determinedest | ic inbox

[Luckily for Frisk, Chara has honored the truce between the two of them: no killing each other in their sleep.

In fact, as a token of goodwill, they've done something to make Frisk's room feel a bit more like Home. Just like Toriel used to do. While Frisk slept, Chara quietly set down a plate in the middle of the rug.

It's not pie. It's a big pile of buttercups. Bon appetit!]

Tidy your room up, Frisk. I cannot believe you allow it to get so unkempt.

[Someone -- and I'm not naming any names, because it could have been anyone -- has torn the room apart looking for the Real Knife. If the locket is here, then it must be too. They had no luck finding it, but it wasn't for lack of trying. Drawers have been pulled out, dumped on the floor, then tossed haphazardly aside. Frisk's mattress is halfway across the room. One of the stuffed toys has had its head ripped clean off and its cottony guts strewn about.

The head, for the record, can be found in Frisk's sock drawer.]

That's not funny.

[They stopped keeping the dagger in their room once it became clear Chara wouldn't rest until they'd located it. Burying it near the place where Frisk initially arrived (the only way they thought they might remember) is far from a permanent solution, but it's all they could think of in short notice.

It takes them a few hours to get everything back into order. They don't discard the poor decapitated stuffed animal, though they do bury it in one of their drawers to possibly be stitched together later.

Thanks, Chara.]

Really? I think it's hilarious.

Now where is the knife.

Not here. I didn't bring it with me.

[Lies.]

I'm from the same timeline as you, Frisk. I saw you take it in New Home. You couldn't hide things from me when I was always there.

But. If you're going to be a little liar, then so be it. I'll find it sooner or later.

And lots of things get lost when you're going from one place to another. Wonderland must have decided I wouldn't need it.

Not convinced. Wonderland never would have let you summon me if it didn't think you needed weapons.

I didn't summon you. How many times do we have to go over this?

[Singsong, playful, mocking:] I don't beliieeeve you.

Maybe you didn't call my name consciously. But I'm dead, Frisk. I would not exist again if it was not for a reason. The exact sort of reason that let you bring that knife here -- and I'm sure it did, don't lie. The sort of reason, perhaps, that inspired you to tell Sans all about me.

I told him about you because I knew he'd remember it. That was all.

You're lying to me about the knife. I already know you won't tell me the truth about this, either.

What I don't understand, Frisk, is why. You cling to this ruse so hard. You don't want me to be a weapon. You didn't bring me here, not for that. Things can be different.

But you warned him. Didn't you? I said my name and he knew right away. He knew to fear me. You don't really believe in second chances at all.

I explained to him why things were different all the time. Why I would help people in one timeline and hurt people in another.

You know he remembers some of it. He would've figured it out anyway.

[Why they would help people in one timeline. Because of Frisk. Why they would hurt people in another. Because of Chara. The easiest explanation in the world. That's how it must have gone. How else would they explain it?]

Of course he would have. It's not your fault if he hated me from the moment he heard my name, is it? No. Can't be helped. Some things are just meant to be.

You know that's not what I meant.

I just didn't want to lie to him.

[And it's hard to think ahead when you haven't made a SAVE. Or when you're too scared to.]

And yet you seem to have no problem whatsoever with lying to me.

I think you're making a false equivalency. Sans didn't try to kill me.

[He tried to kill Chara, and he might not have been one hundred percent aware of the difference at that point in time, but the deviation still stands.]

[It makes them angry. If they died, Frisk died too. Sans thought it WAS Frisk. You'd be dead where you stand, he always whispered, even when Frisk played their little game as innocently as possible.

And was it really only Chara? Didn't Frisk still have enough control to RESET before things got to the point of no return? Who gives them the right to draw that line?

...Chara does. Of course they do. It's me, Chara. Not still just you. They understand their purpose. They did not claim that SOUL, so they remain the humble servant. They made their own choice long ago.]

Yes. Of course. He spared you. Did he not? Just like all those other friends who you would never want to lie to. The ones who surely wouldn't be evil enough to try and kill you.

Stop it.

[Their voice catches treacherously.

Stupid. Stupid and childish. But they can't think of anything else to say.]

Just stay out of my stuff.

You crybaby.

You certainly never stopped yourself from snooping in my stuff.

[A locket. A knife. A picture of a flower. An old photograph. Dusty toys that Chara certainly didn't play with, but they weren't Frisk's either.]

[An uncomfortable realization they came to a little while ago, in all honesty.]

We're separate now. I won't do that anymore.

Not even if I'm hiding knives?

I already know you're hiding knives. You didn't exactly make a secret of it.

And it's extremely liberating. You should try being honest about it too.

So you can kill everyone?

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[action, nighttime feb. 1]

[audio, feb. 3. daily dose of Fun and Caring Roomie ahead]

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