#so the family probably stayed there and slept in the living room until Asriel was up and ready to move around

[askfallenroyalty]

the AFR redraw is going well

[scartale-an-undertale-au]

Papers of Homelessness - Chapter 34

(This banner had been made by the awesome and amazing artist @benteja​​​. i am so honored that she had drawn this banner for this story. please go and show her all the love in the world that she deserves!!! \[^o^]/)

BEFORE | NEXT

a/n: poor, poor chara. what do I make him go through? ;-;��

The evening wind nipped at your clothing and exposed skin as you walked with Frisk back to Grillby’s. Frisk huddled closer to the shawl, her exposed legs under the dress probably not helping with the cold so you quickened your pace to get the diner as quickly as possible.

Soon enough you reached the place and you handed Frisk her bag, about to wave her goodbye when she grabbed your extended wrist and forcibly dragged you inside.

“Hey!” You called as you stumbled on the stairs, glowering at Frisk, who released you in favor of closing the door and rushing to the back room.

Figuring she needed you here for some odd reason, you locked the door and settled by one of the tables, resting your head on your arms. Despite feeling less tired than before, you still felt a strange fatigue.

Maybe you slept too much during the nap…

“Here…” Frisk placed something in front of you. You blinked and raised your head to spot a plate with a slice of lemon meringue pie on it. You looked at Frisk in question.

“Something I keep for myself…” Frisk admitted, sitting across you with a similar dish in front of her, only she had a bigger slice.

You snorted. “You really like food, huh?”

“It’s good…” Frisk cut a piece of the cake and put it in her mouth, cheeks puffing a bit.

You chuckled and took a bite from your piece. It was really good. A bit too sugary but the lemon balanced it pretty well. You swallowed and stared at Frisk. “So you dragged me in for a cake?”

Frisk shook her head and lowered her fork. “Wanted… to tell you… my life…” They took a deep breath. “Want you to know…” They finished and stuck another piece in their mouth, eyes clouded.

What a coincidence… “Tell me about your father after he left with you?”

Frisk nodded.

“Why now?”

“…Toriel… reminded me of Suzy…”

“Who?”

“One of the ladies…” Frisk shrugged.

“So because of my mom?” Frisk nodded. You nodded back. “Alright. So what happened?”

“…Father never stayed in one place...” It was clear Frisk wasn’t used to speak long sentences so they cleared their throat a bit. “We moved from Minerva St. to Coin… and to plaza—”

“Wait, wait, wait. You lived in a house, right? Plaza is quite an expensive place to live at…”

Frisk shook her head. “Streets… Father didn’t want to be tracked.”

Wait. So she was homeless even with her father? That means that since the age of five, she was homeless! that’s fifteen years!

Even for you, it was crazy.

“Why not?”

“I don’t know… but from what Sans said… maybe because of the war?”

“Probably. So how was he?”

“…He trained me to fight… so I could protect myself…” Frisk moved the empty plate and placed her arms on the table, resting her chin on them. “Was my commander.”

“He treated you like a soldier?” That would explain the strange behavior with Frisk and Grillby. Frisk was reacting to a commanding aura while Grillby simply talked in code… you think. You didn’t know a lot of army code and stuff, to be honest. Just didn’t interest you strangely enough.

“Mostly… but he kept me warm… kept me fed… and protected me…” Frisk sighed, eyes glazing over. “He taught some songs… and how to dodge… also how to survive…”

“When did he pass away?”

“…Ten years ago?”

…

Shit.

Like… seriously, shit.

Ten years ago?! She was more by herself than her family. Shit, no wonder she was so sad. She barely had her own father for long

And you whined about being embarrassed.

Talk about being put into perspective.

“You were on the streets alone since you were ten?”

Frisk nodded.

“Did you stay in one place or kept moving as well?”

“Moved. Couldn’t stay in one place…”

“Why?”

“…” Frisk fidgeted a bit. You furrowed your brows. Did you touch a touchy subject?

“You okay?”

“They didn’t want me there…” Frisk muttered, a hint of frustration in her tone. “Always fought me… to get me out…”

“They beat you up?!”

Reddish brown eyes glared at you. “I’m not weak. Used my training… beat them…”

you raised a brow and snorted. Figured. Frisk was inhumanly strong for her size. You could see her take down some thugs three times her size. “And you just kept going until you got here?”

“…I guess…”

Your second brow raised. You got a feeling that she wasn’t telling you something. “Want to elaborate on that?”

Frisk shrugged. “Not much to say…”

You looked at her, but she didn’t continue. “Alright? Thank you for telling me this. Sadly, I don’t have much to say back.”

“Why not?” Frisk tilted her head in confusion. “Don’t know your past…”

“Because it’s boring.” You cut another piece to eat, absent-mindedly looking at the white cream meringue. “I lived with my family since I was ten until mom and dad divorced four years ago and while mom and I stayed here, dad and Asriel moved to the next city since I wanted to finish at my highschool and Asriel wanted to try a new place. I started working here two years ago and met you what, three months ago?” You chomped on the fork with the cake on it, “See? Nothing interesting.”

“Why divorced?”

You were surprised that Frisk knew what it meant, but probably after working at the diner for a while, you pick up things.

You sighed. “Dad was the former mayor and worked so hard that he never was at home. I complained about it a lot like a little baby so mom became furious with him, accusing him of abandoning his family. He didn’t agree, saying that he was working to give us a better future. Mom got fed up and demanded a divorce. That snapped him out of his illusions alright…”

“Do you see him?”

“No. last week was the first time I had even talked to him in more than half a year. But before that he would come by a lot. Now he is just busy with being a CEO of a gardening company,” You mumbled, mimicking Frisk’s position. “Asriel sees him a lot since he lives with dad at the company building. Dad figured it would be the best way to be with his son and be at work at the same time.” A small hint of enviness entered your voice.

You loved living with your mother and you loved her, but you did miss the comforting enormous presence that was your father. He sure didn’t mind a few hours of silence while he gardened and you knitted.

The complete opposite of mother’s need for noise and activity.

You huffed amusingly. Asriel would have been a better fit to live with mom than you.

“You miss him…”

“He’s my father you know… and mom and Az are a bunch of psychos,” Irony spotted, “So yeah, I do miss the quiet.”

“…It’s not boring…” Frisk raised her head, giving a small smile, “Interesting…”

You regarded her in amusement. “You’re just pushing it now.”

Frisk frowned. “What?”

You chuckled. Welp, can’t have it all. “Never mind.”

You two simply sat there for a little more while, then when you felt the chains of sleep trying to drag you down, you dragged yourself away from the table and said goodbye to the sleepily nodding woman, slipping out of the diner.

“Goodnight, Chara…” You heard Frisk’s sleep-laced voice echo and smiled, beginning your trek back home.

Your feet dragged as you made your way down the street, heading to the deserted street out of habit. You faltered a bit as you recalled Frisk’s request earlier, but then decided that worse come to worst, you’ll just run. You really do need to get your knife back if you want to fight properly…

The old urge was beginning once more to bubble in you, which was strange since it has been barely two weeks since your last fight with Undyne… maybe you’re regressing back to your old self… that’s no good—

“You have fought well, player.”

A sweaty hand on shoulder. A disgusted shudder as breath hits ear.

“My fighting doll.”

Knife placed in hands.

Doors pushed open.

A loud screech.

You stumbled and braced yourself against a rough wall, holding your pounding head as you tried not to puke from the stench still present in your nostrils.

Not again, you thought miserably as you screwed your eyes tightly, trying to breath through the pounding and stench.

“You ‘kay there?” A gruff voice entered your pain hazed brain and suddenly panic overwritten your thoughts. Your body dropped and swirled around, hands bracing on the ground and leg shooting out to bring down the unknown threat.

“WHOA!” A loud crash was heard with a yell of pain accompanied by a yowl of a cat. Your breath was labored and panic still coursed through your veins. You slowly raised your head to stare at the person who startled you.

“Ow… ow ow ow,” The figure sat up, rubbing their head. “Not on mah list of fun.”

“Who are you?” You stood up, taking a step back in case of needing an escape. You were still feeling out of it and you couldn’t risk getting into a fight in your state.

“'tleast polite.” The man mumbled and shook his head, his mane of black hair flinging from side to side. Then he looked up and gave a frown. “Bob’s the name. Yours?”

“Chara,” You took another step back. “What do you want?”

“Can’t be a good n'bor?” Bob shrugged.

You raised a brow. “You are not my neighbor.”

“True that.”

You waited.

Bob sighed and stood up, swaying a bit but then finding his center and simply held his head. “You look lost.”

“I know my way home.”

“Not t'home, homeboy,” Bob looked up with a smirk when you jolted. “Knew you were the kid bea'ing up ev'one.”

“So why ask if I’m okay? I thought everyone wanted out of my way,” You grumbled, beginning to walk away, circling around a sleeping man covered with a lumpy blanket.

Bob followed you. “Boss seems t'like you. You can’t be all that bad then.”

Boss? Wasn’t that the guy the clown face mentioned had left a while ago? How could you be his favorite if you had never even met the guy? You stopped and turned to the man. “I thought he had left two months ago?”

“He?” Bob gave a gruff laugh. “Nah-uh, kid. Boss is a girly.”

A girl?! You stared at him in shock. Bob laughed. “I know. Pre'y funny, ain’t it?” Well, if that boss was anything like Frisk, then you wouldn’t be laughing. You shrugged. “Well, I guess thank you for the help and I’m sorry for kicking you. But it’s pretty late.”

“No problem, homeboy. Tell boss we miss her,” Bob waved and slinked away, a loud cat yowling following as a small dirt matted white cat appeared and rushed after Bob.

You stared at the vacant space left behind the man. What the hell was that?

Such a random encounter…

Well, at least you felt a bit better than before. You hopped over a pile of eaten pizza and exited the street, the streetlights hitting your eyes and making your head explode again.

So much for a reprieve…

You took a moment on one of the benches to gather yourself before resuming your long, long trek home.

You were so tired…

You tossed and turned on your bed, feeling like you were burning yet it was so cold. images kept flashing behind your eyelids and you felt as if you were drowning.

Your hand tried reaching for something. You had no idea what it was, but you needed it. You had to have it. You can’t survive without it.

You… you…

Help…

“Player! Help! Save me!”

Scuffle. Running.

“PLEASE!”

Hiding. Small space. Wet. Mold. Hide. Hide. Run away.

“PLAYER!!”

Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Got to run away.

Can’t fight anymore.

“He ran that way!”

“IT HURTS! PLEASE!!”

A hole. Slip. Run. Noise fading.

Freedom.

Alone.

Your breath hitched and you begun coughing, curling into yourself as your body shuddered with the force of the coughing. You felt some bile come up but managed to swallow it back, holding your splitting open head.

Tears pushed up your throat as a deep sense of guilt and helplessness hit your chest. You gritted your teeth and reached out for the bottle of painkillers you asked your mother to get for you, downing a tablet and lying back down, hoping for a reprieve soon from the pain.

You tried to take a deep breath only to begin coughing again, clasping a hand over your mouth as the bile came back up. You forced yourself out of your bed and stumbled to the bathroom, managing to barely reach to the toilet before everything came up.

You fell onto your knees as dizziness hit you and more bile came up. you retched and coughed as ice-cold shivers ran up your body.

Finally, after what seemed like eons, you got through the fit and coughed softly, trying to breath through your mouth deeply because of the horrible smell of your puke.

Your placed your hands on the toilet seat and rested your head on them, the slick sweat on your forehead meeting your hands causing you to shudder again.

The darkness of the bathroom told you that it was still the middle of the night so the weariness weighing you down was explained.

But why were you so sick? The headaches and now the puking. Did you get hit by a flu or something? Your head was still spinning so you tried to focus on the white color of the toilet, trying to ignore the burning in your throat and head.

You slowly managed to get up on your shaking feet and flushed down the toilet, walking to the sink and splashing water on your face. Then you quickly relieved yourself before walking to the couch, not in the mood to be in your bed.

Fortunately your mother wasn’t there so you simply crashed onto the couch and in moments fell into a deep sleep.

NEXT