look at all that which surrounds me [ open ]

[determinedest]

Who: FRISK and YOU and/or TIM and YOU
Where: Mostly outside tbh like just generally gonna be in the woods
When: 2/09 - 2/11
Rating: PG-13; general cw for mental health shit for Tim in particular
Summary: Frisk climbed a mountain. Tim's lost time. Neither of them is particularly okay.
The Story:

[Just kidding starters are in the comments again so I don't spam the log comm lol. Anyway if you want closed starters just smack me here or over at arrpee. Also feel free to use either prose or brackets and I'll match you.]

Comments

[codlet]

[When they raise the stick in their hand like a weapon, Undyne falters, eye widening. This is it. This is like how everyone at school said -- humans are dangerous. This human could hurt her.

But they don't strike right away. Undyne raises her fists.]

I'm Undyne! Wanna fight?? Huh!? I can take you!! You're just a kid!

[Granted, so is she.]

[determinedest]

So're you.

[Their lips barely move as they scratch it out, like bits of eggshell scraped between stuck teeth. Hard to speak. Hard to speak, even to a child. She's not much bigger than them, but she looks like she can fight, even if she's missing something.]

[Missing an eye.]

[Maybe that won't matter.]

[codlet]

So what!? I can still take on a human! I'll take you on!!

[In a final display of strength, Undyne summons a few small cyan spear-shaped bullets. They're definitely not powerful enough to hurt much given her limited magic, but the human doesn't know that. The spears hover in the air, not pointing in any specific direction, but the intention is clearly there.]

[determinedest]

[Despite their firm stance, Frisk reacts in obvious uncertainty, one step brushing backward. Dark eyes peer out from beneath heavy lids, staring at the hovering spears in apparent awe. How did she...?]

[She's blue. She's only got one eye. There's no telling what else she might do. What else she might be capable of.]

How'd...how d'you...

[They trail away. Why ask questions? No one's going to answer them.]

[codlet]

What? Don't you have magic? Or are you too little??

[Undyne smirks, feeling like she's finally got the upper hand.]

I practiced a lot so I'm really tough! You better watch out!!

[determinedest]

'S not real.

[Despite...the apparent evidence to the contrary? If it is real, then what's...the what are they looking at? It doesn't make any sense. If the world is full of things like magic and monsters, why didn't any of it make itself apparent before now?]

[Did they fall? Did they really fall?]

[codlet]

[The reaction is completely baffling to her. She has no idea what it's like for humans, but magic is such an intrinsic part of monster society that the idea anyone wouldn't believe in it is completely out there. It's on par with not believing in water.]

What's not real? Magic?? Where'd you get that idea? Monsters are made of magic! What are humans made of?

[determinedest]

[Monsters.]

[Monsters, like the ones people used to say lived beneath the mountain. Terrible, horrifying things, things that ate children alive, that swallowed them whole. Those were just stories.]

[Weren't they?]

[What're humans made of?]

[They glance downward, at their stained sweater, dirt-scuffed knees, the wrinkled edges of a bandage poking out from behind the sleeve of their shirt.]

...nothing good.

[codlet]

[Undyne frowns. She has no idea what humans are made of, so she can't even guess at what they mean.]

Something bad? Like... poison?

[determinedest]

[Silence.]

[One hand curls up over their sweater, the fabric hanging over their thin chest, and bunches it up into a fistful, as though ready to tear all the threads away.]

Yeah. Like poison.

They hurt people.

[...]

We hurt people.

[codlet]

[Instantly, with the practice of a monster who's been told this a thousand times in class:]

That's because human SOULs don't need love and compassion to exist! But monsters do need that stuff!

[The spears have dissipated, magic not strong enough to keep them solid for too long.

Undyne grins and folds her arms, completely missing how upset the human is getting. She's just proud she can say she learned something from school.]

[determinedest]

[Then it's true. Humans really are just...this is why they're here. This is what they're capable of. They do horrible things, just because they can.]

[The edges of the bandage have begun to itch. Absently, they reach to scratch at it before their hand drops away.]

What happens if you're mean?

[codlet]

Why would you be mean on purpose?

[Undyne doesn't really get the question.]

Monsters can be mean without combusting or whatever. Anyone can be mean.

[But Undyne has a much different measurement for what's mean or not.]

[determinedest]

What happens if you're bad?

[They should've been more specific than that. What happens if you're bad? What happens if you're not compassionate, or kind? Do you just...wither away?]

[codlet]

Ummm. One of my teachers likes to say, there aren't bad monsters, just monsters who make bad choices. And then they tell you you're making a bad choice and make you go sit in the corner.

[Undyne makes a lot of bad choices, if that's not obvious.]

[determinedest]

Do you die?

[BOY THAT'S UM, KIND OF DARK FOR A KID DON'T YOU THINK.]

[But the alacrity with which it comes through, the ease and immediacy of the idea's origins and the way they utter it without hesitation - that might speak volumes.]

[codlet]

No!!! You just learn!! It's school!!

[Jeez!! Undyne is far too young to look too far into this line of questioning, or reflect on it in any capacity. Mostly she's just confused at it.]

[determinedest]

[That's not how learning usually works. Sitting in a corner doesn't teach children anything. It just teaches them not to get caught later. Doesn't it?]

What if you're always bad?