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“Why do they do that?” Frisk asks, scrambling over a fallen pillar in the RUINs that Chara just simply floats over.
“Do what?” He (?) asks back, looking behind him… (her? Frisk still can’t tell or understand) to look at Frisk, brows furrowed in confusion. They think back to the Whimsum they just encountered, and try to remember if they’d done anything weird.
“The monsters. They uh. They don’t call me he? Or she? They just….” Frisk jumps down finally, hitting the ground harder than they’d expected, but landing on their feet anyways. They stumble forward a bit, and Chara doesn’t bother moving to help them. “They call me they . Not like….” They search for the words and they don’t come. Instead they just hold out their upturned hands in a confused gesture. “It’s… just not normal, I guess. It’s different.”
“But good different, right?” Chara says, blinking at them. Frisk blinks back, and they stand there for a moment, thinking. Then they nod.
“Monsters aren’t very good at human gender, I don’t think.” Chara says after a moment of silence, when they realize Frisk is done talking. “You’re not the only one who’s only ever referred to as ‘they’ by them. It’s all humans. Very few have corrected them. I guess they must have liked it too.”
“Were you one of them?” Frisk asks, after Chara has already turned around to keep moving forward. They turn to look at Frisk in confusion. Frisk elaborates. “The humans that… preferred ‘they.’ Should… should I call you that too? Would you like that?”
Chara is at a loss for words for a moment, just blinking red eyes at Frisk for a while. For a bit there, they think she (he????)— no, they might just not answer. A strange look comes across their face, and they finally say quietly…
“Yes. I would, actually.” They pause a moment, seeming to deliberate on something before speaking once more. “And you? Would you… prefer to be called something else?”
“What?” Frisk blinks, startled somehow by the script flipping, by Chara returning to favor and asking them the same question they had them. They wait, standing, (floating, sorry, they’re technically floating just slightly above the ground; their feet never touch the leaves beneath their feet.), there, simply waiting for their response. It feels almost rehearsed, this politeness. Indeed based on them tapping their finger on one of their arms, they are most certainly not patient by any means. “Is it… um. Is it hard to tell?” They ask, unable to name the strange feeling that blossoms in their chest at the thought. A flavor of comfort, maybe?
“Yes.” Chara says this simply, with no emotion, and that strange warmth surges in Frisk again, confusing them. They’re.. pleased by this, actually. It’s not the first time, but.. well, it’s different anyways. Like when you get close to a stove versus being in the same room as it… they feel closer to the reason.
“Really??”
“….I think you’re grossly underestimating how long it’s been since I’ve been subjected to traditional human gender stereotypes.”
“Right. Probably. Um.” Frisk still stands there, unmoving, pouring over this new train of thought. “I.. w-well. I don’t know…”
Chara looks at them pityingly. Like they think Frisk is stupid or something, Frisk doesn’t have the time to defend themself before Chara is explaining (unnecessarily a bit more slowly), “I have been referring to you as ‘they’. Would you prefer to be called something else? You are familiar with language, right? Pronouns? Things in place of your name? It? They? He? She?” Chara mutters under their breath, asking themself what on earth humans are teaching children these days.
“I know what pronouns are; I’m ELEVEN , not stupid!” Frisk scowls at them. Chara just shrugs and snipes back. “Could have fooled me.” Frisk huffs, but decides to leave it alone. They’re quickly realizing trying to out-smartmouth Chara is futile anyways.
“Anyways, it’s not that. It’s just.. I don’t know. I don’t mind any of them. I like all of them, honestly. Maybe some more than the others, but… I still like them all.” Frisk explains, and Chara looks thoughtful, like they hadn’t realized this was an option. Hm. Maybe outsmarting them isn’t as hard as Frisk thought.
“I suppose all of them is technically an option, isn’t it? Lazy, but fair. All of them it is, then.” Chara muses, and Frisk once again is stuck defending herself. “It’s not LAZY !” He says irritably, but there’s really no heat behind their voice, as they pick up their stick and keep going.