#only one in it ill get mt drink and walk to my seat thinking this place is huge but i did used to be an old grocery store or a staples so ye

[this-doesnt-endd]

Theres one local theatre in my town thats at the end of the line of the bus route and theyll do throwback movies and a lot of the times its 80s movies and with the new 4k version of risky business on the horizion i desperatly need them to show it

[set-phasers-to-whump]

feel the heat

prompt: overheating

whumpee: nick burkhardt

fandom: grimm

hi! welcome to my first fic for @summer-of-whump! i’m super excited to be doing this event and finally getting back into writing lmao. shit has been crazy but now i get to relax and beat up my faves :) hope you enjoy this one!

“It’s gonna be a hot one out there today, Portland,” announces the DJ on the car radio. “Temperatures are expected to rise into the high nineties and possibly even break 100, so stay cool if you can.”

Hank casts a glance at Nick, who even today is wearing his usual long-shirt-long-pants outfit. “You’re gonna melt, man,” he warns, making the turn that’ll lead them to their latest crime scene - a body at the top of Mt. Tabor Park, stabbed to death and discovered by a jogger early that morning. 

Nick shrugs. “I’ll roll up my sleeves if it’s really that hot.” Privately, though, he has no intention of exposing his arms today. They’re covered in some fairly scary-looking and difficult-to-explain marks, courtesy of a run-in with, of all things, an unusually angry and confrontational Eisbiber. He’ll sacrifice a little discomfort in exchange for no one wondering what the hell kind of animal he’d gotten into a confrontation with.

They arrive at the park, climbing out of the car and into the sweltering midday heat. It’s a bit of a walk up the hill to their murder scene, and by the time they arrive Nick is already feeling the effects of his ill-chosen clothes. But there’s nothing that can be done about it now, so he pushes the discomfort aside and approaches the body. 

‘Stabbed to death’ seems somehow like an understatement in this particular case. The body is absolutely covered in stab wounds, each one at least two inches long and the majority of them fairly deep. Someone had certainly been angry, or had wanted to be really sure that this person was dead. 

“Damn,” Hank says, which sums up Nick’s feelings on the matter quite well. He takes a step closer to the body, then looks up suddenly as something catches his attention. It’s a person, he realizes, trying very hard to sneak away from the area unnoticed. But they must sense his attention, because all of a sudden they start running. Naturally, so does Nick.

Hank’s eye catches the movement at the same instant that Nick takes off running down the other side of the hill. Someone is racing off through the trees, dressed all in black and obviously fleeing something, presumably the police presence at the scene of the murder they committed. He starts running as well, and although Nick has a couple seconds and his Grimm-ness to his advantage, Hank catches up to him after no more than a minute, panting, with his hands braced on his knees. He’s definitely regretting his choice of clothes right now, Hank thinks, scanning the scenery around them for any signs of their possible killer. 

“Lost them,” Nick voices Hank’s thoughts as he straightens up. He gives Hank a rueful sort of half-smile and then takes a look at the hill they’ve just run down. He really wishes that they didn’t have to climb back up it. He feels sort of...odd. Weirdly dizzy, and way too tired for the fairly small amount of running he’s just done. That’s probably not good, he thinks, and then starts the unavoidable walk back up. 

Hank walks beside Nick, who is walking at a slower pace than normal. He wonders why in the hell Nick doesn’t roll up his sleeves, or at the very least undo the top button of his Henley. Hank himself is hot and more than a little uncomfortable in his t-shirt and lightweight pants, and he can only imagine how much more uncomfortable Nick must be. Maybe it’s a Grimm thing, he figures. Maybe Nick is less sensitive to extreme temperatures, or something.

Nick so desperately wishes that Grimms were resistant to the heat. But if anything, it feels like he’s more susceptible to it. The air is like a thick blanket wrapped way too tightly around his body, slowly suffocating him, cutting off the air to his lungs and making him feel like he might just collapse at any second. He imagines his choice of clothes today is also not helping, but his arms feel too weak to reach up and undo a button, and the sleeves are a non-starter regardless. At least they’re almost to the top of the hill…

Nick and Hank step back into the main part of their crime scene just as the techs are packing up. Wu waves them over from where he’s standing next to a bench, looking at something in his notebook. “We’re just about done here, unless you guys noticed anything else while you were running away?”

Hank waits for Nick to tell Wu about the person they’d seen fleeing, but after a second it becomes clear that Nick must be expecting Hank to speak, so he says, “we saw someone running off down the hill. We followed them, but they got away. I didn’t get a good look - just that they were dressed all in black. Did you get a better look?” He turns to Nick with the question. 

Nick shakes his head once, then immediately stops when the world starts spinning. He closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths, pushing down a sudden, intense wave of dizziness and nausea. Something is wrong, he thinks, but he has no idea what it is. 

“Nick? You good?”

Nick opens his eyes at Wu’s question. “Yeah,” he manages to say. He thinks he should probably elaborate a little, but he really doesn’t have the energy. 

“O...kay,” Wu says, glancing between Nick and Hank like he’s maybe missed something. Hank, for his part, is looking at Nick, who is looking a little bit off. His face is pale, his eyes are unfocused, and he generally looks kind of miserable. But before he can ask Nick whether he’s really okay, Wu is continuing. 

“If that’s all you guys saw, I’ll let the Captain know. I don’t know how much we’ll be able to do with ‘running figure, dressed all in black,’ but it’s something.” He pauses for a second, wipes a hand across his forehead. “They must be crazy, wearing head-to-toe black in this heat. Now, I think I’m gonna retreat to the air conditioning in my patrol car, if you don’t mind.”

With that, Wu heads off, meandering down the path to where his car is parked. 

“Let’s follow him,” Hank says, starting off after Wu. “Some air conditioning sounds pretty damn good to me right now.”

Nick tries to follow him, but his legs feel like they’ve suddenly turned into lead. “Hank,” he says, reaching out a hand to try and tap Hank’s retreating shoulder. 

He misses wildly, obviously, but Hank turns around anyway. “You okay?”

Talking feels like the most difficult task in the world, but after a moment of intense concentration, Nick is able to string a few words together. “I feel…” 

How does he feel again? Oh. Right.

“Really bad.”

His knees choose that exact moment to buckle, and fortunately Hank has also chosen that moment to hurry back over to Nick. He catches him before he hits the ground, then wraps an arm around Nick to keep him standing. 

This close, he knows something isn’t right. Nick is shaking, and far sweatier than he should be, even considering his warm clothes and recent physical activity. Hank puts a hand to the side of his neck and feels Nick’s pulse, which is absolutely racing beneath his fingers. His skin is strangely cold to the touch. Heat exhaustion.

“We need to cool you down,” Hank says firmly, moving his arm to wrap around Nick’s waist as he begins walking towards the car. 

“Wha’s happening?” Nick mumbles, his feet dragging along the ground. He tries to make them move, but they refuse. He feels so bad. 

“You have heat exhaustion, and if we don’t cool you down, you’re going to have to go to the hospital. This turns into heatstroke and it can kill you,” Hank says, reaching into his pocket with the hand that’s not currently preventing Nick from faceplanting into the ground and grabbing his keys. 

Nick catches the words “exhaustion,” “cool,” and “hospital,” and immediately uses what little strength he currently possesses to try and pull away from Hank. “No hospital,” he says pleadingly. He hates the hospital.

“You won’t have to go to the hospital as long as you cool off,” Hank repeats. He pushes the unlock button on the keys. “We’re almost to the car, and then you can sit down and we’ll turn on the air conditioning and get you some water.”

“‘Kay,” Nick agrees, again having heard approximately half of Hank’s words but getting the general sense of what they mean, which essentially boils down to no hospital, which is more than good enough for him. 

They reach the car at long last, and Hank carefully leans Nick against the side of it as he opens the passenger door. He guides Nick inside and closes him in, then circles around the front of the car and gets into the driver’s seat, wincing at the stagnant heat trapped in the car. He quickly turns on the engine and cranks the air conditioning on full blast, slamming his door. That done, he leans into the backseat, searching for the water bottle that he knows he’d left in there the other day. He finds it underneath the seats and pulls it free triumphantly, then hands it to Nick. 

“It’s gonna be warm, but it’s better than nothing. Drink it all,” he instructs. 

Nick doesn’t say anything, but his shaking hands twist off the cap, and he drinks the whole bottle. It is unpleasantly warm, as Hank had warned, but it feels like the best thing in the entire world anyway. He actually starts to feel a little bit better, and cautiously opens his eyes. 

And promptly shuts them when the world starts spinning again. ‘A little bit better’ from ‘really bad’ is still pretty bad, evidently. 

“Try putting your head down,” Hank says, gently prying the empty bottle from Nick’s hands. “It might help with the dizziness.”

Nick complies, resting his head between his knees and trying to take a few deep breaths. He feels Hank reach across him and buckle his seatbelt, and then they’re moving, and he’s suddenly very glad that he’s already in the anti-dizziness position. 

“Where we going?” he asks quietly, when he feels somewhat like he can speak.

“My place,” Hank says. It had seemed like the easiest option. It’s closer to the park than Nick and Juliette’s, and certainly closer than the precinct or Monroe and Rosalee’s. He answers the question he’s sure Nick would be asking if he felt up to it. “I texted Wu and told him. He said he’d let Renard know that we’d both be taking off early today.”

Ordinarily, Nick would argue against this decision, try to insist that he is fine and fully capable of going back to work. But honestly, he feels so far from fine right now, and the thought of lying down on Hank’s couch with the fan going and a nice cold glass of water sounds like heaven. So just this once, he doesn’t fight it. He lets Hank take care of him.

thanks for reading this! i hope you enjoyed :) i did a lot of research on temperatures and heat exhaustion and whatnot for this and had a good time lol. also i feel the need to say idk if we ever know where hank lives so the part ab him living closer to the park is just made up on my part. 

[myviewoftheuniverse]

God Bless America’s Nuts

To the 4th of July 2020 celebration at Mt Rushmore

Beautiful. Well done. Congratulations to all Americans. You're all a bunch of crazy nuts but somehow after over 240 years all of you lead the world to this very day. It's been a great ride for millions upon millions of people that have struggled to get here for over the same 240 years.  They came here and lived amazing lives and their children, and children's children are living amazing lives beyond our imagination. From bowling alleys and picnics to billion dollar yachts and the New York Yankees, and on to the Space Shuttle. Everything this country has accomplished has included all races, creeds, colors and nationalities for 240 years. No matter how bad natural born citizens of America think it is in this country, they need to realize that millions upon millions of people from every other country in the world still want to get here, and will do anything to do so. (if you moved to almost anywhere else in the world for a year,, you would get a great lesson in how things work elsewhere and you would appreciate American Freedom far beyond what you realize) Both sides are all a bunch of nuts like I said, and you've all been fighting for the same 240 years over issues that sometimes are petty and should be left alone to each individuals decision, the government oversteps it's bounds far too often, and other arguments are so valiant and true, the movement leader as in MLK is truly an American hero. (those men should stay on Mt. Rushmore, MLK should be added, and any other black American hero similar in stature to Harriet Tubman. Would that not be Fking awesome? My idea! Just now! 

For 240 years all races, creeds, colors and nationalities have had to deal with a lot of garbage, headaches, (migraines), mental torture, financial ruin and loss of life to stand up for something involving Freedom. Whether you're a front line employee or manager at a corporation that loses his job due to bullying office politics, or someone in the neighborhood vandalized your property or harmed a pet, people do fkd up things in this country. Why, we'll never know but it involves education, and educating each other. We can't imagine living in a time when there were water fountains and bathrooms for white and black people. It makes you vomit just to think of it. It seems barbaric, yet that was normal life not so long ago. We are all here today, after 240 years and after the last 6 months. Can you people try to figure out how to get along? whatever the hell the formula is then mix it up and drink it. Because watching this behavior is fking ridiculous, from Karen's to BLM movements gone wrong because of a few idiots. White people need to keep that Karen's in line, informed maybe? About how life works? And BLM people need to to keep the vandals in line, informed maybe? About how life works. I'm sitting here watching this shit(and sorry to be vulgar but this is total bullshit. How many people out there have GREAT days 6 out of 7 days a week? 23 out of 30? Life is fucking great in this country from the bottom to the top on an average good day.  We're all fucking happy. Then someone has to throw a fucking wrench at the side of your head.  Why do you have to fuck someone else's day up? and interrupt the whole fucking program?) I'm sitting here watching this unfold with my popcorn in hand. I've laughed at so many Trump insults, and I've laughed at a million Liberal insults. You're both definitely on edge, or even over the edge already. I don't know what the fk is going to calm you people down but please I beg  of you, figure out the formula, mix it up and pass it around so everyone can drink it. Maybe a formula that makes you not notice or even understand the terms, race, religion, skin color, handicap, sexual preference, nationality, hair color, mental illness, physical appearance, intelligence, eye color,  the word yesterday? just something that makes us live one day at a time, moving forward, enjoying every moment we can with family friends, pets, the outdoors, alone or with someone, in the city, your quiet neighborhood, or your loud neighborhood with fun goofy friends. If you want to ride a skateboard off a damn roof then do it, if you want to laugh on your yacht then do it. As long as it doesn't harm another human being. Stop pushing other people around, physically and verbally and stop trying to find fault in other people. Everyone does have faults as far as I know, you do too, i know i do, even the Dali Lama and the Pope, and JC. So let's regroup, drink that formula and love one another and all that shit. I assume that's how we all get to Logan's Run? Where everyone, even though they look different, just walk thru life not noticing they have differences, and we all do the same fucking thing every night at 8, and we all go to Carousel to cheer for the people flying up a tube into Heaven. Let's do this. (and do me one fucking favor. can you fire the dildo head cop that pulled two black dudes over, just like they predicted 60 seconds earlier on video while sitting in their car. two exchanges happened in the first 60 seconds that are difficult to watch and digest. one dude says something like why'd you pull us over bro? and the dildo head police officer says "you looked at me when you drove by."...????????????????????????????? If looking at people is now outlawed you might as well shoot me in the face right now, go ahead and electrocute me, I'm 100% positive it would be fun to watch for more than one person out there.  It would be a big hit on youtube for sure or even FB live. The other exchange was ...dildo head "you over there, do you have id? ",,,dude "No man.... Why you asking me for ID when you know me!!!???".......WTF was that about???????????????? This is what our taxes are paying for, just for police officers to pick on enough black people until they find one that had weed in the car? The weed days are over guys. That shit is done. Let it go. And forgive me if I am misreading the situation but the dildo head seems to be behaving like a 14 yr old bully with two little kids on their tricycles in front of him. They're doomed. That was the most ridiculous exchange by a police officer that I've heard in 55 years living on this planet.)   Both sides of the battle, you're all a bunch of nuts out there, and me too for watching it because it's ugly, terrible and people are getting hurt on both sides. One thing though, I'm pretty sure that the crazy shit hasn't even happened yet. We are on a war path to disaster. Fasten your fucking seat belts, this ride does not make any stops. One last request. All Major League sporting events in all sports are free thru 2030. Just stand in line, camping outside allowed. (don't worry they'll be plenty of tickets given out under the table for the celebrities, we'll just have to live with that...they get their seats as always) oh by the way, tickets are issued randomly, game day only, starting 5hrs prior to the game. Next ticket out of the machine is yours. Stay safe you nuts...sorry for any msispllinginsgins

[royal-sailor-reyva-tale-blog]

[RoyalTale] Chapter 2: Acclimation

Summary: After getting gussied up at the castle in New Home, Frisk is assigned to watch over the Ruins with Connie, the Princess of Patience. The two get to know each other a little bit, though Frisk is still getting used to her new life in the Underground.

When they arrived in the Ruins, Frisk followed Asriel back to the main room of the castle. They were greeted by a girl in a ruffly cyan dress, with short black hair and deep blue eyes. A red ribbon was in her hair, and another one was around her neck. "Greetings," the girl said in a soft voice.

"There you are!" Asriel said, sauntering up to the girl and giving her a hug. "I mentioned you so much to Frisk here, but when we didn't see you, I felt a little silly." He released her and gestured to Frisk. "Connie, this is Frisk, our new Princess of Determination. Frisk, this is Connie, our Princess of Patience."

"Pleased to meet you," Connie said, extending one hand for a handshake. "My name is Constance, but around here, everyone calls me Connie." Frisk completed the handshake, then looked to Asriel for guidance, unsure of what to do.

"I'm going to help set up your room and get your things ready," Asriel said. "Why don't you two get to know each other?" With that, he left and went down a hallway to the side.

There was an awkward silence as Frisk tried to figure out something to say to Connie. Finally, the younger girl broke the silence. "Well, it's nice to see a new face here. Everyone constantly refers to me as the youngest. I suppose it's true, but I'm not used to being babied like that." Frisk nodded in acknowledgement. "I was given the Ruins to manage because it's small and relatively unpopulated. I guess I should be thankful for that. As much as I would have liked to share leadership with one of the other Royal Children, this is fine." Once again, Frisk nodded, unsure of what to say.

Connie began to fidget with the trailing ends of her neck ribbon. "I'll help you with what paperwork comes in. Sometimes, I do get important letters. But mostly, my job is to ensure that the monsters here are happy, and so I go around the Ruins a lot. To warn you ahead of time, the spiders are the biggest complainers. Not harmful, merely... annoying. But I suppose they're justified, as it's rather hard for them to communicate with family outside of the Ruins." Frisk's eyebrows knitted as she tried to take in all the information, and Connie caught on. "I know this is a lot to think about. It's probably very different from what you're used to. I had trouble getting used to things here at first, too."

"Everyone here is very kind, quirks and all. You'll enjoy your life here, even if it takes time. It did for me." Connie saw that Frisk's expression did not relax and addressed that. "You're not thinking of what you left behind, are you? The rumor that all who travel to Mt. Ebott never return is true, thanks to the barrier. No monster soul could pass through it, and no human soul can either, or I'm sure that at least one of us would have left already. So... you may have to put your old ways to rest. I had to do that."

Now Frisk felt a pang of panic go through her chest. While she didn't exactly go to Mt. Ebott looking for a brief vacation, something about the idea of disappearing completely from the surface world made her feel ill at ease. "And you were okay with that?"

"Your first words to me," Connie said, a teasing lilt to her voice. "After some time, I was okay with that. When you're away from everything, you tend to reflect on your preconceived notions of your reality. Eventually, I realized I wasn't missing much by leaving the surface world." Frisk pursed her lips in thought as she turned over Connie's words in her head, and the cyan-clad girl continued. "Consider this. I visited Mt. Ebott with someone who left me waiting. I waited for a very long time, and he never returned. I had no way of getting back home, and I was starving. I felt my only choice was to jump into the Underground. While I missed my family for a while, I soon realized that things were not quite as happy as I thought. Here, I have a caring family and friends. I think, all things considered, the Underground may have been the best thing to happen to me."

Frisk frowned deeply, her face tense. Connie's story was painful to hear. It was one thing to willingly leave one's situation, but to be abandoned and forced to take a different path? She wasn't sure how the girl wasn't a mental wreck. Mercifully, Connie steered the topic elsewhere. "How about we see the progress on your room? With Asriel helping, they should be done soon." Frisk followed her down a hallway, and sure enough, Asriel stepped out of a room about halfway through.

"Perfect timing! We're all set here. I'm sure you're exhausted after everything you've been through, so go rest up," Asriel said to Frisk.

Frisk looked to Connie, who said, "Don't worry about me. I can wait to show you around. If you need to rest, please do." Frisk nodded, and Asriel stepped aside as she went into her room, shutting the door behind her.

The room was nicely laid out: a large bed across from the door, a closet not too far from the bed, a desk against the right wall, and a trunk against the left wall. There was a lovely red rug spread on the floor; Frisk took off her heels and discovered that it was quite soft, a welcome texture to her aching feet. First, she went to inspect the closet. To her surprise, there were numerous copies of the dress she had received hanging in there, along with the blue and pink dress she had fallen in. Sensing an opportunity, she swiftly changed into that dress. Feeling much more comfortable, she exhaled heavily and went to inspect the trunk. Nothing was in there, which made her wonder why they gave her so much storage space when she had nothing to store. After that, she opened the desk drawer to find colorful stationery and what appeared to be paper for official documents, if the Delta Rune letterhead was any indication. There was also a crystal similar to the one Asriel had used to access the elevator, which she pocketed.

With all the nooks and crannies examined, Frisk hopped onto the bed. She could say with certainty that it had to be the most comfortable bed she had ever slept on. The mattress was just the right degree of softness, and the covers were plush and warm without being smothering. For a moment, it felt like everything would be all right. In spite of all that had happened, she found that she drifted off easily, and soon she was wrapped in a comforting darkness.

Frisk was unsure of how long she had actually been asleep when a noise in her head woke her up, something like a loud buzzing whoosh. It was most likely just the dwindling remains of some dream, but the sensation was alarming enough to jolt her awake and make her shudder. She found herself staring at the ceiling for a period of time, waiting to be able to fall back to sleep, but sleep never came. Sighing, she pulled herself up and out of bed and stretched. Perhaps a walk around the castle would help her settle down. The notion of stepping outside came to her, but she swiftly disregarded it. It would be foolish to walk around alone in an unfamiliar place that might contain legitimate danger. Chara's warning from before echoed in her mind. Would there be members of a rebellion waiting for her to step out of the castle so they could kill her for her soul? Would there be spies from the rebellion in the castle itself?

With troubled thoughts unsettling her, Frisk decided that she had to get something to defend herself with. She opened her closet and pushed the dresses aside in case something of interest was hiding behind them. Sure enough, there was a pole in there that must have once been for hanging clothes on. Perhaps it had worn out over the years and had been replaced. Regardless of its origins, she took it out. At the very least, it would make a good walking stick. She might even be able to check for traps with it.

Cautiously, she opened her bedroom door and stepped out. She tapped the pole in the spaces around her; nothing was activated, and so she proceeded. She walked down the hall into the foyer, keeping a vigilant watch the whole time. When she reached the foyer, a familiar voice caught her off guard.

"Going somewhere?"

It was just Connie, sitting in a chair and drinking tea, but Frisk jumped nonetheless. Connie looked down at her tea and then back up at Frisk. "Sorry if I scared you. Are you having trouble sleeping?" When Frisk nodded, Connie replied, "Me too. I think we're going to have to work at getting used to each other. Why don't you take a seat?" Frisk did so, sitting in an armchair next to Connie's seat. "If I'd known you were up, I would have made tea for you. Did you drink much tea on the surface?" This time, Frisk shook her head. "Were you more of a coffee person?" Frisk made an affirmative noise. "Ah. I'm sure that Elliot has coffee... maybe I'll go to Waterfall and ask him for some. He's the Prince of Perseverance, and he manages Waterfall with Rayna, the Princess of Integrity."

Frisk pursed her lips as she thought. She had only met three of her eight "siblings" so far: Asriel, Chara, and Connie. There were five more she needed to meet, and she hoped that she didn't have to stay in the Ruins and wait for them. "You can visit them?" she asked.

Connie nodded. "Of course. Using the elevators, we can visit each other whenever we need, or go to New Home. They're not public access, of course, but we're not confined to our respective regions. You want to meet the others, don't you?" Frisk nodded. "If you found your elevator key, you might even be able to visit them tomorrow. But I think you should wait a little and get used to this place first. Who knows, they might even come visit you instead." There was a silence as Frisk let the information soak in; eventually, Connie broke it. "I have an idea. How about we go out for a bit and say hello to the monsters around here? Some of them might be up." Frisk got up to get ready to go, but Connie halted her briefly. "Maybe you should get dressed. You don't have to put on the shoes, but the dress would be fine. It's a public image thing."

Frisk felt her face twist in disdain over having to get dressed again, but she voiced no objection. She took up her closet pole again and headed back to her room to slip into her dress. That went by without incident, so she returned to the foyer to meet with Connie. When she entered, the younger girl stood up. "That was quick. Shall we get going?" Frisk nodded and followed Connie out the door.

At first, the journey was a quiet one. Frisk found herself trying to get used to the purpleness of the Ruins once again and enjoying that the red leaves broke up the monotony a bit. Eventually, Connie spoke. "Why do you have that pole, by the way? You're clutching it like your life depends on it."

"Just in case," Frisk said.

"In case of what?" Connie asked. "I suppose it might help you get a leg up on some of the puzzles." A faint ribbiting noise caught both of their attentions. "Ah, one of the Froggits must be around. You should introduce yourself."

Frisk followed Connie further ahead, and sure enough, a frog-like creature was crouched next to a rock. When Frisk got close enough, she could see that there seemed to be eyes in the shadows under the monster's body, making her unsure of where exactly she should be making eye contact. The Froggit spoke through its ribbiting. "Hello, Princess. You're up very late."

Connie shrugged. "I had a bit of trouble sleeping. Also, I thought the new Princess should meet at least some of you."

Frisk waved in greeting, and the Froggit nodded. "We have heard about you, Princess Frisk," it said. "You fell down and were taken in earlier today, right?" Frisk nodded. The Froggit shifted its attention to Connie. "And I thought you were the quiet one."

"She'll warm up eventually, I'm sure," Connie said. Frisk frowned, not entirely approving of being spoken for like that. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Frisk shook her head. "Never mind."

"All right." Connie looked from Frisk to the Froggit, and then to the path ahead. "Have you seen any of the others?"

"It is late. They are probably asleep," the Froggit said. "Princess Frisk, you should keep an eye on the ground. If you don't watch where you step, you may wake up a Vegetoid."

Frisk found herself clutching her pole a bit tighter. "I have this."

The Froggit gave a questioning ribbit. "What is that for?"

"Checking for traps." To emphasis the point, Frisk tapped the pole on the ground.

"If you say so." The Froggit's gaze wavered. "You seem like the type to think your actions through. Let me give you another few pieces of advice: please do not pick on Loox, and if you wish to speak to Migosp, it's best to do so when he is alone."

"I see. Thank you," Frisk said, wondering why people picked on this Loox and why Migosp was best talked to alone, but she figured that she would find out soon enough.

"I'll introduce you to them later," Connie said. "If everyone's asleep, I suppose there's not much point in wandering around. We should probably head back." Frisk nodded, and Connie bid farewell to the Froggit. "Thank you for entertaining us at such an hour."

The two princesses silently made their way back to the castle. When they walked in the door, Connie wiped her feet off on the doormat before proceeding. "I don't know about you, but that walk made me feel a bit better, even if not much happened. I'll be heading to bed. What about you?"

Frisk nodded again. "I think I can go to bed now."

"All right then. Good night, Frisk." With that, Connie left the foyer for her room, and Frisk did the same.