somuchlove | IC Contact [Hadriel]

[Have a picture, Chara.

It is a picture of a skeleton, buried up to his neck in sand. Seems the illusion carries all the way into photographs, and hopefully, it'll stay that way.

He looks like he's having fun.

The picture has aptly been titled; 2 much Sands, 2 little time.]

[Frisk will receive a reply soon enough, once Chara is done laughing the photo. Also it is nice that the both of them were getting along - or at least enough that Sans would allow himself to be buried alive.]

I am framing that on my bedroom wall.

[Their own response may be a little delayed; they have company with them, after all. It's rude to constantly look at their phone.]

Nice. Me too? Is there a printer somewhere?

[He's probably going to fall asleep in the 'sand', so you don't have to worry about it Partner.]

I will see if I can't find one as soon as possible. If not then I have to come down there.

[Because it's funny and touching at the same time.]

[Point.]

You can do it Partner. Don't let my good work be in vain.

[Sand can wash away, but photographs are forever.]

[They're keeping it on their phone forever, along with the ones they themselves have been taking.]

I will make sure your hard work is immortalized in some way. It's beautiful.

[See now, sharing is caring, buddy pal. Follow your Partner's example, and spread that LOVE.]

And it still doesn't hold a candle to you.

[Heh.]

You and Sans get along really well, right?

[Which kind?]

We are not trying to kill each other currently. Is there something you need?

[...]

Do you think he likes us?

Kid 1 and Kid 2.

[Kid 1 and Kid 2. A1 and A2. And all of the other "names" that Sans used for them.

In Hadriel it was "Frisk" and "Chara". He had learned their true names, yet...

It is difficult to know exactly where we stand with him. My conversations with him lack the bite they did when I first arrived but I could not rightly say Sans trusts me. What do you think?

I think I make him angry, sometimes.

[Real generous of you. Makin' it their problem to deal with.
But that isn't what they want at all.
Yeah. They make him real angry, sometimes.]

I don't know what he wants me to do. But I think it's better like this. Just telling jokes. Taking funny pictures.

Maybe that's enough.

[Maybe that was the difference between the Underground and Hadriel. Now Sans has to get to know them as kids because they were kids here. More than something that could last a week.

A1 and A2 were simple things. Frisk and Chara were not.]

Perhaps. But I would like you to be happy Frisk. If he plans on putting effort forward for me, then he should do it for you as well.

[That's the difficulty, isn't it? He has to get to know them as kids. More than something that could last a week. And maybe that's why things are so much harder between them now.]

He is trying. But sometimes, he asks me stuff I can't answer. Not because I don't know, but because

[...]

I know he doesn't want my answer.

[Something being permanent is hard. Seeing time move forward is hard. All of this is hard, and that's because there is no do-over. Sans told them as much, back when things were still shaky between the two of them.]

He does not like your answers?

[It feels like parroting Frisk's answer back at them, but Chara wanted to be sure of things before they bring in words like 'angry' or 'shouting'. Just in case.]

Not really.

[The message comes a little later, after they've said goodbye to a skeleton. Found themself a quieter stretch of beach to watch the sunset. It's nice, to be allowed outside for as long as they want to be.]

How's he supposed to like me if he never likes anything I say?

[They have to think about it for a little bit so there's a delay of their own. Chara has heard the saying 'familiarity breeds contempt' but it wasn't quite that, they think.

None of them got to really know each other in the Underground. 'Child', not 'Frisk'. And so on.]

It is rather frustrating.

[Frisk had made requests for Sans to try and understand Chara and it's worked out. How can he get along with the child who murdered his brother than Frisk?]

Do you mind if I ask what you have been talking about?

[There's a line in the sand that they had to ask permission to cross.]

[Maybe it's a little simpler than that. Frisk knew; had always known, that there was more to Chara than just a murderer. Chara could be funny, when they wanted to be. Chara could be a friend. They LOVEd fiercely- but Frisk thinks, personally, that they love even fiercer.

What do you do with the kid that has none of that, by comparison? Maybe Frisk was just- naturally inclined to be a bad human.]

A lot of things. He talked to me about the Mt Ebott once. About why kids climb a mountain like that.

[They'd deny Frisk's line of thought viciously if Chara knew how they were thinking of themselves. Frisk was a human, but they were the exception to the rule Chara had set out regarding those creatures. They did do bad things, runs that saw them at LV 14, but they also had ones much lower.

They were in-between, just as a child should be. And if Sans had issues with a child holding a matchbox, then maybe he should calmly ask where they got it rather than assume they would burn things.]

About your reason for climbing? He did not like that answer?

I didn't tell him.

[One of those things that can go unsaid, in some spaces. Two children climb up a mountain; they don't need to ask each other why.

It wasn't a very happy reason. And that's enough.]

[It is enough, for them. But Sans was perceptive. If he asked that question and didn't receive an answer, it's possible he drew his own conclusions.]

As it is your right, Frisk. If he did not like receiving an answer then that is his problem.

[It's blunt, but on matters such as that they needed to be. Even if Sans asked the right questions it wasn't on Frisk to answer them all.]

I don't know.

[But they think they might. Accusatory tones and disappointed glances; killed again, yelled again, selfish again. Those were the type of looks that ripped the fabric of the world from golden corridors to golden flowers, because they could do better. They could be better, with an arsenal of forethought and anticipating people's every reaction behind them.

Can't do that anymore. It's just them.]

I really like Sans; he's nice. But we were never really friends, were we?

[Foresight makes things 20/20, but they're making up sayings on the spot. But Frisk is right with that line of thought. There were no do-overs in Hadriel, no way to set the clock back to try for something 'better', whatever that may be.

Sans, certainly, had made a point of mentioning that to Chara. But it's not as if they didn't remind him his inaction would result in the same thing.]

In the Underground? I honestly do not know what he considered us. It varied on what we did or did not do.

[It goes unspoken that they both knew the one way to truly hurt Sans was to kill Papyrus. Everything else was just judgement.]

In Hadriel there may be a chance. But Frisk, I wish to say something. If he does not make an effort then you do not have to either.

[He can make an effort for Chara but not Frisk? It's not fair. Or maybe that's just their sense of justice talking.]

[They don't have to try?

The idea sits with them for a moment, heavy and- a little ugly, Frisk thinks. You don't have to try, Chara says, as if it's just common logic.

But I do, Frisk wants to say back. I really do. If I don't, who else will? Two wrongs can't make a right. Besides...

Sometimes, when he calls them by their name, they almost think he's doing it because he can. Not just because sometimes, he needs to separate them from Chara.]

I guess so. But I still want to.

[They have to take a moment to just breathe before responding. Chara knows Frisk's SOUL, knows the kindness within it that would even extend to someone who didn't like the answers they provided. A snap call here isn't what either of them need.

They don't need an answer Chara would make. The path of genocide was an easy one, all things considered. They didn't have to try.]

I know Frisk. And you are kind for it. I just wanted you to know the option is there, as am I.

[You can talk to them. * I'm here.]

[The fact that Chara- takes their time, to think of what Frisk has said. To make sure they don't talk over them; if they knew, then Frisk would appreciate it. As it is, the words that meet their eyes are something invaluable, drawn into the upwards turn of their lips and the calm sensation of their SOUL, determined.]

I know. I'm here for you, too.

[We're in this together, Partner.]

IC Contact [Hadriel]

[Backdated to the Tranquility event]

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