#the link is. to his cheer. kris & susie are my friends...

[cupofwater6]

would you hurt him for 999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999 dollars (x)

[ghossttoast]

Are we connected?

Chapter four: More social interaction then a depressed teenager can handle

first ,previous

(A/N: This chapter was going to be longer but i literally just couldnt sorry if the cutoff point is wonky but i need to stay on schedule there is a non zero chance i get grounded so if i miss an update or three you'll know why BUT grounded or not the next chapter will be decently long. Slightly extra but if/when I ever write another fic it is going exclusively on my ao3 linking all the previous chapters is so much work holy)

They wandered around town, once again talking to literally everyone they could, much to their dismay, having to socialize with this many people was awful. Having to be out this much was so odd to them, they only people they’d ever hung out with were Asriel, December, and Noelle, and they hadn't done that in a long time. It's not like they were against having friends again, but none of this was their choice. They had honestly mostly been disassociating, it wasn't like they had to pay attention when they weren't the one deciding where they were going or responding to any conversation.

“S-Susie!?” A high-pitched voice dragged them out of their thoughts.

“Noelle!” The voice in the back of their head spoke up, “Hell yeah, I was hoping to see you!”

“W-what are you doing here!?” She asked, ignoring the fact Kris was also there, but that's fine, not like they care or anything.

“I’m just following Kris” Susie shrugged, “I think we’re here to see your dad… again” She didn't seem too thrown by that at least.

“Oh… really?” Noelle apparently did, though, “That's really thoughtful of you Kris,” She smiled at them.

“It makes sense, Kris is weird like that,” Susie spoke idly, earning another look from Noelle.

Noelle knows Kris, she knows that they’re weird, but she knows they’re not weird ‘like that’. Noelle knows what Kris would normally be doing on a weekend, and that's laying in their bed, not walking around talking to people, not visiting her dad. Kris knows she knows this, they know she can tell they’re being different, and they can't tell her why. They want to tell her, they want to ask for help, but they can't say anything, they’re stuck in their own body.

Noelle looked as if she was about to comment on it but cut herself off as Susie turned to actually look at her, “I’m gonna go talk to my dad now!” She said, moving just fast enough to not be running into the hospital.

Kris, of course, followed her inside, messing with the piano and the lady at the front desk before going into Rudy’s room.

“Hey Krismas!” Rudy called from his bed, “Noelle said you were gonna show,” He grinned “And Susie, cool to see you again, I’m sure that’ll be more common,” He laughed, or wheezed

“D-dad!” Noelle squealed, smacking him on the shoulder

“Huh…?” Luckily for Noelle, Susie didn’t seem to understand what Rudy was implying

“Nothing, nothing,” Rudy said, his voice holding that wheezy laugh

“Ugh, Rudy, I love you, please don't die, I’d be very sad,” The player’s voice echoed in the back of Kris’s mind, and they tried to will it into shutting up. Rudy wasn't going to die. Kris had known him their whole life, and he was always strong, he was just a little sick right now, but he wasn't going to die. Kris didn't even want to think about what that would do to Noelle.

They walked over to go talk to Noelle and Rudy until the player had exhausted all the dialog options given to it. Kris is incredibly glad its limited to just that, they have no idea what it would do if it was given totally free rein, and they don't want to.

After The Player had double-checked, it had interacted with everything it could, Kris, finally, headed towards the door.

“Oh Kris, wait!” Noelle called, just as they were about to leave, “Would you wanna hang out at my place later, after you're done with… whatever it is you’re doing I mean, Susie can come to- If she wants!” She added the last bit quickly, her face getting red.

“No way, Holiday house!” The Player cheered, immediately deciding for them that they would be going.

“Great!” Noelle smiled at ‘Kris’s’ response, “I’m gonna hang out with dad a bit more, but I’ll be waiting by the gate whenever you’re ready” She finished

Kris nodded as they left the room, turning to Susie once they both left the building

“Do you wanna come?” They asked her

“Uh, I could.” She started, seemingly a bit caught off guard, “It doesn't seem like she likes me very much, I think I scare her” She finished, looking away “Susie, stop being STUPID” The Player yelled, which Kris honestly agreed with, Noelle was incredibly obvious with her feelings. To be fair, Susie was also incredibly dense.

“She likes you,” Kris informed her

“You think…?” She asked, more so to herself.

The pair went back to walking for a bit, eventually reaching Flower king. Kris stepped inside, looking at all the various things around the entryway.

“Are we like supposed to be in here?” Susie asked, “Don't get me wrong, I'm all good with breaking and entering, just wanna be prepared if we gotta fight the cops,” She finished, slamming her fist into her hand with a grin.

As she finished, one of the doors to the back opened, causing her to sort of bunch up in shock.

“Hello? Is someone there?” Asgore asked, as he walked into the main area, “Oh, Kris, howdy” He greeted them as he walked over, looking as if he was about to go in for a hug but stopping himself before awkwardly patting them on the head instead.

“Aw, no Asgore hug” The Player complained, “Dude honestly one of those would fix me” It added, Kris disagrees, they don't think anything could fix it.

“Oh uh-” Asgore paused as he noticed Susie, “Howdy, I’m Asgore, Kris’s dad,” He introduced himself, holding his hand out to her.

“Uh, Susie sir,” She paused before taking his hand and getting a firm handshake from him

“Ah, good to meet you! Kris, I’m glad you’re bringing your friends around, feel free to stay for as long as you like,” He told them with a grin

They nodded and looked around the back, now that those doors were open, before heading back out. They headed towards the water and stood on the weird circle, staring down.

“Onion-san summoning,” The Player said to itself, but after a while nothing had shown up “Abandonment,” it sighed.

“Hey Kris, check this out!” Susie called as she tossed a rock into the water, creating a small splash, “Nice, right?” She asked with a smug look on her face.

Kris paused before crouching down and finding a rock of their own, they ran their hand over its surface and mimicked the motion of throwing it before tossing it out, watching it as it skipped across the water.

“Woah sick!”

“Oh nice!”

Exclamations rang out, close to being in sync and, despite their disdain for one of the voices, Kris was proud to hear people actually being impressed by them.

“Dude, where’d you learn to do that!?” Susie asked, shoving them slightly, “You gotta quit hiding skills from me!”

“My brother taught me a while back,” They shrugged, thinking back on the memory, it was a while back, a good few years ago by now. Kris and Asirel’s parents had been encouraging them to go out more, looking back they probably didn't want them to be in the house while they argued, Asriel would stop by the Holiday’s house and bother December into coming out with Noelle. They’d all gone to various spots around town, but they specifically remembered that time by the water, Asriel was showing off by skipping as many rocks as far as he could. Kris remembers it being so cool to watch, and they had bothered him until he actually showed him how, they’d ended up spending a couple of hours out there until Kris was sure they had perfected it.

It was a nice memory, of course, but it felt so bittersweet now, Asriel was away at college, they hadn't really been talking to Noelle, and Dess was… gone. Kris wishes they could go back to how things were, when they were younger.

“Hey, Kris, You good?” Susie questioned, waving her hand in front of their face.

“Huh?- Yeah.” They blinked, “Yeah, I’m fine”

“You looked… down,” She said, taking a step back so she wasn't so close to their face

“Don't worry about it,” They waved her off

“If you say so,” She muttered, shoving her hands into her pockets

Kris nodded as they went back to walking, making their way towards the diner. The building was mostly empty, save for a froggit and a mouse(?) in an abnormally tall hat sitting at the bar, and the rabbit woman behind it.

“Oh, Kris, hey sugar, welcome back,” She smiled warmly at them “I see you brought a friend,” She said gesturing to Susie, who waved awkwardly. She paused for a second before continuing, “Today's a slow day, why don't you two go take a seat in the corner, and I’ll bring you some hot cocoa on the house,” She offered.

“Oh hell yeah, cocoa!” The player said, immediately moving to pick yes.

[antarestyl]

Papyrus

The sequel to “Grillby’s” and “‘Sans”, also found on AO3 (please check out the fanfiction link on my tumblr for the AO3 link)

Papyrus was NOT really happy when they moved. It wasn't as if he was really attached to their old place, it was just that he knew the routine there. He knew where he belonged there. Also it was the place he and Sans had lived for years and Papyrus didn't really like leaving everything behind.

He had known things would be different when Sans came home one day grinning brightly and mumbling fire puns while he made dinner. At first Sans hadn't told him anything about the why. Sans' room would suddenly be locked for hours at a time while Sans talked to somebody on the phone. Suddenly Sans took day-trips somewhere else and leave Papyrus to be on his own for a few hours after school (He was FINE. He was already 10 years old at that time!). Also Sans had started to do more stuff with Papyrus on days where he was at home and not at work. He had helped with his homework or played some of the games with him he knew Papyrus loved.

Papyrus had suspected that something had happened at work too, but as usual Sans did not talk about whatever was bothering him.

Papyrus met Grillby for the first time a few weeks later when Sans took him on a trip. They were going to some sort of fair, lots of exciting stuff to do there so Papyrus hadn't minded the strange and kinda silent fire elemental that greeted Sans like an old friend. It took him two hours to notice that they were holding hands the whole time they were walking over the fair-ground.

He was... alright. Papyrus was a bit weary of Grillby at first but seeing him and Sans together was kinda nice and they made each other smile a lot.

And then Papyrus had found the plushies. Or, well, saw Sans squeal and squeeze a familiar looking orange plush, bones nearly vibrating in joy and his magic reaching out with glee so strong that Papyrus could feel it all the way from the door.

His brother being in love was kinda a strange thought. Not bad but strange. Because things would change.

And change they did. They moved to the new town, they moved into Grillby's house and Sans went to work at Grillby's store.

And Papyrus? He went to the new school.

It wasn't bad. The town was nice and friendly, there were trees and a small lake and a lot of cool places to play. The school building itself was pretty new too, bright colors everywhere and it smelled like chalk and wood.

Headmaster Toriel was a tall goat woman and a tiny bit intimidating but she smiled when she greeted each new student and welcomed them into the school. She then gave them all a small tour and lead Papyrus to his classroom.

It was a small class. There were maybe ten other students there and all of them looked at him.

“O...oh. Uh... you must be Papyrus? Welcome in our class!” said the teacher, a yellow lizard monster. “Uh... My name is Alphys and I gonna be your teacher! So uh... how about you get up here and tell us a bit about yourself?”

Papyrus nodded and stepped up and next to the teacher's desk. He waved a bit and tried to show them his best the-great-Papyrus-smile.

“Hello! My name is Papyrus and my brother and I just moved here! He works for Mister Grillby now and is kinda lame but I try to be cooler than him!”

There were some mumbles at his words but all in all the other kids seemed to be alright with him. The Temmie even waved at him and pointed at the empty desk beside him. Grinning Papyrus sat down next to them and put down his backpack.

“Hoi, I am Temmie.” Temmie whispered to him as soon as Papyrus sat down. “Wanna be friends?”

“Sure!” cheered Papyrus, beaming brightly. Maybe this new town was alright after all.

Change wasn't always bad after all.

It was late when Papyrus sat up, his plush pet rock Rocky in his arms and leaning against the headboard of his bed. The rest of the house was dark and quiet, not even Sans' snoring disturbed the silence. A small ray of light came through the window, some light from a streetlamp shining through and illuminating Papyrus' room slightly, forming strange shadows from his furniture and toys.

He just... could not sleep.

It wasn't new, he had days where sleep just eluded him but usually there was a REASON for it.

Today's reason was tall and purple and mean and slightly smaller and green and yellow and brown and... silent.

Papyrus had been watching Kris and Susie since his first day at school, both of them turning up later than him almost every day. Kris usually came with the sound of the bell while Susie came minutes after. She never came MUCH to late, just enough to make a point.

And Papyrus wanted to figure out how to help them. Both of them.

Susie was kinda easy to figure out. Papyrus had kids like her in his old class too. Kids without friends and guidance, who were mean because they didn't know how to be nice. So Susie came in late and was rude, stole and ate chalk and never did her homework and made creepy faces all the time.

She can do better, Papyrus was sure of it. She will make right choices, she just doesn't know it yet. She just need somebody to show her how and to give her a chance...

But Sans' words were echoing in Papyrus' head.

 If they are not ready for a friend yet, they won't be your friend.”

But how was Papyrus to know if she was ready to be a friend? What if she didn't even know herself? How could he help her when she didn't even know that she needed help? It was a dilemma, the worst of all puzzles. Even puzzle-master Papyrus was kinda admitting defeat here.

“I really wanna help her.” he said to Rocky, hugging his beloved plush close. “I know I could help her be nice! I know she is good inside and wants to make the right choices. She just needs somebody to believe in her!”

Rocky sadly had no solution either.

Papyrus wondered if Grillby had some advice for that.

The other matter was Kris of course. Kris was a human and Papyrus had met humans before but there wasn't one in his class before.

Kris was mostly silent and kept to themself but they also seemed to have a witty humor and was a troublemaker. Papyrus disapproved heavily of some of their pranks and jokes. Some were kinda funny, like the ones Sans did. Others were just mean.

Everybody was friendly with Kris but nobody really seemed to be their friend. So they were different from Susie but also not quite in the know about how to be good.

“Susie and Kris could be friends.” Papyrus told Rocky. “I bet they would be really great! But... maybe Sans is right and they both don't WANT friends right now? How to get them to be ready then?”

Rocky, again, offered nothing but silence and a nice plushy texture to cuddle with.

“I need a plan.” Papyrus huffed.

He fell asleep just ten minutes later.

Sans seemed to like his work. Papyrus could tell because Sans NEVER talked about his work before. He was some kind of scientist before, that Papyrus knew, but he never ever told him anything. Now however? Sans shared stories from the day. He told him he met all kinds of people, Papyrus's teacher and headmaster and some of the parents of his new classmates. He talked about some pranks he pulled and some of the reactions he got. It was... strange.

“And then he just stared at me for maybe three minutes.” chuckled Sans. “It was the BEST, bro!”

Papyrus smiled, not necessary about the prank but because Sans was just so... happy while telling him his story.

“Grillby loved the new pics too by the way.” “He did?” asked Papyrus.

“Sure. He likes my jokes.” Sans said proudly.

“He is just a dork like you.” mumbled Papyrus.

“Hey!”

Papyrus chuckled and ate another fork-full of spaghetti.

“Say, Papyrus, how is school going?” asked Sans. “Anything new on the mean-girl and strange-human front?”

“Hm? Oh!” said Papyrus. “Sadly nothing... Kris and Susie disappeared from class today for HOURS and Kris was kinda strange all day today...”

“Strange you say?”

“Well... they seemed to be confused about a lot of things. They looked at everything, talked to everybody multiple times and sometimes walked all over the place... and then they went with Susie to get chalk and didn't return...”

“Well they did at some point.” said Sans slowly. “I met them later at the store.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, pranked them too.”

“URGH.” huffed Papyrus. “Why did you prank them? They could have been my friend!”

“Sorry, bro.” chuckled Sans. “I couldn't resist.”

Papyrus huffed at that and grumpled quietly to himself. But he was a tiny bit glad that Kris seemed to be okay. He was a bit worried when they didn't return.

He hoped still that Kris and Susie would be ready to have friends soon.

The next day Kris wasn't at school. At least not at first. They appeared during the second lesson looking kinda bad. But they were nodding at Susie and smiling a tiny bit and Susie seemed to smile back a bit.

Papyrus was thrilled at that little gesture. Maybe they were friends now? That means they were ready to have friends! And who would be better suited to be their friend but him, the great Papyrus? So he approached them when their had their recess.

“KRIS! SUSIE! I noticed you seem to be friends now and I wanted to know if you want me to be your friend too?”

Kris and Susie shared a look. Papyrus was a bit nervous that he overdid it, that he was to fast, to bold in his approach but finally Susie chuckled a bit. “You are just like Ralsei, you know?”

“Who is Ralsei? A friend of yours?”

Kris nodded and sat down. And then Susie and Kris told Papyrus the story of the dark world.

They went to Papyrus's home together after school. The tale of the dark world was a fantastical one but Papyrus believed them. He believed that there were still friends left behind, a price of the dark and the son of the king, that had to be reached. He believed that there were still people in need of helping. And people in need of a friend.

So he told them that they should ask his brother. Sans was after all pretty smart and he was sure he could help! Susie seemed unsure but Kris did seem to have forgotten the prank Sans played on them and instead agreed on meeting Sans again.

So when Papyrus noticed Kris approaching Sans, he took Susie to show her his ultra-cool room to give his brother and Kris some time alone.

“And this is my ultra-cool racecar-bed.” Papyrus said, showing off his stuff.

Susie nodded slowly. She seemed a bit puzzled about some of his stuff but Papyrus supposed that not everybody had such an awesome room like him.

“Hey, what's that?” she asked and picked up a little plushy. Papyrus groaned when he recognized it.

“Urgh... it's a plush.” he huffed.

“It looks like you.” “Well yeah... my brother makes them.” Papyrus admitted. “He made these for him and his boyfriend too and they are so... urgh about it. And now he made me one too so I stop complaining.”

“... your brother can do that? These... plushies?” asked Susie and Papyrus had a feeling she was more interested in them than she let on.”

“Uh... yeah?” Papyrus said slowly.

“... you think he could make one for me?”

Papyrus was really re-thinking his life-decisions. But Susie was looking at him with a strange expression and Papyrus knew now was the time to be a friend first.

“Uh... sure. We just have to ask him I guess.”

Susie looked pretty happy. Papyrus wondered what he had gotten himself into.

That day Papyrus had made two new friends. Papyrus usually didn't like change a lot and a lot of things changed and will change from now on too but somehow, just this time, Papyrus didn't mind the change at all.

[saturniidae-served-cold]

I just put it here since everyone hates links

Description: 15 page guide made by Ralsei.

tag: a pink tag connected by a string to the right side of the page, on a blue background. It says "Press -> to open ❤"

front cover:

"GUIDE

to the Dark Realm

My friends

Friends 101

Ralsei's Class 202X.

💖"

the word "GUIDE" is made of macaroni, "to the Dark Realm" is handwritten neatly in cursive, and the all the rest is typed in Times New Roman. There is a glittery red heart under the text and red crayon and glitter around the sides of the title. this and the next page are pink.

dedication: "Dedicated to The unending pillar of darkness that gives my body form"

Ralsei 1: "Foreword Hello! I don't know who my friends are yet. but I'm so excited to meet you! I know the Dark World can be confusing, but I hope we can have a great time together! Illustrated in (figure 1.) fig 1. "(picture of Kris from the Legend sequence, a childish MS paint drawing of a happy Ralsei with his arms reaching out to Kris and Susie, and picture of Susie from the Legend sequence). The page is white.

Ralsei 2:"

CONTROLS

Understanding a keyboard's layout is vital to any legendary hero. Please memorize the following table:

KEY OVERWORLD MENU

Z Interact Select

X Run Cancel

C Menu n/a

W n/a n/a"

This and the next page are light blue

"Ralsei 3: Fig 2. "(weirdly stretched png of 5 sticks of butter, and another table)

"TEXT COOKING

Advance Butter

Skip Butter

n/a Butter

n/a Pulsar Cannons"

"Ralsei 3: "(it is misnumbered)

"OVERWORLD MENU

Press C while out of combat to open the OVERWORLD MENU.

Several ICONS will appear for you to select.

(pouch icon)ITEM: Use or toss ITEMS (not equipment.)

(Sword and shield icon)EQUIP: Outfit friends with weapons or armors." This page tbrough page nine are is gray with white text.

"Ralsei 4:

(Soundwave icon)TALK: Talk to friends, such as Ralsei [1]

(Fire icon)POWERS: Consume TP to use abilities, or view statistics.

(Wrench icon)CONFIG: Alter many options, including the coveted seizure-related ones.

[1] Source: Ralsei"

"6" (page numbers are handwritten from here on.)

"Battle Options

Sometimes you and your friends will enter combat. Choose ICONS to issue commands to us!

(Sword icon)ATTACK: Attack the enemy and inflict pain on them.

(ACT icon)ACT: Commit various actions against the enemy.

(Pouch icon)ITEM: Use items on friends or people you don't know.

"7" (picture of lancer from the Legend sequence, with a speech bubble drawn from him saying) "Oh! I'm bad! I hope the DELTA WARRIORS aren't issued any COMMANDS!" in italics. (Page is gray with white text and orange icons)

"(Fire icon): Consume TP to use spells or abilities

(Shield icon): Defend against enemy attacks. Also restores some TP.

(Icon with face of the annoying dog) A dog has eaten your commands. You can't do anything for the rest of your life" (Page is gray with white text and orange icons)

"8

LIFE ADVICE

ATTACKING:" (picture of Kris' icon and their attack bar(2) and cursor(3) with a Z(1)written in)

"To attack, you wilI have to press Z, X or C while the cursor (3) is inside the box (2). The letter on the left (1) will tell you which button. Attacks are strongest what the cursor (3) is on the left edge of the box. (2)

"9

ACTING: Certain actions turn enemies' names yellow. When all names are yellow, you win!

TP: Besides DEFENDing, you can restore TP through SAVE POINTS or getting close to the bullets of an enemy.

JUST, GENERALLY: Take a break every two hours. Drink plenty of water. Brush your teeth or you'll get a cold. " (small drawing of Ralsei's cheerful face)

"10

NOTES: Record any notes you have here!" This and the next page are white with blue lines like notebook paper

"11" This page is blank for notes.

Back cover: pink page with a childish drawing of Ralsei smiling with his eyes closed, surrounded by red glitter. "Thank you! I'm looking forward to meeting you! ❤" text is handwritten in red.

deltarune fans please read the unused manual please