning.

“What’s the matter?” Asgore asked from behind you. You turned to him and bit your lip. You still didn’t like crowded places, but you didn’t want to ruin the plans he had for you two so you shook your head. Nothing.

“Alright, let’s go down there then,” He beamed and began walking his way down the staircase. You followed him, being extra careful not to slip on the ice.

Once you made it to the bottom of the stairs with the monster, you looked around. You could see some children, humans and monsters, playing in the snow while adults were talking with each other.

You two then began wandering around the snow coated park. A lot of people seemed to have come here to enjoy the first snow day of the year. Almost every monster you passed greeted Asgore or waved at him though they still didn’t seem to know how to feel about you.

You then noticed something up ahead. There was a spider woman running a stand. From you could see she had six arms, five shiny eyes and wore a dark purple coat. She appeared to be serving hot pastries. There were monsters and even some humans lined up there.

As you stepped closer to get a better look, you heard a startled yelp from the crowd followed by many more. You narrowed your eyes to see spiders coming out from under the stand and crawling beneath their feet.

They were coming straight at you.

“W-wait, no!” Asgore muttered.

You only managed to take a step back as they gathered around you and began crawling on you, much to everyone’s horror. One man was fumbling with his phone in panic, ready to call for help.

You stood there stiffly as they crawled on your body and clothes, but to you surprise, they made no attempt to harm you. One perched itself on your head and stayed there. You glanced down confused at a spider that was resting on your hand and seemed to be nuzzling against it. What…?

You looked up to face the stunned crowd and glanced in the direction of the spider woman who had her hand over her mouth, uncertainty painting her face. You raised your hand and pointed at the spider, titling your head to the side in a silent question.

That seemed to snap the spider woman out of her daze and she walked over towards you. “Alright, that’s enough out of you,” she said and the spiders quickly scurried off you. The one on your hand hesitantly left and followed the others. “Sorry about that, dearie. They don’t usually behave this way.”

It’s alright. You shrugged.  

“Oh! Hello, Mr. Dreemurr!” she said, turning to the Boss monster.

Asgore smiled. “Hello, miss Muffet. How is your day?”

“Wonderful, I’ve hurried as soon as I heard a lot of people were coming here today!” She covered her mouth and giggled slyly. “I suppose this is the human you mentioned the other day?” she asked, eyeing you curiously.

“Yes, she is.” Asgore nodded, patting your shoulder.

“I like her. Wasn’t afraid at all,” Muffet said with a fanged smile. “What is your name, dearie?”

You froze up at this and averted your gaze away.

You listened as Asgore explained to her that you were just shy like he told the others, but you could see him giving a curious glance at the corner of his eye, probably wondering the same thing. He was holding himself back from asking though.

With everything that had been going on in your life lately, you had completely forgotten. You were still nameless.

“Well, I better get back to my customers. See you later, ahuhu!” With that, the spider woman walked away from you two.

--------

Asgore sighed in relief, glad nothing bad happened. He then smiled and looked down at you only to find you looking away with a distant look in your eyes.

Even though it wasn’t clear, he could tell from the downturn of your brows that something was bothering you. Not knowing what to do, he twiddled his thumbs and looked around nervously before noticing a bench nearby. “Hey, how about we sit down for a minute?”

You nodded and quietly followed him to the bench, sitting down together. You had a good view of the lake from here. It was perfectly frozen with a smooth sheen over it, reflecting the sunlight.

His eyes then wandered off to near the playground where one of his former guards, Lesser Dog, was playing with his owner. There were also some children making figures out of the snow. He let content sigh, savoring the moment and then he felt eyes on him. You were gazing at him curiously.

“Oh, sorry. I-it’s just that this is the first winter I spend on the surface in a long time,” He muttered sheepishly. There were no seasons in the Underground so everything always looked the same throughout the year.

You hummed at his response and turned to stare at the lake again. There was a look in your eyes he can’t figure out.

And that’s the thing. He could never figure out what you were feeling or thinking no matter how hard he tried. You’re always closed off. Whenever he asked you anything about your life, you would either go silent or deflect his questions. He can’t help wonder why.

Suddenly, a cold breeze blew by and you shivered.

Asgore frowned in concern at this before reaching for his neck. “It isn’t much, but here,” he said, taking off his red scarf and holding it out to you.

Your eyes widened and you hesitated. What about you?

Asgore laughed. “Don’t worry, my fur is quite thick. I’ll be fine, take it,”

You eyed him in uncertainty for a moment before finally accepting the scarf. Thank you. You signed and Asgore felt warmth fill his chest.

“It’s nothing,” he said as he watched you wrap it around your neck. The two of you sat there for a few minutes before Asgore noticed a vendor nearby selling hot chocolate. He glanced at you and then back at him.

“Wait, here I’ll be right back,” he stated before standing up and walking away.

Two cups in his hands later, the former king made his way back to you and sat down, passing one to you. “Here you go,”

---------

You shivered at the chilly breeze and hugged your arms tightly. Okay, so you were wrong about being fine with the cold, but you still tried to hide it from the large monster.

“I know this isn’t much, but here.” You heard Asgore say and glanced over to see him holding his scarf out for you. You were taken aback by this and tried to decline, not wanting to take something that belonged to him and needed, but he insisted on you taking it.

Seeing no point in arguing further, you slowly reached out and took the scarf from his hand, wrapping it around your neck. It didn’t warm you all up, but you appreciated it nonetheless. You turned to stare at the playground, memories of watching snowball fights coming to your mind.

You also remembered joining children whenever they started building snowmen, completely oblivious of you being with them. You would stand with them and watch them work, inspecting their progress up close. It was the closest thing you had to getting involved in such activities in the past.

Asgore then excused himself and walked towards the vendor, leaving you alone on the bench. You rubbed your cold hands together and placed them on your lap. As you waited there, you felt a nagging feeling at the back of your mind. You couldn’t explain nor describe it. You tried grasping at it, but it remained at the back your mind, unreachable.

Asgore soon came back with the drinks and handed you one. You gratefully took it with a nod. You then brought it to your lips and slowly took a sip, feeling it warm you up.

You then gazed at the people around you, talking, shouting, smiling and laughing, and the feeling just grew stronger. An old memory suddenly came to you. You didn’t know whether it was a conversation you heard some time ago or it was from something you read somewhere, but something about this place invoked the memory within you. The people….the park….the cold…..

“Rin,” the word left your lips and you froze up.

No, it was....a name and something about it just felt…right to you.

You just found a name for yourself.

You sat there in stunned silence as your mind tried processing this.

“Mmm, this is quite delicious!” Asgore beamed after taking a sip from his drink and glanced at you to find you staring blankly again. Assuming you were zoning out like before, he gave you a light nudge on the shoulder. “Human?”

You finally turned to him and signed with your hand. Rin.

“What?” Asgore muttered, confused.

My name is R-I-N. You replied.

Asgore stared at you for a moment as what you signed finally clinked in his head and a huge smile split his face, eyes lighting up. “T-that’s a really nice name!” he managed to stutter, looking as if there was so much he wanted to say at the same time, but couldn’t find the words.    

Your lips quirked up into a small smile.

Later that evening, the sun was setting and the sky turned a shade of pink and purple. Most people began going home.

“Alright, I guess it’s time to leave,” Asgore said and turned to face you.

You reached to your neck to take off the scarf and hand it back to him, but he raised his hand to stop you. “It’s okay, you can give it back later.”

You seemed unsure about this, but then nodded.

“See you tomorrow…Rin,” he smiled at you one last time and began walking away. Glancing back, he met your gaze and you gave him a small wave before turning around to leave the other direction.

Despite the cold, Asgore felt his face grow warmer. It was almost like he was……

Oh no. His eyes widened and he groaned.

Chapter Text

Something was off.

You didn’t really know why, but Asgore had been acting really weird as if late. It wasn’t that he was treating you any different. Sometimes he just stuttered while talking and avoided eye contact with you, much to your confusion. Whenever you would ask him about it, he would brush it off and change the subject.

You lowered your tea cup as you looked at Asgore who was adding sugar to his own. When he caught your gaze, he smiled nervously and quickly took a sip from his tea, his eyes elsewhere.

You were unsure of what to make of it. You don’t remember him acting like this before.   

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

“Come in!” Asgore called out.

You two looked over to see it was Frisk. The kid was wearing a purple coat and red mittens.

“Howdy, Frisk!” Asgore greeted. “What you brings you here?”

Frisk went over to him and held out a small blue card eagerly. He instantly smiled. “Why, thank you. I’ll be sure to come.”

To your surprise, she made her way over to you and held out one for you as well. You slowly took the card from her with a hesitant nod and inspected it curiously.

It….it was a birthday party invitation. You could tell it was handmade if the crayon drawings were any indication.

You will be coming too, right? She asked, staring up at you hopefully.

You didn’t know how to respond, but then after a moment you finally signed back. Yes.

She whooped and signed ‘thank you’ over and over before walking away at the sound of a car horn outside.

“Alright, see you later, Frisk!” Asgore muttered. Giving you two one last wave, the kid left.

You stared at your invitation, feeling completely lost. You never been to a party..…ever. What were you supposed to do? How were you supposed to prepare for that?

You glanced over at Asgore who was putting his own in his pocket. Hesitating briefly, you waved your hand to get his attention.

“What is it, Rin?” he asked.

You held the card out to him with a raised brow.

“Oh, that’s for Frisk’s twelfth birthday party on Saturday. She has been excited about this all week,” he said with a hearty laugh.

You frowned. Saturday. That’s two days from now.

Biting your lip and glancing at the card anxiously once more, you sighed and decided to just come out with it. I need your help.

He blinked in surprise. “With what?”

I don’t know what to give. You answered, which was half the truth. You didn’t know what to do at all.

Asgore raised an eyebrow at this and rubbed his beard in thought for a moment. “Well….if you would like…we could go buy her presents together. How about that?” he offered.

You mulled over this for a second and then nodded. Thank you.

“Anytime,” he muttered warmly, but you immediately noticed his face turn slightly pink for some reason.

Now that you thought about it, this had been happening a lot lately. Why though? 

Finishing you tea, you stood up. Can we go now?

“Oh, of course!” he muttered, placing his own cup down. You were about to head for the door when he suddenly called out. “Wait!”

You turned to him questioningly.

“I…uh…..never mind,” he said, rubbing his neck sheepishly. “Wait for me outside while I get my coat.”

You raised an eyebrow in confusion, but nodded anyway.

-------

Once he heard the door shutting closed, Asgore dropped his smile and groaned, burying his face in his hands. He can still feel the warmth in his cheeks.

He then leaned back against his chair, staring at the ceiling. 

Sighing, he stood up and went over to get his coat. Putting it on, he made his way outside to find you standing in the porch. “Let’s be on our way,”

-------

Finding a present for the child wasn’t as easy as you thought it would be. Even with Asgore’s help, you still couldn’t find what you felt to be the right gift.

You frowned at the blue shirt in your hands and put it back. Walking past the isles, you looked at Asgore who was waiting by the door and shook your head at him. He smiled patiently and tilted his head to the door.

This was the third store you went to and came out empty-handed. You couldn’t help feeling a little bad having been dragging the Boss monster around with you through the mall like this.

“It’s okay, I’m sure the next store will have what you’re looking for,” Asgore stated reassuringly.

You nodded, but you didn’t feel as confident as he was. After all, you still weren’t sure what to give the kid. Earlier you thought of buying her a new sweater or some puzzles since you remembered she liked the one you did with her back then, but you shoot down both those idea because they felt so….uncreative, obvious. Someone else had probably thought of one of those two and you wanted yours to be, well, different.

Hey, Asgore? You signed at him.

“Yes?”

What did you get for Frisk? You asked.

Asgore smiled apologetically. “I would rather keep it a secret,” He leaned down and whispered. “Frisk might try to get you to tell her,” he added with a chuckle and you blinked in confusion. What?

“Hold on, I’m a little parched,” he said as he walked over to a nearby stand. “Would you like something?” he asked, glancing back at you. You shook your head and gazed around the mall while waiting.

As your eyes wandered the many stores, you suddenly noticed an elderly man standing by a book store, looking in your direction. It took you a moment to realize he was staring at you, his eyes wide as he fixed his glasses.

You tilted your hand to the side, wondering why he was looking at you like that. It was then when you noticed the loss of feeling in your left hand that it dawned on you. You looked over yourself and froze up.

Your hand was gone!

Panicking, you quickly stuffed both your hands in your jacket’s pockets and turned away. You could still feel the old man’s bewildered gaze on you even after you two walked away from the stand.

You focused on turning your hand visible again. You waited for a few second before pulling it out of your pocket to check. Your palm and fingers have reappeared again. You touched one of your fingers and sighed in relief when it turned out to be solid.

You huffed. Why did your magic have to act up at the worst of times? Whenever you thought you finally had complete control over it, it still managed to seep through somehow.

Something at the corner of your eye suddenly caught your attention and you stopped walking.

-------

“Thank you,” Asgore smiled as he took the cup and took a sip from it. He then turned to you and immediately noticed how tense you looked.

“Is something wrong?” he asked. Did something happen when he wasn’t looking?

You shook your head and motioned for him to come along. He frowned in concern, but followed you still. He wondered if you were just frustrated over not finding anything yet. He honestly wasn’t bothered by the idea of being here a little longer. He was glad to help and didn’t mind spending more time with you.

“So, where do you want to go next?” he asked only to realize you were nowhere to be seen. “Rin?” he looked around frantically until he finally spotted you standing in front of the window of a nearby store.

Raising an eyebrow, he walked over and stood next to you to see what you were looking at. His face then softened and he glanced down at you. “Is this it?”

You snapped out of your daze and looked up at him before smiling and nodding.  

--------

It was finally Saturday night.

You walked up to the abandoned shed in the park. There was a rusty lock on the door, but you just phased through it. You then changed to your human form. Since nobody used this shed, you decided to make use of it and kept all your belongings here. There were some folded clothes on the shelves and a few books.

You took a yellow shirt, one of the things you got from your shopping day with Frisk and the others a while ago, and put it on. You then put on your brown jacket and the red scarf before picking up the gift.

Vanishing again and appearing on the sidewalk behind a tree, you watched anxiously as Undyne and Alphys chatted excitedly as they entered Toriel’s house. Everyone was probably in there right now. You clutched the present tightly in your hands, debating on whether to go in or not.

You didn’t know what to do if you did go in there. What if you messed something up? What if your magic acted up again in front of everyone? You glanced down at the small orange box in your hands.

What if they didn’t like your gift?

A sudden chill went through you. You looked down to see grey mist beginning to snake and swirl around your feet again, slowly consuming them. Your shoulders sagged and you took a deep breath, commanding it away. You needed to calm down. Getting stressed will only make it harder for you to control it.

Once the mist dispersed, you glanced at the house again, wondering if it would be better to just leave, but then you shook your head. No, you couldn’t do that. You promised to come tonight.

Steeling yourself, you quietly came out from behind the tree and made your way across the street. You walked through the gate and stood in the porch, shaking the snow off your boots. After a moment of hesitation, you rung the bell.

Soon enough, Toriel opened the door and smiled down at you. “Dear, I’m so glad you could make it. Please come in!”

You nodded at her and went inside.

Chapter Text

As soon as you stepped into Toriel’s house, you were hit with warmth and found yourself relaxing a bit. You then held out your present to her and she smiled. “Thank you, dear. I’ll put it with the others.”

Watching her walk away, you took off the scarf and your boots. You then turned around only to bump into something and lose your balance, but someone caught by your shoulders just in time before you fell back.

“Oh, careful there,” You looked up to see Asgore smiling apologetically down at you. “I’m so glad you made it. I was getting a little worried,” he muttered.

Sorry. You signed, feeling a little guilty.

He shook his head. “It’s alright. No need to apologize. I’m just happy you’re here.”

As he spoke, you felt a pair of eyes on you. Something then slammed against your legs and you looked down to see Frisk hugging you. She signed a greeting at you.

You patted the kid on the head. Happy birthday. You signed back and she beamed at you.  

“HUMAN FRIEND!”

Before you could react, you felt a pair of bony arms wrap around you tightly and then next thing you knew you were being swung around.

“Perhaps you should put her down, Papyrus,” Asgore said and he did so, looking disappointed. You stood there stiffly. Nobody had hugged you before.

“YOU ARRIVED JUST IN TIME, TALL HUMAN. I AM ALMOST FINISHED MAKING MY BIRTHDAY SPAGHETTI!” the skeleton exclaimed. The other two made a face at that, but smiled weakly as he scurried away excitedly.

The three of you headed into the living room where Undyne, Alphys and Sans were. While the first two were sitting on the couch, the latter was napping on a chair. Upon seeing you, Alphys waved shyly while Undyne’s expression soured. You nodded a greeting in their direction still.

“SANS! WAKE UP! YOU CAN’T BE SLEEPING AT A TIME LIKE THIS!” Papyrus huffed, marching over to his brother.

Sans yawned and rubbed his eye-socket. “Chill, pap.”

Papyrus raised his finger and opened his mouth, but then closed it shut when he processed what the older skeleton said. Scowling, he turned away.

Sans chuckled. “Come back, bro. It was an ice one!” he called out, but the other disappeared in the doorway of the kitchen, grumbling under his breath. The short skeleton’s then glanced at you and while his smile fell a little, he gave you a small wave.  

You raised an eyebrow at that, but decided not dwell on it.

“Sit here while I get you all something,” Asgore said as he led you to the couch and left to the kitchen.

You turned to Undyne who was sitting right next to you. When she caught your gaze, she huffed and looked away “U-Undyne!” Alphys whispered anxiously. You blinked at the fish woman, but said nothing.

Asgore soon returned with a tray filled with steaming mugs. “Here you go,” he said, lowering the tray down in front of the three of you.

“Thanks, Asgore!” Undyne gave him a toothy grin, taking one while passing another for Alphys. You took the remaining one and blew on it before taking a brief sip from the hot beverage.

It’s good. You signed with one hand. Asgore hummed happily at this and backed away. However, because of how tall he was, one of his horns got caught in one of the colorful decorations and pulled it down over his face. Everyone looked amused while Toriel scowled.

“Asgore, everyone worked very hard on making those!” she scolded and he winced.

“S-sorry,” he smiled nervously under her glare.

A laugh escaped your lips at the expression on his face and the next thing you knew everyone in the room were staring at you. Your cheeks heated up and you looked away, signing “sorry” with one hand and busing yourself with your drink. Asgore was grinning at you while Toriel recovered and cleared her throat.

“Just get it off,” she said with a sigh.

“Y-yes,” he muttered and tried to free the decoration from his horn without damaging it any further, but couldn’t.

Seeing this, you placed your drink on the table and made your way over to him. He looked surprised at you. You motioned for him to bend down and he hesitatingly did so. You reached for his horn with both of your hands and carefully removed the decoration from it.

“Thank you,” he said, rubbing his head embarrassed.

There were suddenly more knocks on the door. You frowned. Who could that be? Everybody was here as far as you could tell.

“I’ll get it!” Undyne went over to answer it and a new voice came.

“Hello, darlings!” You watched as a pink and black robot entered the room.

“IT’S METTATON!” Papyrus squealed excitedly.

It was then the name clicked in your head. You remembered seeing posters and hearing people talking about him. Wasn’t he supposed to be a star of some kind? You also noticed a ghost wearing headphones following him shyly, almost as if he was trying to stay out of sight as much as possible.

Mettaton meanwhile swept Frisk into a hug. “Happy birthday, little darling,” he said as the monsters gathered around him and bombarded him with questions, to which he answered with a charming grin.

That’s when his eyes fell on you and he walked out of the crowd towards you. “Why, I don’t recall you seeing around her before,” he said. “You must be the human Alphys mentioned a while ago, right?”

Not knowing what else to do, you nodded.

“I’ll say, you have quite the pretty face,” he said smoothly and you blinked in confusion. “Blooky, come greet the human!”

“Hi…” the shy ghost murmured quietly. His eyes lingered on you for a moment and then widened a fraction.

What? You asked.

“Oh…uh nothing….” He muttered and looked away, much to your puzzlement.   

---------

“Is that all you got, Pap?! I thought you can do better than that!” Undyne growled while they were playing a game of Twister.

“N-NO, OF COURSE NOT!” Papyrus exclaimed.

The former king chuckled. Those two were getting more and more competitive with each game.

He then turned his attention to you. You were sitting on the couch, watching everyone quietly. Your expression remained unchanged so he had no idea if you were enjoying yourself or not. He bit his lip, returning his attention to the others. They tried asking you several times to join them, but you declined every time. You seemed to be fine watching from your spot on the couch.

After a few minutes, he saw you standing up and walking over to Toriel. From his spot in the room, he couldn’t see what you were signing. You nodded at whatever she said and made your way up the stairs. He was about to ask her about where you went, but then decided that might not be a good idea. He turned to see Papyrus lose to the fish woman and everyone laugh, feeling a familiar twinge in his soul.  

-------

You sighed as you stood in front of the bathroom mirror. That had been close. At the very least nobody saw you this time.

You turned on the faucet and splashed your face with cold water before reaching for a towel and drying it. You hoped no more incidents like this will happen again tonight.

You pushed a lock of brown hair away from your face, staring at you reflection. And that’s when you felt a sudden chill in the air and spun around to see something floating behind you.

You couldn’t tell what it was. You titled your head to the side curiously and stepped closer to get a better look at it.

The thing, whatever it was, looked like a small ball of white smoke with a dark center. Curious, you cautiously reached for it and it quickly moved back, much to your surprise.

It began flying around in the room, leaving a short trail of smoke behind it before dashing through the window. You rushed over and looked outside, trying to see where it went. You eventually spotted it flying down the street and disappear in the cold night.

You frowned and looked down at your hands. Did you create that? It didn’t really feel like it.

You were almost tempted to go after it when you heard laughter downstairs, immediately reminding you of where you were. Glancing outside one last time, you moved away from the window and left.

You walked down the dark staircase, hearing chatter from the living room. You stepped inside to see everyone sitting about with saucers in their hands.

“Oh, human. Here, we saved you a slice!” Toriel said, holding a plate out for you with a slice of cake and a fork on it. Blinking, you took the plate and watched her go back to sit on her chair, stroking Frisk’s hair.

Gazing around the room at everyone, you immediately noticed the absence of the other goat monster.

You walked over to Alphys and asked her. Where is Asgore?

“O-oh, he…he excused himself and said he’ll be back soon,” she stuttered.

You frowned at this and thanked her before walking away. You then expanded your senses through the house and searched for him.

----------

Asgore was sitting on the bench in the back porch, staring at the snow covered backyard blankly. His plate left untouched beside him.

Even though he was outside, he could still hear the noises inside the house, their joyful laughter and he could almost imagine the smiles on their faces. They only served to add to the weight on his mind and his soul.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he suddenly heard the door open and was taken back by the sight of you standing there.

“Oh, h-hello. Is something the matter?” he asked nervously.

You stare at him quietly and then signed. What are you doing here?

“Oh, nothing. Just wanted to get some fresh air, that’s all,” he said, forcing a smile.

Your brows furrowed at this, but you didn’t ask any further. Instead, to his surprise, you asked. Can I sit with you?

He blinked, not expecting that. “O-of course,” he moved to the side a little, giving you just enough room to sit next to him.

The two of you sat quietly for a while, staring at the snow covered street. Asgore pocked around with his plate, glancing at you every now and then before sighing and looking down at the ground.

“You really should go back there,” he said quietly.

You paused and glanced at him, puzzled.

“I know you’re probably here because you want keep me company, but I’m fine. You should be having fun with the others inside,” he stated.

You should be too. You signed back.

“I can’t….I’m…” he trailed off, lost on what to say. He didn’t want to involve you in his problems. He wouldn’t had been be able to explain it anyway. He didn’t know why, despite all he had, he felt this way or why everything felt so empty sometimes, and why that hurt so much.

Just then, he stiffened when he felt a pair of arms surround him and looked down at you in surprise. His mind was racing, not knowing how to react to this. He bit his lip as various emotion swirled inside him.

Slowly, he placed a hand on your back and closed his eyes, feeling some of the weight on his soul easing.

“Hey!”

Yelping, he jerked back at the sudden voice and looked over to see Undyne standing in the doorway, the light from the corridor casting shadows over her figure. “There you two nerds are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Frisk is about to open her presents!”

“S-sorry, we’ll be right there,” he laughed flustered and stood up. He reached down for you and you took his hand, letting him pull you up. With that, he followed you inside, noticing Undyne giving you an unreadable look from the corner of his eye.

--------

Everyone gathered in the living room. You were honestly surprised by the size of the pile of presents. It almost reached your waist in height and you wondered where most of them came from. You could only assume a huge chunk of them were from the other monsters in town for their young ambassador.

Sitting down on the floor, you watched as the child went through each gift. There were coloring supplies, puzzles, action figures, t-shirts with characters you didn’t recognize on them, a tiny pair of pink and purple gardening gloves and much more. There was also a joke book which got a frustrated groan from Papyrus and a chuckle from Sans.

“SAAAANS! YOU’LL RUIN THE TINY HUMAN!”  

Turning your gaze from the two brothers, you noticed the ghost, Napstablook, was floating quietly in the back of the group. His face was slightly downcast.

Frowning, you waved your hand to get his attention and he tensed up, looking warily at you. You brought your hand to your face and motioned for him to smile.

The ghost looked taken aback by this and then hesitated before giving you a weak timid smile. You smiled back a little and then sucked in a breath when Frisk reached for your present.

You felt uneasy as she picked up the box in her hands and inspected it. She then frowned.

“What’s wrong, my child?” Toriel asked.

Don’t know who this from. Frisk signed, showing the present to everyone in the room.

“R-Rin? Who is that?” Alphys said, squinting at the tag and you froze up.

“you mean it’s not one of your friends?” Sans asked, doing his equivalent of raising an eyebrow. Frisk shook her head.

“Perhaps it’s someone from your class,” Toriel said.

You sat there as they continued talking about who sent the gift. Hesitating briefly, you slowly raised your hand, getting their attention. You pointed at the box and then yourself. It seem to take them a moment to realize what you meant.

“Wait….that’s you!?” Undyne muttered and you nodded.

“You mean you didn’t know?” Mettaton asked.

“No, she never told us!” she replied.

You then turned to Asgore. You didn’t tell them?

The goat monster rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I…I must have forgot,” he stammered and everyone groaned.

“Aw, Asgore!”

“YOUR MAJESTY!”

“Sorry, everyone,” he muttered.

It’s okay. You signed to him.

It’s a pretty name. Frisk signed after a moment.

“I agree,” Toriel smiled and you dipped your head a little, causing some to laugh.  

“Well, don’t keep us waiting, darling!” Mettaton muttered. You bit your lip anxiously as the child began unwrapping yours.  

Frisk hurriedly tore the wrappings off and opened it, her eyes widening at what’s inside.

It was a necklace with a silver chain and a single golden maple leaf adoring it. The child held it in her hands in awe and then beamed at you. It’s awesome. Thanks!

A wave of relief washed over you and you nodded, contentment filling you at the approval of your gift.

For the rest of the night, everything went on without any incidents, though you did notice a few times an odd look passing over Asgore’s face whenever he looked at you as if debating something in his mind.

Soon it was time for everyone to leave.

“Thank you all for coming. We really appreciate it,” Toriel said, clasping her hands together.

“no problem, toriel,” Sans grunted.

“It was such a delight, your highness. Right Blooky?” Mettaton asked and his cousin nodded timidly.

“Yeah….thanks for the invitation….” He murmured and then his eyes wandered over to you. You tilted your head to side in wonder when he smiled weakly again in your direction.

“Well, time to go home. See you later, punks!” Undyne exclaimed, turning to the door.

“Wait!” They all stopped and turned to Asgore who had a light blue box in his hands. “There is something I want to give,”

To your surprise, he turned to you. “It’s actually for you, Rin.”

You blinked and took it from his hands, confused. Why was he giving you this?

“WAIT…TALL HUMAN, WAS IT YOUR BIRTHDAY TOO?” Papyrus gasped.

You frantically shook your head.

“Please open it,” Asgore said, placing hand on your shoulder.

You hesitantly opened the box and tilted it to look inside. What you saw made your eyes widen and your breathing hitch.

It…it was a phone.

You took out the device and held it in your hand before turning to the boss monster. For me? You barely managed to sign. He nodded. Why?

 “Well…ever since we met you’ve done a lot for us. You helped me with the human costumers at the shop, you brought us Frisk back when we lost her and…” There was something else he looked like he wanted to say, but held himself and smiled. “I feel this is the least I could do,”

You stared at him, feeling overwhelmed. This was too much. He shouldn’t had went through the trouble of getting you this and you wanted to tell him that, but in the end you could only sign. Thank you.

“SO….NOW THAT THE HUMAN HAS A PHONE….WE CAN FINALLY EXCHANGE NUMBERS!” Papyrus exclaimed at the realization, quickly taking out his phone.

You felt Frisk pulling your pant leg. Please take mine.

“W-would it be okay i-if I gave you mine?” Alphys smiled nervously, holding her phone in her hands. Undyne reluctantly took out hers too. Soon everyone in the room was gathering around you with the same request.

Something inside you swelled at this and warmth filled your chest. Of course. You finally answered.

Chapter Text

You made your way through the snow-covered grounds in your real form, staring at the frozen trees. You frowned at the sight of them all bare now.

Without the colors and the leaves on the branches, the park just felt…empty to you, especially when you were alone. You had seen this happen countless times over the decades, but you couldn’t help feeling a little wistful to see all of that disappear.

Everything around disappears and changes….except you. You were the only thing that stays the same. You stared at your cold pale hands and grey clothes, letting out a soft breath.   

Shaking that thought away, you reached the edge of the park and frowned when you suddenly sensed someone nearby. They weren’t someone you were familiar with and not one of the people working here.

Strange. Shouldn’t most visitors had left by now?

You walked through the snow-covered shrubs, you tried to find them. Looking around searchingly, you blinked in surprise when you saw something in the center of the frozen lake. A child.

Your brows furrowed. What was he doing over there?

The kid remained standing still. He wasn’t moving forward, but wasn’t turning back either. Confused, you expanded your senses and felt a twinge of fear in him.

Something was wrong.

You looked around, hoping to see his family or anyone, but nobody was near. Frowning in concern, you changed into your human and stepped closer to the lake, gazing down at the ice nervously.

You looked up at the child and then the frozen lake again, hesitating before stepping on the smooth sheen of ice, feeling a knot form in your stomach. You took one careful step after the other as you slowly made your way toward the kid.

Soon enough, you were close enough to get a good look at him. He had brown messy hair, and was wearing a blue coat and grey gloves. He looked about eight years old. Your eyes widened when you finally saw what was wrong. The ice underneath one of his feet was cracked. This was very bad.

You took a step a closer and the child finally noticed you. His cheeks were red and his eyes were glazed over. He immediately looked more scared at seeing you and you knew that just like with many other people, he was unsettled by your eyes, but luckily he made no attempt to move away from you.  

Your mind raced for a way out of this while you tried to stay calm, blocking away the thought of the dark, icy depths below. Seeing no other solution, you slowly held your hand out for him.

He seemed unsure of whether to trust you or not, so you tried softening your expression and kept your hand held out to him. He glanced down at the cracked ice and then at you again before slowly edging closer to you. You were uneasy the entire time you watched him, biting your lip anxiously. Finally, he was within your reach. Grasping his hand, you inhaled deeply and led the boy over to you.

But you hadn’t taken into account the additional weight of the boy. A sudden noise reached your ears and the air left your lungs. The boy cried out and threw his arms around your legs as the ice started breaking beneath you two. In that moment of blind panic, your magic reacted.

When you didn’t feel yourself falling into the icy waters, you opened your eyes and looked down to see the cracks were still there, but somehow something kept the ice from shattering under you. You then blinked in surprise when caught a glimpse of your hand.

For a brief second it looked like your skin was glowing faintly. The frightened child had his face buried in your leg so he hadn’t seen any of that, much to your relief.

Coaxing him to pull away a little, you got a hold of his hand again and began taking slow, careful steps back, making sure to keep the boy standing right next to you. You could hear him whimpering and tightened your grip on his hand as the edge of the lake drew closer.

Finally, after several agonizing moments, you reached the end of the lake and stepped off the ice. The boy collapsed on his knees, panting. You sighed in relief and glanced back at the lake to see the cracks in the ice were mending themselves, disappearing.

You frowned and looked down at your hand in wonder.

“T-thanks,”

You paused and turned to the boy who avoided your gaze, looking ready to hide in his coat.

You nodded after a moment and glanced up at the sky to see it was getting late. You made a questioning gesture and it seemed to take him a moment to get what you’re asking. “I-I’m supposed to meet my parents at the gate.”

You hummed at that and motioned for him to follow you. You wanted to make sure he got there safely. Making your way through the park in silence, you were surprised when he suddenly spoke up again.

“I’m…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause trouble. I just....wanted to see if I can walk to the other side,” he murmured, sniffing and rubbing his eyes.

You frowned at the sight, not knowing what to do. You hesitantly knelt down and gave him a reassuring pat on the back. When he looked at you, you gave him a small smile that seemed to put him at ease.

Soon enough, you reached the main exit. There were several people there. The boy began looking around for his parents and you did the same. It wasn’t long until you saw a couple talking worriedly with one of the people working in the park.

You tapped the boy’s shoulder to get his attention and pointed in the direction of the two.

“Mom! Dad!” he rushed over and the couple looked relieved to see him. While the three adults talked over him, the child was about to mention you to them, but stopped when he glanced back to you and saw nobody was there.

--------

In the next morning, you hurriedly made your way down the street toward Asgore’s shop, late for work. You stepped inside, apology ready only to pause when you saw Asgore sleeping on his chair behind the counter.

Raising an eyebrow at this, you walked over and tapped the table to get his attention, but it didn’t work. You frowned. He shouldn’t be sleeping right now. The shop should be open around this time. Going behind the counter and stopping beside the monster, you began shaking his shoulder in hopes of waking him up.

Just then, Asgore raised his hands up, yawning, and for a brief moment you thought he was finally waking up only for his arm to fall over you and the next thing you knew your face was pressed against his shirt.

Blinking, you awkwardly tried to pull away from the monster’s hold, but he was far stronger than you would had expected.

Sighing in defeat, you slumped against the monster and began reaching blindly with your free hand. It eventually found Asgore’s golden beard and you began tugging at it lightly, hoping it will do something.

A low rubbing sounded from within the monster before he finally shifted in his sleep and you let his beard go. Yawning, the monster looked around sleepily before looking down at whatever he was holding. Red, half-lidden eyes stared at yours for a moment before they widened.

Yelping, Asgore let go of you and jumped back as if burned, nearly falling off his chair. His face was a bright shade of red. “R-Rin, w-what…?” he looked lost on what to say.

You were asleep. Tried to wake you up. You signed and he seemed to get the idea.

“Oh, I-I’m so sorry,” he stuttered, looking down while twiddling his thumbs.

It’s fine. You shrugged and then pointed to the door sign.

“Huh? Oh, yes, yes. Please do,” he stammered and you went over to flip the sign to OPEN. He didn't see it, but your lips quirked up when your back was turned to him. 

-------

“Can you get me that one?” the old man asked. He had greying black hair and wore blue overalls.

You stood on your tiptoes and with a grunt, you managed to get the pot with lilacs, presenting it to him.

“Actually, how about that one?” he muttered, pointing at another one at the far corner of the shelf.

You placed the pot back and turned to him, brows furrowed a little. It wasn’t like you to get frustrated easily, but you were getting tired and really wished he would choose already. You had been going around the shop like this for several minutes now.

The old man held up his hands at you. “Sorry, ma’am. I just don’t know what to get for my daughter,” he said, scratching his head. “Is there anything you would recommend for me?”

You blinked, taken aback. Nobody had asked you this before. You turned to Asgore who was sitting behind the counter. The former king shrugged his shoulder, uncertain.

Frowning, you turned to the shelves. You hesitantly walked over and looked between the various pots, not sure what to pick for him. You could only go off on what on he told you about his daughter earlier.

After a moment of searching, you finally picked up a pot from the bottom. They were red lilies.

“You think she will like these?” he asked, rubbing his chin as he looked them over. You thought for a brief moment and then gave a slow nod. “Alright then, I’ll take ’em!” he muttered.

"If you have a cat, please make sure to keep it away from them. I heard they are not good for them," Asgore said as he got up to get a container for the flowers and soon the old man was leaving.

“Thanks!” he said, flashing you a wide grin before walking out through the glass door. You let out a relieved sigh as you leaned back against the counter, glad it was over.

Asgore smiled. “Nice work. You have gotten quite good at this.”

You looked away, cheeks growing warm at the praise. He laughed lightly and turned to put the money in the cash register. He was right though, now that you thought of it. Dealing with customers used to be quite hard for you, but now you were better than when you started out. The same can be said for people in general you supposed.

Suddenly, the peaceful moment was broken when a loud noise came from outside, startling you two.

“What was that?” Asgore asked and you hurried to the door to check. Stepping outside, you saw a crowd of people gathering by the road.

It seemed to be a car accident.

You heard the bell chime again and felt Asgore stand beside you. “My, I hope nobody got hurt,” he said as you went to check on everything with him. People were gathering around the two cars as their owners yelled at each other. One was a man in a grey shirt and messy black hair while the other was a cat monster you didn’t recognize.

“Someone arrest this monster. He wrecked my car!” the man was yelling aggressively, pointing at the dent on the front of his red car.

“Come on, it was an accident!” the monster muttered.

“Liar! I saw you. You did it on purpose!” he snapped. “I knew letting freaks like you wander around in our city was a dangerous idea!”

“Excuse me,” Asgore said, voice surprisingly firm as he made his way through the crowds. His size and appearance made everyone make way for him. The man seemed startled by the large monster. “Now, now. No need for that. Whatever the damage is, I’ll pay for it personally,”

But the man didn’t seem satisfied with that. He opened his mouth to yell back and then closed it. He glared at Asgore while the former king held his calm expression. Finally, he turned around and stormed to his car.

Asgore turned to the cat monster and the bystanders around you began to walk away, but your eyes remained on the man. You saw him pause for a moment as if a thought struck him and then he began searching in some bags inside his car. You felt unsettled by the feeling you got from him.

-------

“Are you alright?” Asgore asked.

“Nah, I’m fine. Thanks Mr. Dreemurr,” Burgerpants answered with a shrug and then rubbed his neck nervously. “And sorry about the trouble.”

Asgore raised his hand. “Don’t worry about it. I’m happy to be of assistance.”

The cat monster was about to reply, but then his eyes widened and cried out. “Hey, watch out!”

Asgore turned around just in time to see the man clutching a glass bottle tightly in his hand and threw it at him with a snarl. The former king knew fully well the weakness of monster souls. With enough hate and malice, any object in a human’s hand can become a lethal weapon.

There was no time for him to move away. He could only screw his eyes shut.

A horrified cry from the crowd made him open them again and his mind went blank at the sight of you collapsed on the ground, red bleeding from your forehead.

“Rin!”

Chapter Text

You woke up in a grey world.

Your eyes fluttered up and you slowly pushed yourself up, feeling a little weak. You were lying in the middle of a street. Everything was colorless. There were people standing around you, all seeming to be going about with their days, but they were frozen still, expressions unmoving.

You looked down at yourself. You were in your real form, but when did you…?

Standing up, you began to walk around, unsure of what to make of any of this. The streets were quiet. People were standing still like statues, frozen in time. Dark clouds blocked the dull, grey sky.

It was like something came and sucked all the life and color from this city.

As you continued wandering through the lifeless streets, something suddenly moved next to you and your eyes widened.

It was that ball of white smoke again. It didn’t hover around this time and flew away quickly. Before you could question it, you were even more surprised when more of them flew past you, leaving trails of white behind them. They all seemed to be going somewhere.

Brows furrowed in confusion, you began following them, wondering where they were heading.

Suddenly, you grimaced and your stride came to a halt. You felt a sharp pain in your head and your vision blurred as you clutched it. The darkness on the edge of your vision then grew to the point where you almost couldn’t see the road ahead of you. That small pinprick of light then disappeared too and you were plunged into blackness.

--------

Eyes fluttering open, you blinked away at the light filling your vision. You were lying in a bed, was the first thing you realized. Gazing around at the white walls of the room you were in, you felt even more confused. Where were you?

You slowly reached for your forehead and blinked when you felt something wrapped around it. Bandages.

Frowning in confusion, you sat up and slowly hopped off the bed. You walked over to the door and peeked outside.

There were people walking in the hallways, some seemed to be heading somewhere while others were sitting on benches. They seemed to be sick.

What you saw back there then must have been…a dream, you realized. You recalled many years ago feeling curious whenever you saw humans sleeping. You remembered trying to do the same, lying on the grass in the park and closing your eyes, but nothing happened each time. After a while you stopped trying and lost interest.

This was the first time you saw something in your sleep.   

A loud a gasp suddenly reached your ears as you walked through the hallway and you turned to see a woman staring at you with wide eyes. She was slightly shorter than you and had brown hair tied into a bun.

“M-miss, what are you doing here?”

Where am I? You signed, tilting your head to the side.

The woman stared at your hands and blushed. “I-I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what you’re saying,” she said, fidgeting. She shuffled over to you and took your hand nervously. “Please, let me take you back to your bed,”

You reluctantly let her lead you back to the room. You wanted to ask about this place again when she suddenly began to walk away.

“W-wait here, I’ll fetch someone,” she stammered before hurrying through the door and closing it shut.

You frowned and looked around the room, pondering over how you ended up here like this. You touched your bandaged forehead again in thought.

It was then it came back to you. The car accident, the man trying to hurt Asgore, the pain in your forehead-

Grimacing at the memory, you gazed around the distract yourself while waiting for the lady to come back. You then you noticed something in the room. There was a glass vase on the table next your bed.

It was filled with golden flowers.

Your mind immediately went to Asgore and you started worrying about the goat monster. Where was he right now? Was he alright? Did that man manage to hurt him while you were passed out?

You were so tempted to just vanish right and there to go look for him when the door opened again. A man with a clipboard stepped in with another woman following him with a tray. He had greying hair and wore a pair of glasses.

“Ah, I see you’re awake,” he said with a smile. You looked at him questioningly.

Where am I? You asked again.

“Don’t worry, you’re in the hospital. You were brought here after sustaining that head injury,” he explained, pointing with his pen at your forehead. You touched the area and he winced. “Please don’t touch it.”

“So, can you tell me how you’re feeling? Do you still feel any pain?” the doctor asked. You thought for a moment and then shrugged. He raised an eyebrow at this, but didn’t press on.  

Clearing his throat, he held his clipboard and clicked his pen. “Alright then, can you tell me your name, miss?”

Rin. You answered.

“I meant your full name,” he clarified and waited. When you continued staring at him for a minute without answering, his face falttered. “Um…alright. Do you have any family or relatives that we could contact?”

You shook your head.

The man blinked in surprise, but proceeded asking more questions, to which you responded to with a shrug or a head shake.

The doctor eventually eyed quietly for a moment before sighing. “I guess that’s enough for now. I’ll come back to check on you later. Make sure to eat the food the nurse has brought you,” he said, emphasizing on the last part for some reason. “Good day,”

With that, he turned around and disappeared out of the door, leaving the two of you alone in the room. The nurse walked over and placed the tray on your lap.

You stared at the food in confusion before picking up the fork. You didn’t understand why they wanted you to do this. You weren’t feeling hungry, but then again you never do.

You decided to do what he asked of you since the nurse remained in the room with you, waiting. She seemed to be unsure of what to say to you and your blank expression didn’t seem to make her any more comfortable in your presence.

As you went through your meal, the woman spoke up. “Oh, right. I forgot to mention this, but several visitors came here for you while you were unconscious. They were all mostly monsters.”

You paused and glanced at her, surprised. The others…had been here?

“One of them said you worked with him and he came here almost every day,” She said, rubbing her neck.

You blinked at this. He really did that? You felt warmth fill you at the thought of the large monster coming to see you that often. It only made you want to leave this place sooner to see him.

Which brought another question to your mind.

When can I leave? You asked.

The nurse pursed her lips. “We’re hoping to keep you here for a little while until we make sure you’re fine,” she explained.

You frowned. But you were fine right now. Your head didn’t hurt as much as did back then. You shouldn’t be stuck here!

“I know you probably want to go home, but we just want what’s best for you. Just be patient, alright?” the nurse smiled, seeming to catch your train of thought.

You sighed and nodded. Soon when you were done, the nurse took your tray and left the room too. You glanced around the room before lying in your bed, staring at the white ceiling blankly.

You wondered what the others were doing and where they were right now. Will they come back to see you again soon? When will you be allowed to leave? There were so many questions you wanted to ask.  

You glanced over to the open window where morning light streamed through and noises from the bustling city below could be heard. You sighed again and found yourself wishing you could be back at the shop with Asgore, just like before.

Chapter Text

“Rin!” Asgore cried out in horror and hurried over to where you lay, kneeling down in front of you. He at first didn’t dare to touch you, fearing that anything he did will only make your injury worse.

The former king’s hands shook. Anger filled his vision. He glared up at the man responsible who flinched under his gaze and fell on his back in fright.

A part of the monster wanted to make him pay for what he did to you and he could feel his hands getting warmer with magic, but he screwed his eyes shut, pushing that thought far at the back of his mind.

No, don’t. You will ruin everything we worked for. He reminded himself. Using his magic or even hurting that man will probably create more conflict among the two races. He knew there were people out there who were waiting for the smallest slip-up from them to use it as an excuse to turn everyone against his kind.

The man scrambled to his car, but fortunately two other bystanders rushed over to stop him from getting away.

Asgore then averted his attention back to you and hesitantly put his hand over your shoulder. “Rin. Rin, wake up,” he muttered, but to his great distraught you didn’t open your eyes, didn’t even react to his touch.

Dread and despair consumed his soul. No. Please, not you too. He thought, feeling his eyes glaze over. His arms surrounded you protectively as he felt more people chattering loudly and staring at you.

Something then happened. He blinked through the wateriness in his eyes when he noticed something strange happening to you. For a moment you looked transparent to him, fading, but he eventually shook it off as a result of his panic.

The sound of sirens soon reached his ears. Two paramedics came over and made him back away to check on you. You were then pulled onto a stretcher and rushed into the waiting ambulance that sped up as quickly as it arrived, leaving Asgore alone standing near the small pool of red.

He could hear people talking around him, Burger Pants muttering something to him worriedly and bright flashes coming from the bystanders. Some had probably recorded the whole thing on their phones, but Asgore didn’t care. Everything just became white noise to him as the ambulance disappeared from his sight.

Asgore forced his shaking hand into his pocket and took out his phone, dialing the first person that came to mind.

“Hey, old man. What’s up?” Undyne cheerily asked.

“U-Undyne,” Asgore stammered, voice trembling. The fish woman seemed to have caught on that was something was wrong and her voice grew concerned.

“Asgore, is everything okay?”

Asgore found it hard to breathe for a moment and he barely stifled a sob.

“It…It’s Rin,”

--------

Asgore didn’t know how long had been sitting in that hallway, numb to everything around him. Undyne came first and then Toriel who left her school after hearing the news from the fish woman. Undyne told him that Alphys and the others will come soon too.

Asgore barely registered any of it. The fact that nobody was telling them anything about your condition made the waiting even more unbearable. Minutes felt like hours to him with every passing one draining a little bit more of him. A nurse came to them, but they were disappointed when she didn’t have any news for them about you.

She simply asked them several relating to who they were and how they knew you. Once they answered everything, the lady turned around and left them to wait some more.

When the doctor finally came, Asgore immediately sat up. “Is she alright?” he asked anxiously.

“Don’t worry, she’s going to be fine. Our main concern right now is the possibility that she might suffer a concussion from that injury,” he stated, looking over his clipboard. “Now, I was told you’re the patient’s boss, right?” he asked.

“Y-yes,” Asgore stuttered.

“She is also a friend of yours,” Toriel added.

“That’s good to know because I have some question I hope you will answer,” he explained. “First, tell me. What is her name?”

“It’s Rin,” Toriel answered.

“That’s not enough. I need her surname as well,” the doctor replied.

The three monsters remained quiet before Toriel and Undyne turned to him. “Asgore, you’re the one who spends time with her the most. Surely you know,” the fish woman stated.

Asgore opened his mouth and then closed it, looking down at the floor. “I’m…I’m sorry, but I don’t know,”

The doctor frowned at this. “But you said she has been working with you for a while. How come you don’t know?”

Asgore winced. “She doesn’t really like talking about herself…..even when I asked,” he murmured. 

The doctor sighed. “Alright, never mind. Tell me, how often do you see her eat and drink?”

Asgore blinked at the odd question and exchanged puzzled looks with the other two monsters. “Um, she always ate whatever we offered her, but why do you ask?”

“You see, we did some tests to make sure she’s okay and the results we got were….concerning,”

“What do you mean by that?” Asgore pressed on. Didn’t the man just say you were going to be fine?”

“Well….” The doctor ran his hand through his hair, hesitating as he looked over his clipboard. “According to our tests, her blood sugar and blood pressure are very low among other problems we found,”

“But what does that mean? Did that injury do this to her?” Undyne muttered. Their knowledge and understanding of the human body still weren't anything great.

“Her injury has nothing to do with this. You need to understand. If what we found is true then your friend shouldn’t be able to walk, let alone stand,” the doctor firmly stated.

Silence fell over the three as they processed his words.

“W-what?” Toriel murmured.

“That’s impossible! We’ve seen her walk around just fine. She’s like any human I’ve met!” Undyne exclaimed.

“There has to be a mistake. Just earlier today she had served several customers and didn’t seem ill at all,” Asgore stated.

The doctor sighed. “I’m sorry, but with results like these I find that hard to believe. This isn’t something that just happens all of a sudden. We are going to keep her here in the hospital just to make sure her condition won't get any worse,”

Asgore’s mind was racing. He couldn’t believe any of what he was hearing. There must be a mistake. None of this made any sense.

But they all decided to drop it for now. The doctor then led them to your room when they asked him if they could see you. The sight of you unconscious on the bed with bandages wrapped around your head made his soul ache.

An hour later, Alphys and the skeleton brothers, who brought Frisk from school, finally arrived. Asgore wasn’t sure if they should tell them about what they learned from the doctor, but they agreed to not mention anything and then later decide when and who to tell. Everyone was already troubled enough. 

Alphys was quite upset as Undyne tried to comfort her. Papyrus for the first time seemed lost on what to say and probably sensing the tense atmosphere, Sans refrained from making any jokes.

Frisk, who was wet-faced, walked over to you and quietly placed her hand over yours. The sight had been almost too much for Asgore.

Leaving the hospital later that day was hard for them.

--------

Asgore went to his shop in the next morning. Someone had to tend to the flowers there and he couldn’t imagine spending all of his day in his house alone with his own thoughts. But being in the flower shop didn’t bring him the comfort he expected.

Your absence was impossible for him to ignore here.

He could imagine you right now sweeping the floor or placing pots on the shelves or sitting on a chair going over your notes. Even though your face didn’t convey much emotion, he could almost see your expression softening a little when he spoke to you.

His chest grew tight and he put down the watering can in his hands to go back to the desk. Sitting down, he placed his head on his palm and sighed, not knowing what else he could do. The doctors words the other day rang in his head. He recalled the times when he asked you about your life outside of work or your family and how you always closed off completely every time. He always ended up changing the subject because he didn't want to upset you. This only served to make the former king realize that he still knew next to nothing about you beside your name, even after all this time. His mind also drifted off to what he saw while you were lying in front of him. He already have shrugged it off as his fear and panic back then making him see things, but there was a doubt in his mind that there was more to it than he convinced himself. 

Just then, the bell rang. It was the same old man before the-

Asgore shook his head and forced a smile on his face. “Howdy, I’m glad to see you’re back. How can I help you?”

“Oh, um. Hi,” the old man replied, obviously unsure of how talk to the monster who was large enough to tower over him. “Say, where is the girl who was working here yesterday?”

Asgore’s face fell, taken aback by the question before quickly regaining his composure. “Why do you ask?”

The old man grinned. “Just wanted to thank her for giving me those flowers. My daughter loved them!”

“O-oh, well, I’m sorry to say this, but she’s not here at the moment. She’s…taking a few days off. She had been working very hard here in the shop,”

The human’s face flattered and he scratched his head. “Ah, that’s too bad. Is she going to come back soon?”

It was getting harder for Asgore to keep that smile on his face. He had spent nearly centuries pretending in front of people yet he could feel his cheery mask slowly cracking. “Yes….don’t worry,”

-------

It was quite cold that evening. Asgore’s large footsteps left heavy imprints in the snow as he made his way to the hospital. He had been coming here a lot to the point where some of the humans working there didn’t react to him with fear like they did when he walked through the door the first time.

He spoke briefly with the receptionist before heading down the hallway and entering your room. You were still lying in that bed the same way he last saw you. He walked over to the vase on the table and carefully replaced the old golden flowers in it with some new ones he brought. 

He glanced at your unconscious form. He was feeling beyond confused and he knew there wasn’t anybody to give him the answers he really wished to have.

He walked over to the chair and sat down, staring at you quietly for a moment. He found himself smiling a little even though it hurt to do so.

“Howdy, Rin,”

Chapter Text

“Now please rest and make sure not to add pressure to your injury or else it won’t get better,” the nurse told you after changing your bandages.

You nodded quietly as you laid down on the bed. You paused. Any books I can read?

The woman frowned. “I would rather you sleep tonight, but I’m sure I can find you something in the morning,” she told you with a wink. “Good night,” she then turned off the light and closed the door behind her, leaving you alone in the dark room. The moonlight coming from the window was the only thing that kept the room lit.

You sighed and sat up. You were getting tired of staying in bed all day. The doctor and other nurses would come, do some checkups, ask you questions, and then leave you to wait again. For some reason they were treating you like you were made of glass, as if you would shatter at any minute.

You reached out for the vase on the table and held it in your hands. The pleasant smell immediately reminded you of the flower shop. It surprised you how much you missed your job. It had been one of the few things you had looked forward to every day, something you actually enjoyed.

You traced your hand over the golden petals and you smiled wistfully when you remembered the first time you found out what they actually felt like.

Looking out the window, you wondered what the others were doing right now. You wouldn’t really know since you were confined here, but you knew you couldn’t leave this place either. That would only create more problems for you when they realize you were gone.

Suddenly, your eyes widened. Your phone! You could use it to call Asgore and the others. How did you not think of that sooner?

Excited, you quickly reached to your pocket, but that brief hope was crushed instantly when you found nothing there.

Right. You remembered now. You had left your phone on the counter when a customer came in that day and forgot about it as more showed up.  

Shoulders sagging in defeat, you laid your head down on the pillow and closed your eyes. Maybe sleep will come to you again. Anything to keep your mind off your problems will be a relief at this point.

--------

The next time you opened your eyes, you immediately knew something was wrong. The entire hospital was dead silent. All the noises you used to hear outside the room were gone, stopped. Pushing yourself up, you looked around and saw that the flowers in the vase next to you had lost their golden color. The same went for everything else in the room. You checked yourself and saw you were no longer human.

Were you…dreaming again?

You hesitantly got off your bed and walked through the door. It was odd. These corridors used to be bustling with activity the last time you were here, but now there was no sign of life anywhere. It was almost unsettling.

Just then, you saw them again. The white balls of smoke. They were hovering in the grey corridor before disappearing around the corner. Pursing your lips, you began chasing after them. This time you were determined to see where they were going.

You walked past the receptionist and other people working in the hospital who were frozen in the middle of their tasks. You ignore them and continued rushing down the hallway.  

You finally reached the exit and stepped outside the hospital. The wisps of smoke glided weightlessly through the air and headed down the dark street. You began running again, your pale, bare feet not leaving any imprints on the snow.

You weren’t sure how long you chased them and you were pretty sure you passed Toriel’s house at some point, but eventually they stopped somewhere.

You slowly stopped too and stared at what the wisps led you to. An old, big house was standing in front of you.

One that you never seen before.

It was tall in structure and was stuck between two normal houses as if it had been always there. Where did this house come from? How did it get here?

The house looked beyond out of place. It didn’t look like it belonged here in this city or even this time. The wisps of smoke circled aimlessly around the house, but never went inside.

Despite the uneasy feeling you got from the place, you still felt the desire to explore it. You were curious by nature.

Steeling yourself, you slowly walked up the old wooden stairs and stood in the porch for a moment, your hand hovering over the knob. You stopped hesitating and twisted it, stepping inside.

The place inside was a mess. Dust and spider webs covered all the furniture. It clearly had been abandoned for a long time. Pale light streamed through the big windows and all the old clocks you saw hanging on the walls weren’t ticking, but for all you knew they might be frozen in time like everything else.

While standing in the doorway, a single wisp came in with you and flew across the room. As you followed it, you suddenly froze up at the sight of some old broken portraits and paintings lying on the floor up ahead.

Your eyes trailed down and noticed pieces of glass and even wood scattered all over the carpets as well. You carefully walked around them and went further into the house, feeling a bit unnerved by the ruined furniture.

What happened here? Why was everything in this place in such a state?

Avoiding the dark staircase, you followed the wisp to what you assumed to be a living room. Once it was in the room, it disappeared in a puff of smoke. You looked around the room in wonder. There wasn’t much beside an empty fireplace, animal head trophies and more old furniture.

It was then you noticed the mirror hanging on the wall. For some reason you felt drawn to it. You slowly made your way over to it and stared at your reflection.  

Crimson eyes stared back at you. It was you…in your humans form, but unlike everything else, the colors weren’t sapped out of you. This was first glimpse of them you saw since you woke up in this grey world.

You hesitantly reached over to touch the surface of the mirror. It shattered immediately under your fingers.

----------

Your eyes snapped open. You gazed around to see you were back in the hospital room again. Everything had returned to normal.

You turned to the window and blinked in surprise when you saw it almost morning. The sun hadn’t risen yet, but the sky was painted in a pinkish hue.

Pushing a strand of hair off your forehead, you pondered over what you saw. You always heard that people see strange things in their dreams. You assumed this was the same case?

Something about that old house left you feeling doubtful though.

With a tired sigh, you laid down and found yourself staring at the ceiling for hundredth time, wishing you were elsewhere.  

---------

“I have good news for you. You have a visitor,”

You lowered the book in your hand and looked at the nurse in surprise.

“Would like you to see him?” she asked and you nodded, still not getting over the fact that someone finally came for you.

“Alright,” she turned around and left. Not long after the door closed it was opened again.

“Hello?” a nervous looking Asgore poked his head through the door and his face lit up. “Rin!”

You felt your heart swell as he hurried over and knelt down on the floor so he didn’t tower over you, his eyes searching you for any ailment. After spending so much time with strangers looking after you, you felt beyond relieved to see him again.

“I came as soon as they called. The others will be here soon too. We were so worried about you,” he said, awkwardly placing a hand on your shoulder. He was obviously unsure of how to interact with you without causing you any more harm.

Without leaving the bed, you reached out and wrapped your arms around his body. You couldn’t fully hold him. He was still too large for that, but you tried your best. The monster relaxed and held you in his large arms carefully.

He couldn’t see it, but your lips quirked up and you sighed in contentment. Eventually, he pulled away.

“Oh, by the way!” He reached down and, to your surprise, took out your phone from his pocket. “I believe this belongs to you,” he said with a toothy grin.

You took the phone from his hand and stared at it, unable to find the right words to express how you felt. The monster had been here for a minute and he somehow already made you feel much than you have since you first woke up in this hospital. You resigned with a slow ‘thank you’ and he rubbed his neck sheepishly.

“It is no trouble, really,” he replied and then frowned, looking down at his feet. “Rin….I…While I really appreciate that you wanted to protect me from that man, I wish you haven’t jumped in the way,” he stated and you looked at him, surprised. “I…I didn’t know what to do when you didn’t wake up. I thought you-” he cut himself and sighed, rubbing his temples. “Never mind. What is done is done. Just…be careful, alright? You don’t want any harm to befall me, but…I wouldn’t want the same for you either,”

You nodded, if only to put him at ease.

“So….” He began awkwardly as he tried to get comfortable on the small chair. “Tell me. How was your stay here?”

You grimaced and signed. Boring. That got a laugh out of him. How is the shop?

“It’s still in one piece if that’s what you’re worried about,” he said, a playful glint in his eyes. “But it has been very quiet without you there to be honest. Oh, and some costumers kept asking about you too,” he added and you blinked, caught off guard.

Really? You didn’t have a doubt that Asgore and the rest will worry about you, but you never expected the other people you met at work will actually wonder where have gone. Your chest grew warmer at the thought.

After talking together for few minutes, the door opened again and the others showed. Frisk and Papyrus immediately rushed over to you.

“TALL HUMAN!” Papyrus exclaimed as he hugged your shoulders while Frisk hopped onto the bed and threw her arms around.

“You’re okay…” you heard her murmur quietly.

“Now, now. Be careful. She is still hurt,” Toriel said as she entered followed by Alphys and Undyne. She then smiled at you. “I’m very glad to see you’re awake, dear,”

“bed you missed us,” you looked down to see Sans grinning up at you.

“UNBELIEVABLE! SANS, SHE JUST WOKE UP!” Papyrus moaned and his brother shrugged.

You looked down at your lap, honestly feeling overwhelmed with all the attention you were getting from them.

The monsters and the child stayed with you for about two hours, all trying catch you up with what you missed out on for the past week while you were unconscious.

But then Asgore suddenly said. “Everyone, could you leave us for a few minutes. Toriel and I would like to talk to Rin about something important,”

Everyone apart from Toriel seemed confused by this, but they all reluctantly complied.

However, Undyne walked over and knelt down in front of the bed. You looked at her questioningly. “Hey…Asgore told me about what happened that day. Thanks for the saving the old guy,” she said, not looking you in the eye. “You’re not too bad, punk,” she flashed you a toothy grin before walking away, leaving you staring at her back in confusion.

Everyone soon left and the three of you were the only ones in the room. You instantly picked up on the tension coming off them and wondered what was wrong.

Toriel sat in the chair while Asgore remained standing in front of you.

“Dear, if it’s okay we would like you to tell us a few things. We are your friends and we’ve known you for months, but we still know very little about you. Could tell us where you live? Have your family visited you while you were here?”

You tensed up and averted your gaze nervously.

“Rin, I know you don’t like talking about yourself, but please. The doctor asked us about you when you were brought here, but we couldn’t answer many of his questions,” Asgore stated and you felt stab of guilt in your chest at having put them in that position.

“If there is anything wrong then you could always tell us. We might be able to help,” Toriel muttered, concern clear in her voice.

Conflicted, you stared at your lap, not knowing what to tell them. How were you supposed to explain yourself to them? Where would you even start?

Tell them that you had been around for ages? That you didn’t have a family or an address?

That you weren’t even human?

They kept trying to coax you into speaking, but you blocked out what they were saying. You raised your hands and they looked hopeful for a moment. Don’t want to talk.

The two Boss monsters looked disheartened at that. “Rin, please. You know you could trust us, right?” Asgore insisted, smiling reassuringly, but what you signed next almost physically pained you.

I want to be alone. They looked stunned at you and ready to protest. Please. You added.

The two exchanged concerned looks before finally complying. “Alright, if that’s what you wish,” Toriel said and stood up. “I hope you get well, dear,”

With that, she turned around and left. Asgore was looking between you two, looking completely lost. He finally sighed and turned away as well. “We’ll...see you soon,”

Not even once did you look up at them. Even when you felt something ache inside you as the door closed shut.

Chapter Text

It felt like forever until the nurse left you for the night. You waited for a minute to make sure she was truly gone before sitting up and sighing. The longer you stay here the more relentless you got. How long were they planning on keeping you locked up in this room?

You got off the bed and slowly walked over to the window. The snowfall had stopped from what you could see. Street lights and cars passing by lit up the dark city. You let out a breath and it fogged the glass.

Your mind kept replying that visit earlier today and shame churned in your stomach as the hurt looks on two monsters, especially Asgore flashed in your mind. You could only imagine how you will face them the next time they come over.

Sighing again, you continued gazing out of the window silently for a while until something caught your attention down below. There was a group of people walking in the dark street. You were unable to make out their appearances and something about that filled you with an uneasiness you couldn’t figure out.

Suddenly, a jolt of pain coursed through your head. You winced and staggered back from the window.

What’s happening? You bit your lip as the pain intensified and the room began spinning around you. You couldn’t fight it for long as it became too much. Your vision blurred and you collapsed on the floor.

-------

It was late at night. You were walking alone by the rail yard. A dark scarf was covering your mouth and hat shading your eyes. You stopped all of a sudden when something glinted at the corner of your eye.

You looked up to see a white wolf walking by and stopping when it noticed you. Its dark, empty voids for eyes stared at you silently for a moment before it vanished into the night air. You began walking again. 

You see things that others cannot.

Silhouettes of people, animals and other creatures you couldn’t describe. You thought they were hallucinations when they first started appearing, but over time you were convinced otherwise.

They mostly kept to themselves, preferring to watch you from a distance. You got used to them eventually.

You then saw some humanoid ones standing by the benches, waiting almost. They stared at you blankly. You averted your gaze from them and noticed a group of small creatures with hats bigger than them walking past you. You raised your foot a little for them even though you knew it was unnecessary.

“Hey! You, stop,” someone behind you called and you stiffened.

You didn’t wait. You sprinted down the path as cries immediately filled the air. You chanced a glance back to see the group of people chasing after you and you gritted your teeth, forcing yourself to run faster.

You hurried into the town. Your feet hit the ground roughly as you rushed through the dark street and slipped into an alley, crouching against the wall. You listened quietly as the sound of many footsteps came and went.

Letting out shaky breath, you snuck further into the alley instead of going back to the street. You couldn’t risk it right now. The sound of dogs barking in the distance put you even more on edge.

Finally deciding you went far enough, you sat down to rest. You didn’t know how long you could have gone if you hadn’t gotten away. You sat there for a bit, looking up at the houses towering over you and the smoke from the chimneys rising to the sky above.

“Hey, girl!”

You immediately jerked back, breath hitching in your throat. A middle-aged man was standing not far from you. He had a dirty face and wore old, ragged clothes. You were about to start running when he spoke again.

“You can’t be comfortable sitting there,” he noted, tilting his head to the side. You stared at him for a bit and then shrugged tiredly, unsure of what to say. This was not what you were expecting from him. The man frowned and shook his head.

“How about you join me? I got some food,” he said and walked ahead where you could see a small fire burning.

You watched the man go warily. Your instincts were screaming at you to run away, but the pains in your stomach won out. Going against your better judgement, you slowly followed him. You could only hope he really didn’t know who you were.

“Here we are,” the man said once you two got there. He walked around the fire and sat on a small box, smiling. He almost looked proud of the place he had here.

“Come on, sit down,” he said, gesturing to an old stool near some junk. You picked it up and placed it in front of the fire, sitting down with a sigh. You held your hands out to the fire and rubbed them together, savoring the warmth. You hadn’t realized how cold it was until now.

The man then took out an old loaf of bread from his coat and looked unsure for a moment before breaking it in half and holding one out for you. “Here,”

You hesitantly took the bread from his hand and pulled your scarf down. You felt a little embarrassed at how fast you scarfed it down. It helped lessen the pains in your stomach though. The man laughed and ate the other piece.

“So, who are you girl? What are you doing out here?” he asked curiously. You remained silent and avoided his gaze, watching the dancing embers instead.

He raised an eyebrow at this and hummed. “Are you all by yourself?”

You paused and then nodded, seeing no point in hiding that.

It wasn’t always like this though. There was a time when you actually had a home and lived with your family, but you ran away when people like the ones you escaped from came looking for you. You didn’t know where your family was right now or what happened to them. You tried not to think about it. The only thing you were certain of was the fact that you can’t go back.

“I see. It must be hard,” he murmured quietly.

Silence fell between you two and the cackling of the fire was the only sound in the air for a while. Eventually, you stood up. He looked up at you, curious. “Are you leaving now?”

You nodded and turned away, but then hesitated and looked back at the man. The fire was lighting up his face while casting shadows over his body. “Thank you,” you said.

He grinned at you, showing his missing tooth. “Just be careful out there, girl,” his face then turned grim. “It’s not safe,”

You blinked and briefly wondered if he knew what was happening with you, but you wasted no time thinking about it and disappeared back into the black alleyway, leaving the man to himself again.  

After walking through shadows and sneaking around the town, an old house finally came into view. Glancing around to make sure nobody was watching, you snuck behind the house and pushed open a window, wincing at the screeching noise. You couldn’t risk someone seeing you entering.

You pulled yourself up and went inside the rickety house. Closing the window behind you, you stepped further into the room. The floor creaked under your light weight as the silent building breathed around you. Tension slowly left your body as you walked over the dusty floorboards despite that.

You had found refuge in this abandoned house. People tended to stay away from it so you didn’t have to fear being found here. This was the only place you felt safe in. You were happier here, but…at the same time….

Ducking a thick strand of cobwebs, you began wandering around the house. The dead silence was suddenly broken by a new sound. Frightened, you glanced back only to see it was a rat, scurrying through the furniture.

You sighed at your jumpiness and turned away. Walking into one of the rooms, you took out some matches and grabbed a candle, lighting it up. Just before you left, you stopped in front of a mirror and stared at your face.

Crimson eyes.

People always told you this was not a good thing to have. Some regarded you with distrust at the mere sight of them and sometimes even fear. They told you bad things came with them. This power, this curse you had came with them. It was always there, pulsing in your veins, always making itself known if you tried ignoring it for too long. It terrified you sometimes.

They were the reason you were hiding from the world.

You tended not to have any control over it whenever it manifested itself. You already ruined so much of this old place during those outbursts.

An icy chill prickled your hand and you shook it off immediately, frustrated.

You quietly left the room and went to the living room. This was usually where you would sit down to read. Whoever lived here had left behind many old books and you found yourself going over them through the long hours of the day. It was the only thing you could do to pass the time around here and found some enjoyment in.

You placed the candle on a table and sat down. You took off your shoes and put them aside, staring at your feet. They were dirty and bruised from all the running.

You sighed and leaned your head against the chair, tiredly. You didn’t have the means to treat this. If only could go back home or find someone who can help.

You sat there for a while, eyes closed and resting until you heard something suddenly. You ignored it at first, shrugging it off as the old floorboards creaking again, but then you heard it again. Your eyes snapped opened once you realized what it was. Someone was in the porch.

No.

The door was suddenly pushed open as people rushed inside.

No, no, no, no-

“Over there!” a man shouted.

There was no time for you to run or hide. You backed away into the wall as they surrounded you. “You should have known you won’t get away,” he said, clutching a wooden club in his hand.

You gritted your teeth, dread filling you and your heart pounding violently in your chest. This can’t be happening. This was supposed to be the only safe place for you. This was supposed to be the one place where you can never be found.

You were wrong.

You didn’t know what to do. Your mind raced for a way out as they began marching toward you. A desperate plan then came to you. The risk was huge, but it was all you had. In your mind, you reached within yourself and held onto to the pulsing warmth there.

You held your hands over your chest and a green heart formed, startling the people surrounding you. You focused your thoughts and grabbed the heart with your fingers, causing it to burst into white flames.

A violent force exploded all around you and pushed the men back a little. Your skin began to glow as a hot, burning pain spread through your body. Your scarf and hat were blown off and the air suddenly turned chilly in an instant.

“W-what are you doing?! S-stop it!” the man stammered in fear.

You glared at him from behind the glow as another pulse from the heart knocked them further back. White, thick fog began forming around your glowing feet and spreading on the floor, consuming everything it touched and causing the furniture to rattle and break, as if the old house itself had come to life.

“L-let us get out of here!” Scrambling away in pure terror, the men quickly fled the house and slammed the door shut behind them.

You managed to hold onto the burning heart for a bit until you finally couldn’t anymore and let go, collapsing on the hard floor. Your skin continued to glow however.

Panting, you looked up at the heart, the white flames radiating the darkness around you. You weakly tried reaching for it once more, but you were too drained. Your hand slowly fell to your side.

It’s over.

Your eyes misted over as the burning pain continued coursing through your body. Through your foggy vision, you could see the edges of your hand fading away into nothing, dissolving.

I wish….Images of your home flashed in your mind. Chances of heading back were gone, truly now. You still wished though.

Your lips quirked up a little as your body faded away. The burning heart lingered, illuminating the empty house for a while before disappearing as well.

Many years later

The quiet stillness within the house was broken by the sound of someone messing with the doorknob until they pushed their way in, causing a cloud of dust.

They were two construction workers. One had a stronger built than the other. He coughed and waved his hand around as he stepped into the house, glaring down at the creaking floorboards. “Ugh, I never seen a house in such a state. I can’t believe it hasn’t collapsed in on itself yet,” he said, examining the walls. He turned to the other man. “Why hasn’t anybody decided to demolish it until now? It’s been around for over sixty years,”

The other man scratched his head. “From what I heard, people used to be scared to go near this house. They believed it was haunted,”

He scoffed. “Heh, what a load of nonsense,” he said, heading down the hallway to check the rest of the rooms. The other man began exploring the old house as well. He suddenly stopped when he noticed something in the corner of the room.

Raising a brow, he walked over and picked up the dusty item to see it was an old scarf, beyond worn and tattered from age to the point where his fingers were tearing into it. He frowned, quietly wondering why it was left here.

“Joe, where are you?”

“I-I’m coming!” he called back, dropping the scarf back on the floor and exiting the room.

-------

The pain left just as it came. Your eyes slowly opened. Cold is all you can feel.

Chapter Text

Everything hurt.

Your eyes snapped open. You were lying on the cold floor of the hospital room. You gasped and panted as the violent assault on your mind continued.

Flashes of color and voices came from everywhere, disorienting and overwhelming you.

The room grew colder. The furniture began to shake while the lights above flickered.

It’s too much.

--------

Asgore lay on his side in his bed, staring blankly at the wall. He had been awake for some time now, but couldn’t bring himself to stand up. He hadn’t managed to get much sleep last night. He kept thinking back on that visit and feeling his chest tightening. The cornered look in your eyes when they asked you, the way you couldn’t look at them while telling them to leave. It made his soul ache every time he thought about it.

He hadn’t meant to upset you like that. He was just worried and wanted some answers, no matter how brief or vague they were. Why did you want to keep everything about yourself a secret? You’ve known each other for a while now and even worked in the same shop. After all this time, he thought you would be willing to finally open up. He just wanted to help you, but instead that ended up in putting more distance between you two than before and that hurt him more than he could imagine.

A low buzzing noise came from his nightstand and he dully rolled over to see his phone vibrating. Sighing, he reached for it and saw a text from Frisk.

Asgore: Good morning, child.

Frisk: Hi, slept well? :)

The monster grimaced and texted a yes even though it was far from the truth, but then again he was used to keeping things like this from them. They were better off not knowing about his problems.

The two of them proceeded to ask each other their plans for the day and the kid eventually sent him a text that threw him off.

Frisk: Can we go visit Rin today?

A moment later she added.

Frisk: Mom is too busy so I thought to ask you.

Asgore stared at the text speechlessly. If he was asked this any other time before, he would have agreed without a thought, but now his finger hovered over the screen in hesitation.

What was he supposed to do? What should he tell her? A part of him wanted to lie again and say he was busy too, but….at the same time he wanted to check on you. Leaving things the way they were won’t make it all better. He had to at least try.

Besides, Frisk will be there to cheer you up if you didn’t feel like talking to him.

Frisk: Hello? Are you still there?

Asgore: Yes, I’ll get ready and come over to pick you up.

-------

The large monster was soon heading toward the hospital with the small child, attracting a lot of strange looks from the people passing by.

When will she be allowed to leave? Frisk asked.

“The doctor said she is fine for now, but they want to keep her there for some time just in case,” he replied.

Can’t wait to get there. She then added with a mischievous grin. Are you too?

The kid always had an eye for these sorts of things so he wasn’t surprised by her suspicions the slightest.

“Yes,” he answered blankly, which was obviously not the reaction she was expecting. The child pouted and signed again. What’s wrong?

He sighed and rubbed his face. “I’m fine, I’m fine. It’s just work stress,”

Frisk didn’t look convinced, but didn’t press further. He was glad for that.

Soon enough, the two made it to the hospital. Walking down the corridor, the monster couldn’t help feeling a bit nervous at the thought of what your reaction might be to seeing him, but that was pushed at the back of his mind when he sensed something in the air. He couldn’t pin point what exactly it was though.

He saw a nurse carrying a tray of food to your room and she looked confused by the trembling doorknob. She still reached for it.

It was then Asgore sensed the spike of magic coming from the room and called out too late. “Wait, don’t!”

The moment she opened the door, a wave of fog burst out. Asgore quickly threw himself over Frisk and shielded her as it flooded the corridors and sent the hospital into a state of fear and panic. His soul throbbed at the amount of power he could feel in the air. It made his body shiver.

He cracked his eyes open and saw you stumbling out of your room through the mist. You were clutching your head and fell on your knees. What startled him the most was the sight of your body flickering in and out of existence. Something must be wrong with his eyes. He couldn’t possibly be seeing that.

You weakly turned to look at him and his eyes widened when he saw your face was twisted with pain.

You stared at him for a moment and then mouthed something, almost like an apology before disappearing completely, leaving him speechless.

Asgore sat there on the floor, his mind unable to process what he just witnessed. The nurse suddenly stood up, her hair messed up and a shaken look on her face. “What….what happened?”

Asgore didn’t have an answer.

-------

You stumbled your way through the park, falling down against a tree as you tried to calm yourself. The pain seemed to slowly subside after you changed back. You waited in that spot, feeling your breathing become normal again and your mind clear up.

You….your remembered now.

You were a human at some point, a real one. You were actually someone. Every since you woke up surrounded by people oblivious to your existence, you believed that there was nothing before all of that, that you simply didn’t belong anywhere, but now you knew otherwise.

But this truth you found wasn’t the one you were hoping for.

It was slowly coming back to you. The family you had, the home you lived in, the restless nights, the chases, the fear, the pain….

You buried your face into your knees. You were a remnant of a dark time, something that somehow survived. You spent many years wandering this world, unseen by people and wanting to find a place for yourself, but now you knew there was no such place. Everything and everyone you had once known in that lifetime was long gone, perhaps even before you woke up like this.

You then recalled the shocked look on Asgore and Frisk’s faces when they saw you in the hospital. They knew the truth. Everything was out now. They now knew you had been lying to them, making them think you were something you weren’t.

You can’t go back. You can’t face them now that they saw what you’ve been hiding from them all this time. But the idea itself made your chest ache. All the new experience you’ve gone through, the people you helped, the friends you made, all of it will end.

You didn’t want to vanish again. You didn’t want to let all of this go. For the first time you actually felt. You were more than a silent observer watching everything disappear and change, but never do anything about it.

A part of your mind whispered to just leave and start a new life somewhere else. It was a big world after all, but you knew better now. It would only end the same way.

You also knew your disappearance will hurt your friends, especially Asgore. He was the reason you chose to take on a human form in the first place. He was the first person you ever spoke to in a long time. You distantly recalled the first time you bumped into him in his garden and how confused he was by you.

It amazed you how far you got involved with him when you originally intended on meeting the monster in person once. You were nothing more than a phantom that had wandered obliviously into his life when you shouldn’t have.

It hurt, but there was nothing else you could do. 

--------

“What do you mean she vanished?!” Undyne exclaimed. All the monsters and Frisk were gathered in Asgore’s house.

“That’s what happened. She just disappeared in front of us,” Asgore said and Frisk nodded. They all fell silent as they tried to process this.

“I recall sensing something akin to magic around her once, but I dismissed it at the time,” Toriel stated suddenly.

But why didn’t she tell us? Frisk asked, frowning. The monsters were unsure of what to say.

“It doesn’t matter. We need to find her,” Asgore said.

“are you sure we should?” Sans muttered, surprising him.

“Sans, she looked like she was in pain the last time I saw her!” he replied.

“S-Sans, Rin is…is our friend,” Alphys murmured.

“YES, DR. ALPHYS IS RIGHT, BROTHER!” Papyrus nodded.

“who never told us she had magic that can harm people,” the skeleton then shrugged nonchalantly. “need I remind how we ended up in the Underground in the first place,”

That stung the former king as he remembered the mages who sealed them behind the barrier centuries ago. He frowned. That wasn’t fair. You weren’t anything like those humans. He was about to say this when he was stopped by someone else.

“I disagree,”

Everyone turned to the fish woman. “UNDYNE, HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT? THE TALL HUMAN WOULDN’T-” he blinked, confused. “WAIT, WHAT DID YOU SAY?”

Undyne sighed. “I’m not gonna deny it. I never trusted that punk ever I first laid my eyes on her. I thought she was acting nice just to trick us and then stab us in the back when we weren;t expecting it, but then she got herself hurt to protect Asgore,” she smirked. “No idiot will do that just to win us over,”

Asgore stared at her, having not been expecting that from his former pupil at all. He smiled. “Thank you, Undyne,”

“Now let us find that punk so we can teach her not to run away from her friends like that!” Undyne exclaimed, raising her fist to the air.

“sure,” Sans muttered with a shrug.

But the start of their search hadn’t been fruitful. They searched through the city and asked around if anybody had seen you, but they found no clue on where you’ve gone. With every dead-end their previously high spirits began to dampen, but they still kept looking.

One night, Asgore got out of his bed and went outside for a walk. Worry kept him from falling asleep. Some of the humans that passed him by gave him frightened or wary looks, but he ignored them. He was far too tired to pay them any mind.  

Eventually, he passed by the center of the city and noticed a shroud of mist surrounding the park, which he found odd in this snowy weather. The monster then blinked.

Mist.

Eyes widening, Asgore hurried down the staircase and slowly stepped into the thick fog. He shivered at how cold it was in the park. His breath was thick in front of him. Still, he kept pushing forward, unable to make out much of his surroundings. The place was far different than it was in the morning. The lake, the playground, the bridge. Everything had an unsettling look to it.

“Rin? Rin, are you there?” he called out. He suddenly felt something slithering between his feet, but when he looked down he saw nothing. Frowning in unease, he watched as the mist seemed to swirl and move around him as if it trying to consume him.

He was not welcomed here. Something clearly wanted him gone.

Asgore quickly held a ball of fire in his hands and tried to ward it off as it drew closer.

“Rin!” he kept calling as he ventured deeper into the empty park. He began to feel more and more hopeless with every passing minute without a reply. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe you didn’t want his help. Maybe…you didn’t want see him anymore. “Rin, please come out,” he murmured quietly.

He was about to turn around to head elsewhere when he sensed something behind him. He looked back and saw someone standing on the bridge.

It was you.

Looking around at the fog, he dismissed the fire in his hands and slowly walked over to you. He stepped onto the bridge, his heavy feet hitting loudly on the wooden boards. You didn’t move or react to him, staring at the lake silently. He finally stopped and stood beside you. For a long time neither of you spoken. When it was clear he wasn’t about to say anything, you finally moved your hands.

Why did you come here?

“I came to look for you. Everyone back home is worried about you,” he answered calmly.

Please leave.

Asgore shook his head. “Not this time. I won’t go anywhere without you,”

You turned your gaze away again.

He sighed, but refused to give up. “Rin, please. Whatever it is that’s wrong, tell me. I might be able to help,”

Your bit your lip. It’s hard to explain.

“I promise I’ll listen. Please,”

You looked lost at that and after a moment of tense silence your shoulders sagged. Alright.

-------

You told him everything. It all slowly began spilling out of you, all of it. How you woke up as something nobody can see, how you wandered aimlessly through the world without anywhere to go, how you failed in your first attempts to connect with humans, how you couldn’t control your magic in your human form, and most of all you told him of what you remembered of your human life.

At some points you had to use your voice because you were too distraught to sign. It was still weak and raspy from the lack of use, but you kept going, kept talking.

After everything that he had done for you, he deserved to know the entire truth.

He should have known a long time ago.

By the end of it, you throat hurt. You felt tired and hollow, but at the same time you felt much lighter than you ever been since these lies of omission started.

You felt the monster’s eyes pouring through you. He looked shocked, confused, devastated.

You lowered your head. It was over. The truth you have been keeping for so long was out, at last. You had nothing left to keep for yourself.

Slowly, you felt those massive arms wrap around you and you were pulled into his chest.

“I’m so sorry you had gone through that,” he murmured, voice tight. You stood numbly in his arms, not knowing what to do.

“But why do you refuse to come back with me?” he asked after letting go.

I don’t belong with you. You signed, gaze down. The only reason you became a part of their lives to begin with was because you pretend to be human, something you weren’t anymore.

He paused briefly and then hummed. “You remind me of myself in a way,”

You blinked at this and looked at him. He turned to stare at the water.

“I have done things I’m not proud of in the past, things that I don’t even know how to make up for. I always felt out of place with Frisk and the others. I didn’t feel like I should be with them. Everything just felt wrong to me. I wanted to just leave, but at the same time I didn’t want to be alone,” he then smiled weakly at you. “Then you came and somehow made things a little bit better. You were always there when I felt that way. You…mean a lot to me, Rin,” he said and you averted your gaze from him, uncertain.

His face then became firm. “Rin, I may not fully know what you’ve gone through, but I know you don’t to be alone either. Even if you disappear and I don’t see you again, I’ll come to this park every night to make sure that you won’t be feeling alone,”

You felt completely lost. Your grip tightened on the railing and your shoulders shook.

Why won’t he just leave? It was so much easier this way.

Lip trembling, you felt a lump rise in your throat and something running down your cheeks. You touched them to feel the wetness coming from your eyes. They…were tears.

Asgore stared at you sympathetically and held his hand out to you. “Rin, come on. Let’s go,”

You glanced at him, emotions you couldn’t name filling your chest. You closed your wet eyes and finally decided.

You hesitantly reached out and took his hand. The mist around you two slowly vanished.

Chapter Text

“Come with me,”

You looked at the monster, confused.

“You said you didn’t have a place to stay in. There is no way I’m going to leave you here like this. Come with me to my house,” Asgore offered.

You stared at him unsure of what to say. Eventually, you sighed and nodded. Okay.

He smiled and started leading you away from the park. The two of you began your trek toward the monster’s house across the snow covered street with only street lights shining down at you.

You glanced back to see the park slowly disappear from you sight and let out a breath. As you silently walked side by side, you suddenly felt a weight fall over you and looked down to see it was Asgore’s coat. You turned to him to protest only to see him smiling down at you softly.

“You’ll catch a cold if I let you walk around like this,” he chuckled at your concerned look. “Don’t worry; my fur will keep me warm. I’ll be fine,”

You unsurely tugged at the large blue coat and then nodded in defeat, having been ignoring the chill in the air all this time. He hummed and then placed his hand behind your back to continue walking.

Soon enough, Asgore’s house came into view. It dawned you then that you hadn’t been here for a while. So much had happened since that day.

Unlocking the door, Asgore led you inside and closed it behind him, switching the lights on. The Boss monster let out a breath and placed his hands on his hips before turning to you. “So, is there something you would like?”

You thought for a moment. Can we have tea again? You then added. It’s been a while.

Asgore paused and then smiled. “Of course, go sit down while I prepare it,”

You watched the monster head for the kitchen and then after taking off his coat and hanging it, you made your way to the same table you usually sit around. Soon, Asgore returned with a tray and placed it on the table. “It’s chamomile tea this time. I wouldn’t want you not being able to get any sleep tonight,” he said, filling one cup and passing it to you. “Speaking of that, we need to think of a place for you to sleep in,”

You shook your head. No need.  

Asgore frowned in concern. “Well, we can’t have you sleeping on the couch. You’re my guest tonight. I wouldn’t mind if you took my bed, Rin,”

Don’t really….need sleep. You answered hesitantly. It felt weird to actually admit these things about yourself to someone and based on the look on the former king’s face, he was not expecting that either.

“Oh….well…uh….alright,” he stammered, rubbing the back of his head. “But if you ever change your mind, feel free to ask me even for a place to lie down in,”

You nodded and took a sip from the tea. You felt the soothing aroma calm your nerves and the drink warm you up. You missed moments like these, when it was just the two of you together without having to worry about anything.

Just then, you gasped when your hand flickered out of existence again, causing the cup to fall down on the table and spill what was left.  

Asgore quickly rushed to your side, looking worried. “A-are you okay? What happened?” he asked, staring at your unseen hand astounded.

Your averted your gaze to your hand dejectedly and focused on returning it to normal. It’s ok. Happens a lot. You signed with your free hand. You turned to the spilled cup and lowered your head. Sorry.

“It…It’s alright. Don’t worry,” Asgore said after recovering from the shock and grabbed a nearby napkin, whipping the stains away. “Why does this happen? I never see it before,”

Can’t control my magic. You answered. You realize now that you never did, even back then.

His brows furrowed in thought as he glanced at your now visible hand. “Rin, did anybody teach you how to control it?”

You blinked at the question and shook your head. Nobody in your family knew what to do when your magic started manifesting and it wasn’t like you could have walked to someone to ask them if they could teach you. Most of the worry went to how to hide it from the rest of the world.

 “Well…maybe I can. I never taught a human before and it’s probably going to be different since monsters are made of magic, but…there is no harm in trying, right? If you are willing that is,” he said, smiling weakly.

You didn’t know what to say. Even after everything you kept from him, he was still willing to help you with this problem too. You could feel that same tightness in your chest again. Thank you. You signed earnestly. He gave you a pat on the shoulder in return.

“Then it’s settled. We’ll start working on that first thing in the morning!”

After refilling your cup, the two of you finished your tea. Asgore led you to the couch for some reason. You sat down and looked at him in confusion. He shrugged.

“I’m not feeling tired yet so I’m fine with staying up here for a bit,”

But you could tell by the lines around his eyes that he hadn’t gotten some proper rest in a while. You wondered if it had been because of your disappearance.

You sat beside him on the couch watching some kind of movie together. Half way through it, you heard a noise next to you and glanced over to see the monster sleeping soundly.

You blinked and then felt your lips quirk up a little, looking away from him to the screen again. The house was quiet save of the sounds coming from the TV. The clock beside you said it was 3 AM in the morning. You eyed his sleeping form curiously again and then found yourself leaning against the monster.

You slowly closed your eyes as you felt the warmth coming off of him, wondering what it would be like to fall asleep like that.

Soon, your mind began to grow foggy and tension left your body. You barely heard it when the movie was over.

--------

Asgore’s eyes slowly opened and he pushed himself up, rubbing his tired eyes. He looked around to see he was in the living room. It was morning and the TV was turned off.

“Golly, I must have fallen asleep,” he sighed and then realized the absence of someone beside him. “Rin?” he muttered, looking around the room and through the doorway to the kitchen, but he saw nobody.

A sudden feeling of panic washed over the monster at the implications behind this. No, no, no!

“Rin!” he got off the couch and started calling for you, hoping desperately that you had wandered upstairs or something, but no. You were nowhere to be found.

Did you disappear again? Were you still planning on leaving them? Please, no.

“Ri-” he froze up outside the door to his garden when he found you standing there, staring at him in puzzlement.

Feeling beyond relieved, Asgore placed over his chest and sighed. “Oh, there you are. I thought…” he trailed off and shook his head. “Where did you go?”

You held up the item in your hands and it was then that he noticed the red scarf you had, his scarf.

Forgot to give it back. You signed to him, ducking your head.

“Ah, thank you then,” he smiled and walked over to take it, but then you pulled it away, much to his confusion. He looked at you and you motioned for him to bend down.

Realizing what you were planning, he chuckled to himself and did just that. You then proceeded to wrap the scarf around his neck while he stayed perfectly still. Just when he thought you were done, he saw you looking at him almost in thought.

Then, without warning, you leaned forward and planted a kiss on his nose. Heat immediately rushed through the large monster’s face and he jerked back in surprise. Did…did she just….?  His mind barely managed to process it.

You were looking a bit shy, but at the same time he could see a smile threatening on your lips.

Asgore placed a hand on that same spot, still feeling warm in the face and he found himself laughing, causing you to do the same.

Chapter Text

“Are you sure?” Asgore asked as the two of you sat in his living room, having just called the others about finding you.

You hesitated briefly then nodded. It was for the best honestly, you told yourself. It was not fair to keep the truth about who you were only between you two.

Asgore frowned, but didn’t protest. “I understand how you feel and don’t worry. I’ll be there with you the entire time,” he added with a smile. You appreciated that.

They deserved to know, you kept telling yourself. It didn’t make the walk to Toriel’s house any less tense though. You were biting your lip in unease, thinking of all the ways this all could go wrong.

You tensed up when Asgore knocked on the door and someone soon opened it.

Before you two could step forward, something slammed into you and nearly sent tumbling down the porch if Asgore hadn’t held his arm behind you, preventing you from falling over. “Easy there,”

It took you a moment to realize it was Papyrus hugging you and you were hit with the déjà vu of it all.

“OH, HUMAN FRIEND! WE WERE SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU!” he exclaimed, looking close to tears despite being a skeleton.

You patted him on the back, unsure of what to do.

“There you are!”

The three of you looked inside the house to see Undyne marching up to you, her eye glaring at you sharply.

“U-UNDYNE, WAIT! I-”

“Don’t, Papyrus,” she muttered and towered over. “What do you think you’re doing, running off and disappearing on us like that?” she asked, crossing her arms.

You frowned, feeling lost.

“You’ve got some answering to do inside, punk,” she said and walked back indoors, though you thought she sounded almost relieved for a second when she saw you. You stood there confused and looked up at the former king who shrugged.

The three of you eventually went inside where the others were waiting. Frisk immediately rushed over and hugged your leg, to which you held her gently.

“I’m so glad you’re back, dear,” You felt a soft hand being placed over shoulder and looked over to see Toriel smiling down at you. You nodded hesitantly and let Frisk go.

“You…you had us really worried. We thought something bad h-happened,” Alphys said.

“yeah, you shouldn’t Rin off like that,” You blinked and glanced down at the smirking short skeleton.

“SAAANS……” Papyrus sighed, placing a hand on his forehead.

“if I see an opportunity, pap, then you should know I would take it,” Sans said with a wink.

The exchanged seemed to amuse the others for a moment, but then tension filled the room once more and you knew they were expecting answers from you.

You sat down on the couch with Asgore taking the spot next to you. Hands clutched in your lap, you found it hard to meet everyone’s eyes.

“Dear, you probably know this, but we would like you to tell us where you were all this time. Everyone spent so much time looking for you,” Toriel stated and you felt a stab of guilt at that.

Is it because of your magic? We’re all okay with it. Don’t worry! Frisk signed frantically.

Toriel nodded. “It’s true, dear. We won’t dislike you for having magic if that is what you are worried about,”

You slowly raised your hands and answered. It’s not just that. I- You stopped, feeling nervous, but then you felt Asgore nudge you slightly. You looked up at him and he gave you a reassuring nod. You then finally continued. I haven’t been honest with you. About many things.

“No kidding,” Undyne said and Alphys nervously quieted her.

I don’t only have magic. I’m….not really human. You finally admitted. The room fell silent and for a moment nobody said anything. Some even looked like they thought they misunderstood what you signed.

They all soon muttered. “What?!”

“What do you mean you’re not human?!” Undyne exclaimed.

“B-BUT YOU LOOK VERY HUMAN, FRIEND!” Papyrus said, scratching his skull in confusion.

Sighing in resignation, you held your arm out in front of them and willed it away, causing them all to gasp and jerk back in shock. Soon the rest of your body followed and you completely vanished from beside Asgore, almost as if you were never there.

You then flickered back into their vision while they watched you with wide eyes.

“H-how did you that?”

“If you’re not human then what are you?” Undyne muttered, warily.

A phantom. What’s left of a magical soul. You answered.

“A what?”

“alph, you studied souls. How is that supposed to work?” Sans asked the doctor.

Alphys wrung her hands in thought. “I-I don’t know. I never knew this was even possible before,”

I’m sorry. You signed to them dejectedly, giving Frisk an apologetic glance too. You knew one of the reasons she was happy to have you as a friend was because she didn’t have many human ones.

The child caught it and seemed to understand.

“Asgore, did you know about this?” Toriel asked firmly.

The former king shook his head. “No, I only knew yesterday when she told me. I did notice some strange things happening around Rin before, but I always assumed I was imagining them,”

You sat there quietly, feeling beyond vulnerable after letting out your secret at last, but at the same time you felt…relieved to no longer have that kind of weight on your chest anymore.

So what now? You were almost too afraid to ask, but you had to.

Unsure silence filled the room for a moment before the sound of shuffling feet reached your ears and you looked down to find Frisk standing in front of you, placing a hand on your knee.

It’s okay. She signed. You’re still my friend.

Your chest tightened at her words and you swallowed a lump in your throat. There was something else in her eyes though, almost wistful as if she was remembering something or someone. She seemed to carry the weight of something just like you too.

She then looked back to the others who were watching in silence.

“Well, while I still have more questions that I wish to ask, I’m very glad you’re being honest with us at last,” Toriel said with a small smile.

“THE GREAT PAPYRUS FEELS VERY MUCH THE SAME,” Papyrus exclaimed loudly then added in a surprisingly quieter voice. “…and I don’t really want to lose a good friend of mine. We still haven’t done enough puzzles together,” he said, grinning shyly.  

“M-me too!” Alphys muttered. She then looked up at Undyne expectantly.

The fish woman rubbed her neck and then groaned. “Ugh! Look, this is super weird, okay? First we thought you were a nameless human who is secretly out to get us-”

“ONLY YOU THOUGHT THAT! AND SANS TOO!”

“c’mon, am I not off the hook for-”

“DON’T!”  Papyrus screeched, pointing a shaking finger at his brother to stop the incoming joke midway. “DON’T YOU DARE, SANS,”

“…ok,” Sans shrugged his shoulders.

“-and now we find out you’re some kind of ghost that can do magic! It’s a lot to take in, alright?” Undyne rambled, ignoring the interruption completely.

She then messaged her temples tiredly, sighing. “You know what? This honestly isn’t all that different from before. I still think you’re not really bad. The fact that you finally told us who you were eased my suspicions,” she said and you relaxed. “But! You need to show me more of what you can do later. You’re pretty much like an anime girl at this point!” she added strictly with an excited grin on her face at the last part.

You blinked oddly at her, having no idea what to say to that.

“See? I told you they’ll listen,” Asgore whispered to you and you playfully nudged him away. The action was strange to you, but it felt right to do. The mirth then disappeared from his face. “We still have to deal with the problem with the hospital though,”

You winced, having completely forgotten about that what with everything that happened. How could you even begin to explain what you did back there without giving away who you were to them? You couldn’t reveal your secret to people you didn’t trust after all.

Asgore noticed your distress and spoke up. “Don’t worry, we’ll think of something,”

You glance up to see the reassuring look he was giving you and the fear in you slowly left.

------

A bell ran over your head as the two of you stepped through the familiar glass door. You quietly walked behind Asgore and stood in the middle of the shop.

It looked almost exactly like when you left the day of the accident. You felt your chest ache a little, having missed this place far more than you originally thought.

Asgore turned to you and placed his hands on his hips. “Welcome back, Rin,” he grinned. “Are you ready to get back to work?”

You eagerly nodded.

You were soon back working at the flower shop. Every day after closing time, the two of you would go back to his house where he asked you to stay and let him show you how to control your magic. It was hard, especially since Asgore never had to teach someone how to use human magic. But you felt you were gradually getting better at it. There were times when you lost control of it again and felt bad, but Asgore was patient and never pushed you beyond your limits.

One day when you were minding the register you suddenly heard something bump into the glass window and looked over to see the face of a child staring at you. Her face then lit up and she barged into the shop. “It’s you!”

You soon recognized her as the child with pigtails that came a while back, your first human customer. The girl then poked her head out of the door and screamed at the top of her lungs out at the street. “Mooom, daaaad!”

You awkwardly stared at the girl as her dad came rushing over to check on her anxiously, only for her to grab his hand and pull him into the shop, pointing at you. “She’s back! She’s back!”

“Oh, h-hi,” the dad said. “It’s nice to see you again,”

You quietly waved back and then noticed a woman following them into the shop too, panting. “Sweetie, please don’t do that again,” she said tiredly, exhaling with a hand over her chest.

“Mom, this is the girl I told you about!” the girl said, grabbing onto your hand.

“Oh! Well, hello then,” the mom said kindly, expression softening. “My little Wendy kept telling me about you when they gave me those flowers. You left quite the impression on her,” she said, laughing.

You stared at her in surprise and then looked down at the smiling child. You then sighed and smiled back.

More customers came after them over the weeks, some showing concern and even relief to see you back at your usual spot in the shop. It left you beyond confused and a little overwhelmed. You didn’t think so many would care about your absence since you were nothing more than a shadow, but you were proven wrong. You felt your eyes mist over like back at the bridge, but you also felt warmth in your chest.

“My daughter will be coming out of the hospital soon actually. Can you believe it? She’s been there for nearly two months!” the old man in overalls said, excitedly.

You nodded along as you placed a pot in the shelf.

“Hey, she actually asked about your name when I told her about you,” he added and you paused. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Could you maybe write it down for me if you’re fine with it that is and-”

“It’s okay,” you turned to him and smiled, while he looked surprised. “I’m Rin,”

-------

You and Asgore took Frisk to the park the next day. He was wearing a light orange sweater and dark grey pants. You walked a bit away from Asgore who was checking on some flowers by a tree, catching a glimpse of Frisk and some other children sneaking behind him. They startled him by jumping and grabbing onto him.

Your lips quirked up and returned your attention to the lake. Winter was ending and spring was arriving soon. Most of the snow had already melted over the past few days and leaves were growing on trees again. Something then caught your attention. It was one of the people working at the park, staring up at a tree while grumbling under his breath.

You approached him and made a questioning gesture. “Oh, it’s nothing. The wind just blew my hat to that tree,” he said with a sigh.

You looked at the hat that was stuck on a branch and thought of something. You secretly curved two fingers and made a tugging motion causing the hat to fall down from the tree.

You picked it up from the ground and held it out to him only to see the man staring at you with confused eyes. “How did you do that?” he asked.

You blinked and panicked. You thought he wouldn’t notice that! You were about to rush back to Asgore when he spoke again.

“You could do magic too? I thought only monsters could do that,” he muttered with a raised brow, which caught you off guard. “Well, thanks anyway, kid,” he said, giving you a grin that was missing a tooth before walking away.

You stood there for a moment, staring at the disappearing figure in silence. Times of running for your life and hiding in the dark corners of the house flooded your mind. Whenever your magic manifested around you before, people had feared it, feared you, so seeing someone not doing the same left you speechless to say the least.

You turned away and walked around quietly. There were both humans and monsters wandering about, some even talking with each other. Now that you remembered your past, you realized just how much things had changed over the decades. This was not the same world you once lived in. Maybe there was a chance for things to turn out differently this time.

“Rin!”

Your head spun to see the children laughing while piling over Asgore. “R-Rin, help me!” he called through his own laughter.

A quiet laugh left you too though you felt less surprised by it now. You placed your hand over your lips and smiled.

You changed too, you supposed. Just like everything else. You became a part of this world, no longer just a phantom watching.

And it was because of him.

Shaking your head in mirth at the sight, you walked over to help the giant monster out. You now knew that being a remnant from a distant past did not mean you didn't matter. There were people who cared about you, both monsters and humans, and for that you had to keep on living.

No more cold. No more grey.