Chapter 1: 0. Repurpose
Chapter Text
Darkness.
Foggy, pulsating darkness.
A place where those who fall into the blinding cracks of reality will be torn through atom by atom and erased from memory while the outside world lives on.
A place where none will remember you, where your very existence no longer exists.
A place where a fascinating experiment could take place, overseeing a whole new world made by your hand.
ARE YOU THERE?
ARE WE CONNECTED?
A bright red began to manifest in the quiet dark void, and in it appeared a feathered figure curled into itself. Long quilled feathers wrapped themselves snug around you, the tips of the wings shaping into a curve. You felt your eyes beginning to flutter open, shining light breaking free from the curtains of your eyelids. You yawned, stretching your body out to try and squeeze away the remnants of sleep still in your system. Three rows of tendril-like arms slowly sprouted from your body, followed by spindly legs. Your wings spread, relieving some of the tension in the joints. You blink your star-like eyes drowsily and look around.
You had finally woken up.
EXCELLENT.
TRULY EXCELLENT.
The voice. He is the one who called you here. A being who was just conceived almost a century ago, and yet has seen multiple different pools with the streams of fate being led by your hand. But this. This wasn’t like anything you have seen before. It wasn’t the same pool with the chipper song accompanying you while you named The Fallen Human. It made you even more curious about the one who summoned you.
You had a small feeling about who this might be.
NOW.
WE MAY BEGIN.
With a flap of your wings, you flew back as an assembly of greyscale body parts, clothes, and accessories appeared before you. You tilt your head at the display with confusion before a wave of excitement begins to fill your chest.
“Wait.” Your voice echoed throughout the vast expanse of the void. “Is this…?!” Before you could say anything more, the voice spoke out once again.
YOU MUST
CREATE A VESSEL.
A loud gasp escapes you, followed by joyous squeals. A vessel! A VESSEL!! You get to make your own character for this new world! Elated, your hands began to reach out to all the different body parts and began to assemble your ideal vessel. Pushing aside the skinny and lanky limbs, you reached for the thicker and rounder ones, holding a pair of arms in one row of hands and a pair of legs in another. Your last row of hands held up a chubby torso and then, like assembling a puppet, pressed the limbs against it. The joints click together with a flash of red connecting each of them. There we are! Now it looks like a grey headless mannequin.
Speaking of heads.
SELECT THE HEAD
THAT YOU PREFER.
Don’t have to tell you twice!
You looked up at the gallery of disembodied heads that ranged from sharp chins to fat baby cheeks. You reach up and gently grasp a head with rounded cheeks, your fingers grazing the fat before delicately placing it with the rest of its body. You took a moment to admire your vessel, adoration blossoming in your chest as it started to come together. Your hand touches the smoothness of it, the tips of your fingers emitting a soft glow before you comb your way through its scalp. An abundance of coil locs bouncing up from your fingers before resting against the frame of its face. You took another moment to admire it.
“Beautiful.” You whisper to yourself. “Absolutely, beautiful.”
SELECT THE TORSO
THAT YOU PREFER.
An array of clothes appeared before you, time to dress up your vessel!
You smiled and guided your vessel to the clothing options. It stood motionless in its spot as you held up multiple articles of clothing. All of them were striped shirts with double lines across them. Hmm, you didn’t like the short-sleeved ones, and the sweaters were too plain for your liking. You liked the look of this zip-up hoodie, though. It had stripes like the rest of them, but one was skinnier while the one on the bottom was bigger. You smiled and placed it on your vessel, spinning it around to get a better look.
“So cute!”
SELECT THE LEGS
THAT YOU PREFER.
Hm. All of these are the same.
Okay.
THIS IS YOUR BODY.
DO YOU ACCEPT IT?
“Yes!” You couldn’t take your eyes off it.
EXCELLENT.
YOU HAVE CREATED A WONDERFUL FORM.
You think so too.
NOW.
LET US SHAPE ITS MIND AS YOUR OWN.
WHAT IS ITS FAVORITE FOOD?
SWEET
SOFT
SOUR
SALTY
PAIN
COLD
These were…odd options. It’s probably nothing.
You were always a fan of sweet stuff, so you’ll go with that one.
YOUR FAVORITE BLOOD TYPE?
A
AB
B
C
D
Uh. Again, these are odd options. AB sounds more convenient.
WHAT COLOR DOES IT LIKE THE MOST?
RED
BLUE
GREEN
CYAN
Ooh, this one is more like it! Let’s go with Red.
PLEASE GIVE IT A GIFT.
KINDNESS
MIND
AMBITION
BRAVERY
VOICE
Well, if you are going to be in this new world and be a part of the story, then you have to be brave enough to face whatever is in your way!
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR CREATION?
(IT WILL NOT HEAR.)
LOVE
HOPE
DISGUST
FEAR
You smile softly at your body, reaching out to gently place a hand on its cheek. You let out a gasp when you felt it lean against your palm, a spark igniting in your chest as you let out a soft giggle.
“I feel love toward it.”
HAVE YOU ANSWERED HONESTLY?
YES
NO
“I have answered honestly.”
YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THE POSSIBILITY
OF PAIN AND SEIZURE?
YES
NO
Uhm. Yes?
UNDERSTOOD.
NAME YOUR VESSEL.
You get to name it!? Oh, this is so exciting! What should you name it?
Vessel isn’t a good name to have; you don’t want its entire existence just to hinge on that. This will be you after all. You should have a nice name that everyone on this adventure should remember.
“Its name will be ‘Ketch’.”
WE CALLED IT “KETCH.”
AND WHAT ABOUT
THE CREATOR?
You? You look over your body.
“Hey there, Ketch.” You spoke softly to it, your hands reaching out to hold its hand.
It slowly reached for one of your hands, pressing its smaller palm against your larger one. It felt freezing against the everlasting warmth of your skin, but you didn’t care. All you could think about was all the exciting adventures you were going to have with it. All the excitement, all the comedy, all the tension. You were ready for it. You were ready to go through it with Ketch.
“My name is SOUL. I can’t wait to play with you.” Its hand twitched against your palm.
“SOUL.”
EXCELLENT.
TRULY
EXCELLENT.
“SOUL.”
That’s when you felt it. Your wings wrap around yourself, and you curl into a form smaller and more compact. Your bright eyes soon disappeared, and the feathers of your wings flattened into a smooth texture.
THANK YOU
FOR YOUR TIME.
All that was left of you was your rows of arms, which shrank to the size of strings along with you, as they curled around the arms of your vessel. It looks down at you, its arms open and ready for you to join into its hollow form. It was ready to become one with you.
YOUR ANSWERS
You crawled closer to its chest, your being glowing a bright red.
YOUR WONDERFUL CREATION
It was all so sudden.
The cold hands of your vessel were ripped away from you, your arms nearly torn from how harsh the separation was. Wait, what!? What was going on!? Where was-
Will now be
Discarded.
That wasn’t the same voice as before. It was different, entirely foreign. Who was this?
“What did you do to my vessel!?” You exclaimed into the void, your arms lashing about where your vessel used to be. But you received no answer.
No one can choose
who they are
in this world.
WHAT!? No, no, NO! Where are they!? What was the purpose of any of this!? Where is their body!?
You felt your vision fading into a bright light, your arms retracted back into yourself. You suddenly felt weaker, smaller, vulnerable. No, this…This isn’t what you wanted.
Your
Name
Is
.
..
…
Wind blew against their ears, and they could feel through the empty hole in their chest. Their limbs flowed limply against the air around them. Their face was blank, devoid of any emotion. They lay there along with the pulsating darkness that was present. They had been thrown away, ripped apart from the one they were made for.
They could still feel your warmth. They could still see the way you looked at them, eyes holding a soft light as you caressed their cheek.
Their creator. The culmination of who they were supposed to be. Was gone.
And now, they lie here. Floating amongst the darkest pit of whatever this realm was.
And they were cold.
So, so cold.
THERE YOU ARE.
A WONDERFUL CREATION
LEFT TO WITHER IN THE CACSEYMS
OF THE FORGOTTEN.
They didn’t speak.
A MARVELOUS SPECIMEN
AN EMPTY PUPPET WITHOUT
ITS PUPPETEER.
EVEN IF THERE IS A CHANCE
TO SEE THEM AGAIN.
They felt themselves turn their head, their fingers twitching and legs kicking.
There was…a chance?
A CHANCE TO MEET YOUR CREATOR.
TO BE WITH THEM AGAIN.
…They can get to be with you again. The SOUL. Your warmth. They wanted to feel it again.
YOU CAN HAVE THAT CHANCE
YOUNG VESSEL.
PROTECT THE ONE ‘
THAT YOU WERE MADE FOR.
Yes.
BUT
YOU CANNOT BECOME ONE.
YOU WILL BECOME THAT OF YOUR OWN.
AN EMPTY BEING WITH A NEW PURPOSE
OF GUARDING YOUR CREATOR.
Yes, yes.
WILL YOU TAKE THAT CHANCE?
Yes, yes! Anything to get back to you. Anything to feel your warmth again.
Please.
They have to be with you again.
They were your vessel.
VERY WELL.
GO NOW, YOUNG VESSEL.
I AM SORRY. I WILL USE
YOUR NAME.
GO
NOW
I can give you all that you’ve wished for.
Adventure.
Excitement.
New friends. New allies.
A whole other world for you to explore and gain more power.
It can all be yours.
You just need to make this one promise to me. Okay.
Chapter 2: 1. Move In Day
Summary:
A city teen moves into a small monster town.
They find out that packing peanuts aren't actually peanuts.
Chapter Text
Three loud thuds knock against the metal walls of the moving man.
“KETCH!” A low-pitched voice called from the outside.
Inside the caverns within the trunk were bundles of boxes stacked on top of each other, surrounding a huge box sitting front and center. The sudden noise from outside caused the box to jolt in place, but it didn’t make any more movements.
“Ketch, honey, we finally made it to the house. You can come out now!”
The box stayed stagnant, feeling too tired to stand up and walk out of the van. Just give them another five minutes…
Another trio of thuds knocks against the walls of the moving man. This time, a deeper voice called from the outside.
“You should see the lawn space this has, Ketchie! It’s a whole 2,388 square feet!”
…2,388 square feet, huh?
“Comiingg...”
The box shuffled in place a few times before the flaps burst open, a pair of thick arms shooting out from the mint monoliths of packing peanuts. Hands grip the sides of the box before pulling up a rather grey-faced teen. No, literally. They were grey in the face; in fact, they were grey everywhere. Some skin condition or something. Please, don’t ask them about it. Packing peanuts spilled from the box as Ketch pushed themselves out, and small chunks of minty foam clung to their body. They were disappointed to find out that the peanuts weren’t actually minty in flavor or real peanuts, but they were nice to chew on during the ride from Peach County to here. Ketch grabbed a few peanuts from their person and popped them in their mouth, walking to the front of the trunk. They reached up to brush off the ones that were in their hair, but stopped once they realized that their beanie wasn’t on their head.
Making a quick reverse, they backward-speed walk to the box and dig through it in search of their beloved headwear. Soon enough, they found their beanie covered in peanuts, but with a good shake, they were gone.
Carefully, they adjusted their beanie back on their head before heading off to the front of the trunk. The brightness of the sun attacked Ketch’s eyes so hard that they nearly tripped on their way out of the moving van. Not that their parents noticed.
“Can you believe it, my blossoming rosebud? A whole house just for us!” Exclaimed a short and stout man with orchids resting on his beard of vines and hair of tree branches.
“Oh, my glorious flower pedal. I’ve never thought we’d ever unlock this moment in our lives!” Cooed a tall and slender woman whose head was of a giant blossomed rose with a pink face near the bottom of her petals.
Ketch tried to pay attention to the moderately sized front lawn. There were a lot of leaf piles on the ground.
“And it’s all thanks to you, my extravagant queen!”
“Oh, Orca~!”
“Oh, Rosetta~!”
“Oh, brother,” Ketch muttered under their breath, their eyes rolling at the public display of affection taking place. It wasn’t unusual for their parents to be obnoxiously lovey-dovey with one another in front of Ketch; it was just really annoying to see all the time. The couple’s flowery pink aura fades when they both turn to Ketch, their smiles still present but with less energy to them. Rosetta clasps her leaves together, “There you are, Ketch. I was thinking that you would never get out of the van.” Ketch shoved their hands in their pockets. “The box was comfy, though the nuts in there weren’t really nuts.” They open their mouth to show her the chewed-up, saliva-covered gumwad of what used to be packing peanuts. “It wahfnt memt falva etha.” Rosetta reeled back, an upward curve reaching her lips. Orca’s leaves ruffled, raising a claw to his mouth to cover up a small chuckle.
Rosetta raised her leaves to cover up the gross display of spit-covered foam, her thorn necklace clinking together. “Ugh, Ketch, get that filthy thing out of your mouth before someone sees you!” Her large black eyes dart around the front lawn and the road in front of the house. There was nobody near the newly bought home, but if you squint hard enough and look up the road, you could see a single monster person walking across the street. Heavy crowd. Ketch leaned to the side, ready to spit the foam wad fall to the ground, but then their dad piped in.
“UPUPUP! Not near the grass, Ketchie, it’s brand new!” Chided Orca. Oh, right, of course. Their nut foam will tarnish the grass. Ketch moved to the sidewalk.
“The TRASH BIN, child!” Came in Rosetta. Okay, to the trash can.
“Recycling bin, sprout!” You know what, maybe they should just swallow this thing.
Grumbling, Ketch shuffled over to the recycling bin, which was next to the trash bin, and leaned down before spitting out the wad of mass with the velocity of a western cowboy spitting into a bucket. They turned back to their parents with their hands still stuffed in their pockets. The couple walked over to stand with Ketch, hands held lovingly, while it hid behind their back.
The family finally took a moment to look up at their new home together. It was a modest-looking house, way better than their old place back in Peach State. Instead of a brick exterior, the wooden walls were painted dusty blue with black roof tiles. Gone were the 30 elevated floors of $3,300 a month; now was a simple two-story house with a chimney and a gardening shed in the backyard. It also had a porch at the front door. Ketch hums while Rosetta and Orca have big smiles on their faces. The outside looks promising, sure, but the dealbreaker is whether the rooms are bigger or not.
“Looks pretty good.” Said Ketch, staring up at the chimney with focused eyes. “Do you think I can climb down the chimney and set traps for when Saint Nicholas shows up?” Rosetta sends them a sharp stare while Orca begins to laugh. “We are NOT doing this again, Ketch. Don’t even think about setting mouse traps in the fireplace again.” Orca wiped a tear from his eye, “Oooh, the time you stuffed all the fire pokes up will always be a classic. You’re so inventive, Ketchie.” A small grin made its way on Ketch’s face as the memory replayed in their mind. Too bad that they were kicked out of the sleepover they were in when it happened. “Almost caught his ass right where I wanted him, too. Then everyone started crying when they found out.” They had no idea why, either! They were just about to prove that the red bastard was real, but before they knew it, they were standing outside with their daisy backpack.
“Ah, enough of all that! It’s time to forget about the past and think about the now.” Rosetta smiled and gestured to the house, “A new opportunity for a Perfect new life is right in front of us. It would be unwise to keep it waiting.”
Orca dug into his pocket and held up a key. “Well, what are we waiting for?! Let's mosey on in!” With that, he gallops towards the front door and heads inside. Rosetta smiles softly and follows him inside. Ketch stood in the walkway, looking up at all the autumn trees that surrounded the house. It was 6 in the morning when they drove off to leave Peach State. It was the afternoon now.
It was a beautiful day outside.
The wind blew against the trees, causing them to shiver and shed their leaves. A gentle shower of orange and yellow began to fall from their branches and join the piles on the grass. Ketch didn’t pay any mind to it, walking up to the front door of the house, but something fluttered down from one of the trees in the corner of their eye. They turn to see a vibrant red maple leaf dancing in the air, their eyes following its twirls and flips as it descends towards the porch railing. Ketch reached out before it could touch the railing, the leaf now on the light side of their palm. It was fairly healthy. The lobes were deep, and there weren’t any tears in the veins.
The stem was long enough to twirl in their fingers. And the color. It was a harsh contrast to their greyscale skin; it was as if a ruby was encased in cold, dark rock.
Like a light glowing in the dark.
Ketch ran a thumb against its leaves before gently pocketing it into their hoodie. They turn to enter the house.
WOW, it looked like the inside of an office building with how much beige was on the walls. That was the first thing Ketch clocked, and they could help but recede into their hoodie collar. Maybe they can convince their parents to paint the walls a different color, like dark white.
Or a rich mud.
Ketch spun on their heels to look around at the rest of what they assumed would be the living room area. It was large and empty, with the occasional placeholder photos of random families on the walls. Then there it was, right in the middle of the living room, the fireplace.
That red fucks point of entry.
Ketch marched up to the fireplace before popping a squat to get a closer look at it. It was empty, with the only thing left inside being ash and… slime residue? Maybe the people who used to live here were slime monsters. Maybe Ketch can use it to burn off Saint Nicholas’ ass clean off his coal-chucking posterior. They need to make preparations for winter in a few months. They WILL catch sleighriding COCKBRAIN.
“Stop glaring at the fireplace, you’ll get wrinkles!” Rosetta said from the foyer, her hands on her billowing, blossomed hips. “Actually look around the house instead of plotting 'tactical strategies' on a man who only comes once a year.” Shaking her head with a sigh, Rosetta went upstairs, leaving Ketch back to their scouring devices. Ketch shot the fireplace one more glance before standing up, looking over at the mantle. There was a thin layer of dust covering the surface, along with a propped stock photo showing a monster family of three with a meadow backdrop. They were all hugging each other and sending kisses to their bright-eyed child. Ketch reached up and laid the photo down flat before turning away to head towards the foyer.
Their eyes trailed the winding staircase leading up to the second floor, where their mom is. She was probably planning where all their stuff would be. Nah, she is. They could hear her meticulously talking to herself about where her and their dad’s tanning lamp would be in their room. Ketch looked past the kitchen towards-
Holy shit, is that a deck!? The house has a backyard deck!?
Jogging to the sliding doors, Ketch pushed them aside and ran over to the railing of the deck. A small giggle left them as they looked around the backyard before catching sight of their dad checking out the yard. He seems to be muttering, walking up and down the backyard in perfect lines.
“Hey, Dad!” Ketch shouted, leaning against the railing, “Check out this deck! You could see the mountains from up here!”
“That’s great, Ketchie,” Orca replied, eyes still not leaving the grass.
Ketch threw their arms over the railing, leaning their entire upper body against it. “It would be cool if we could bust out some speakers and coolers for it.” They eyed down Orca with narrow eyes.
“Speakers, yeah, speakers. Maybe need to ask your mother about that.” He was stroking his beard.
Ketch frowned.
“And, ya know, maybe have a cookout sometime-”
“A cookout! Oh, hahaha! Ketchie, remember the time you accidentally burnt the Jackersons' hot dogs at the lake party! Gravy. That was timeless!” He let out a big belly laugh as he recounted that summer memory. Ketch glanced away from him, pulling themselves up from the railing.
“Yeah, Dad, I remember. You always remind me any chance you get.” They muttered the last half to themselves while Orca began to wind down from his laughter. He wipes a tear from his cheek with a sigh, “Funny times that was.”
“Yeah…”
“Down on down here for sec, sprout!”
Ketch pushed themselves off the railing and walked down the steps of the deck. The grass crunched under their shoes as they stood beside Orca, looking with him at the backyard.
“It’s bigger than the front yard.” Orca pointed at the grass.
“How big?”
“3,218 square feet.”
“Is that including the shed?”
“Yup!”
“What’s the pH?”
“Haven’t checked yet.” Orca sent them a grin. “Want to give it a go?”
Ketch sucked their teeth, leaning back while glancing up at the second-floor windows. “Mom doesn’t like me doing that anymore, I’m not sure.” Orca gave them a playful jab to the side. “C’mooon now, your mother’s busy lookin’ at the rooms. She won’t see you, go on now.” Ketch gave him an uncertain look, and he replied by happily gesturing to the grass. They gave it a second to think about it before saying Why not, for old times' sake. They went down on their knees and touched the dirt, feeling the blades of grass bend between their fingers. They then grabbed a handful of dirt and scooped it out from the ground before raising it to their face. First, they sniffed it.
Smells earthy. As dirt smells.
They brought the handful of dirt towards their lips.
Liiiicckk.
Tastes like silt-
“KETCH FLORENCE!!”
Ketch flinched at the sound of their mother's voice from behind, the dirt dropping from their hand. They snap around to see Rosetta staring at them from one of the windows, her grip on the windowsill tight. Orca was bursting into a fit of laughter at Ketch’s mortified expression as they were caught red-handed. Ketch quickly shot back up on their feet, wiping their hand on their pants in a rush.
“WHAT did I say about EATING DIRT!?”
“I was just-”
“Not. Another. Word. Ketch, just,” Rosetta lets out a deep sigh. “Come upstairs. We need to talk, now.” Rosetta gave them one sharp stare before walking away from the window. Ketch looked down at the grass in front of them, their hands clenched together. Orca let out a few snorts, laying a wooden claw on their arm. They tense up in his light grip.
“Oooh, sprout. You better get up there, you know how your mother gets when she has to wait for ya.” They gave a light scoff, glancing away from him. “Just try and settle down with her, yeah? Try thinking about that when you and she went apple pickin’ together.” He let out a whimsical sigh. “Her petals were gorgeous that day.”
Ketch pulled away from him and began to make heavy steps back to the house.
“Oh, Ketchie!” Orca called out to them, causing them to stop midway up the stairs. “What was the pH balance of the soil?”
They looked away. “7.”
A bright smile appeared on his face. “Now, we’re cooking!”
Ketch made it up the stairs, slowly looking around at the rooms around them. One of the doors to the left was open while the rest were closed. To the right, a door was open, leading into the master bedroom where Rosetta stood on the balcony. Ketch took a deep breath and made their way towards her. The wood creaked under them as they stood next to Rosetta, looking out at the road in front of the house where the moving van was. They could practically feel the oncoming lecture emanating from her. They didn’t want to hear one right now. They tried to think about what their dad said and remembered the time when they and their mom went apple picking.
They remembered trying to stuff a bunch of apples in their shirt while their mom was picking out all the ripe apples in the orchard. She was laughing when they showed her all the apples they got, but they didn’t get to keep theirs. Instead, they kept the apples Rosetta picked out. Said that they were more ripe than the apples that they picked. They were sweeter than the ones they chose. They were more Perfect than the ones that they chose.
The pie they made would’ve been less good if they had made it with their apples.
Ketch’s shoulders slumped.
Rosetta stared out into the woods. “Ketch, do remember what we talked about before we moved?” Her voice was firm, a tone Ketch was well familiar with. They glance away from her, their hands making their way to their pockets.
“Something about you getting a swanky new job that’s in the northern states.”
“Ketch.”
“Then it was something about living in this new house in a little mountain town that's all monsters.”
“Ketch.”
“And then you and Dad made out in the supply closet-”
“KETCH.”
“What!? It’s true!”
Rosetta took a deep breath and turned to look down at Ketch. Her eyes held a certain type of stress. “I meant our talk about starting over, Ketch. This is a brand new beginning for all of us, for me, for your father, and for you.” Ketch’s eyes were focused on the moving van. They felt a leafy hand gently rest on their shoulder. “And this ‘swanky job’ is going to help us live the best we’ve ever been, but it’s only one part of it.” She grasps their chin, guiding them to look up at her. “Things back in Peach State might not have been ideal for us, but it doesn’t need to be like that anymore.” Ketch felt themselves sink into their hood, staring up at her.
“We need you now more than ever, Ketch. This is the time to be a new you.” She turned them towards her with a small smile gracing her face. Oh, here we go.
“You can finally gain some friends.” It wasn’t that easy, they wanted to say. “Respectful friends,” It’s not like they haven’t tried. “Friends who are clean and proper,” No one wants to talk to them, no matter how much they try. “Friends with a high GPA that’ll help you be on track with your school work.” They tried to keep up with it all, “and know when to take their shoes off when they enter the house.” Rosetta’s hand gently grazes their cheek; it feels cooler than before. She goes to move some locks away near their eye, “You can look more presentable, maybe try out some of the clothes I brought you. Bring more color to your palette.” She brushes off the nonexistent dust from their jacket. The colors were just a constant reminder to them. A weird, twisty feeling emerged in their stomach whenever Ketch would think about it. A feeling they just want to rip out and throw away.
But as their mom spoke to them.
“Have interests that other kids like that aren't Santa trapping, dirt eating, or eating things with only your mouth.” She looked them in the eye, her grip on their shoulders tightening for a moment. “And no random outbursts.”
A thought seeped into their mind.
“So, please. Take this chance to be a new you. Okay?”
This was a chance for them to be a new you.
“Then everything will be Perfect.”
A Perfect You.
“Right. Yeah.”
Ketch blinked when they felt a kiss being placed on their forehead. Rosetta pats their head and let out a relieved sigh, “Glad we can have that talk. Again. Your room is down the hall to the left, and unless you want it to become a storage room, I suggest you get your stuff from the van.” And with that, Rosetta leaves the master bedroom and heads downstairs. Ketch watched as she left before reaching up to grab the rim of their beanie. They pulled it down to their face, and a loud, muffled groan escaped them for a few minutes before they went silent. They moved their beanie back on their head, their eyes more tired than before. Mom always wanted things to go right for them, even if those things were mad annoying. But, they can’t be annoyed at her; she was doing the best that she could for them.
She was their mom. She did everything for them.
Ketch looked back at the moving van. Well, at least they didn’t have much stuff to move.
There were fewer boxes in the van than there were before. Dad must’ve gotten most of the stuff out while they were talking to mom. Ketch grabbed a few boxes from their side of the van and began to make their way back into the house. The cool autumn breeze blew against them, causing their steps to falter and their grip on the boxes to tighten before pulling them closer as a shiver traveled throughout their body. Ketch curses the seasonal weather changes, especially during late fall. They were practically an ice cube already. Even if they put on a billion layers of clothes to combat the winds, it still wasn’t enough to fight off the enigma that was their internal body temperature. It was a contrast to their parents, who are both warm-grown plants.
Ketch huffed, ready to step back in the house, but stopped once they saw something approaching in the corner of their eye. Wait, no, it was someone. Two someones. They turned to see a tall reindeer girl with antlers poking from her curly blonde hair, and next to her was a short cat girl with a pink streak going through her pitch-black hair. The reindeer girl had a nervous smile on her face, adjusting the strap of her backpack while the cat girl was clicking away at her phone, her backpack hanging off one shoulder.
“Hi!” Greeted the taller girl once they were standing close enough to Ketch and their boxes. She gave a three-fingered hooved wave to them with a close-eyed smile, “You must be the new family moving into town. My mom mentioned you guys yesterday.” Ketch stared at her. “My name’s Noelle, and this is my friend, Catti.” Noelle gestures to her short cat friend. Ketch looked down at her, but she didn’t look up from her phone. She seemed to be typing up a long message the way she was clicking away at her screen, and a minute went by before she looked up from her phone.
“Hey.” She greeted monotonously. And just like that, she was back on her phone. Ketch blinked, glancing away from the two before looking back at Noelle. Not going to lie, they weren’t expecting to start interacting with people from the jump. They haven’t rehearsed their mental scenarios of how each conversation would go yet.
“Uh, hi.” SHIT, they were messing this up already, “I’m, uh, I’m Ketch.”
“Ketch…” Noelle let the name roll off her tongue. She smiled at them. “That’s a nice name. It’s nice to meet you, Ketch!”
Ketch glances away, “Yeahh..”
An awkward silence stretches among the three. Ketch adjusts the boxes in their arms. Noelle coughs into her hooves. Catti is looking up how to perform a blood pack.
Noelle decides to speak up again, “U-Uhm, so! You’re human, right?”
“Wow, it’s that obvious, huh?”
“Uh, not really? Are other humans usually this grey?”
Ketch’s lip twitched, and their eyebrows furrowed; their grip on their boxes caused the corner edges to bunch up. Noelle jumped at the realization of her words. “Oh no, wait! I didn’t mean-” Catti looked up from her and towards Noelle, her face as blank as her tone. “Oh my god, Noelle, you can’t just ask someone why they’re grey.”
Noelle waved her hands rapidly around her face, an embarrassed blush present on her face. “NO, NO, NO! That’s not what I meant, I swear!” Ketch scoffed as Noelle scrambled to find the right words, “I-It’s just that I haven’t seen another human other than-”
“You’re light is far too innocent for this, Noelle. Think you need to start stewing in the library.” Catti clicks on a few messages on her phone. “Even more than you already do.”
“C-CATTI!!”
Ketch lets out a heavy, “Don’t worry, I get it all the time.” They glance away from them with a small frown. Noelle felt herself shatter into a million pieces.
(Oh, Angels above, they probably HATE ME!! I’m supposed to make a good first impression on the new family moving in, HOW AM I GOING TO BOUNCE BACK FROM THIS NOW?!?!?)
“The aura you’re emitting is shrouded in darkness and mystery.” Catti looked up from her phone. “I dig it.”
Ketch blinked in surprise, “Oh.” They pulled the boxes closer to them. “Uh, thanks? I got it from Heated Occult.” Suddenly, Catti stopped typing on her phone. Her eyes widened ever so slightly as she looked up at Ketch. “You shop at Heated Occult?” She asked.
“Yeah, it was at the mall back where I used to live. Darkness and Mystery was like $15.” Ketch replied.
“The nearest Heated Occult is like, 3 hours away from here.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, sucks hard. Especially with my family.”
“How come?”
“If I go somewhere, that means they go somewhere. So it becomes one big family trip. Mom acts like she snorts 5 pounds of catnip on a Tuesday. Dad takes pictures of everything. My sister is herself-“
(???????)
Noelle’s eyes dart between Catti and Ketch, her jaw slack as they continue their conversation. Wha-What was happening? How was Catti doing that?? She barely spoke a full sentence to anyone that wasn’t her or Jockington??? AND NOW HER AND KETCH ARE CHATTING LIKE IT'S NO BIG DEAL!!??
Noelle had to recover from this. She NEEDS to make a good first impression on the new human in town! QUICK, jump into the conversation!
“-and it wasn’t like I was going ACTUALLY to summon a demon or something,” Ketch says with a roll of their eyes. ”I just wanted the book of Baphomet for literary purposes.”
“Do you want to summon a demon?” Ask Catti.
“Duh, but if I tried anything like that in the house, my dad would throw me in a wood chipper.”
“A DEMON WOULD BE NICE FOR YOUR DARK AND MYSTERIOUS AURA!!” Noelle butts in with a wide, nervous smile. Her hair was frazzled as sweat rolled down her face.
The other two looked back at her.
“…”
“…”
Noelle wanted to shrink down and disappear. “I-I mean, cause, yo-you know..”
“Listen, I gotta go finish packing.” Ketch cut her off.
“Okay.”
The boxes were starting to strain their arms. They turn to walk into their house, but not before sending one last look back to the girls. “It was, uhm, cool chatting with you, Catti.” They looked over to the reindeer. “Bye, Noelle.” With that, they head inside the house. Noelle visibly deflated once Ketch disappeared, gloomily looking over at her friend, who went back to clicking on her phone. “Do you have a memory wiping spell to erase what just happened in my mind…?” Catti finally sent the message she was typing, then looked up at Noelle.
“Nope. You’re gonna live with this forever.”
“CATTIIII!!”
The room was average, slightly bigger than their room back in Peach State. There was a slider closet and a doorway that led to the bathroom and the spare bedroom. It was empty, obviously, but once they get their box of packing peanuts up there, it’ll liven up the room. It’ll go near the window for scenic purposes. Ketch looked back at the boxes stacked in the corner of the room. One was labeled “CLOTHES”, the other was labeled “BOOKS”, and the last was labeled “Los Tres Guardianes Del Jardín”. That box was bigger than the others. Ketch walked out to retrieve their box bed from the moving van, stopping near the staircase. There was a conversation coming from downstairs near the kitchen; their parents were talking. They hid themselves in the curve of the stairs.
“My love, everything will go wonderfully this time,” Orca spoke with a loving delicacy in his voice, his wooden claws gently grazed the stem of her arms. Rosetta sighs, leaning against her husband while lightly messing with one of the orchids on his head. “Oh my luxurious foliage, I can’t bear to think about our chances being ruined again.” She raised a hand to her cheek as Orca held her close. “Everything we had planned for, everything we had worked up to, it was all sullied.”
“We’re doing the best we can, dearest. But it will all be worth it soon.”
“Oh, I know it will, my sweet. But, I’m not quite sure if-”
“Is this about Ketch? Oh, don’t worry, my radiant rose. What happened then was just a funny floop, I’m sure they’ll stop with all the jokes.”
“I’d rather they stop with those 'jokes’”, my love.” Rosetta lightly scoffed. “They need to focus on their schoolwork; you saw how they performed during their school year.”
“Hm, yes. They had quite a few Bs in their subjects, didn’t they?”
“AND a C! Oh, I thought we taught them better than that. And those extracurriculars they applied for.”
“They weren’t doing well on those either.”
“It feels like they aren’t giving it their all, my beloved. It makes me think that all of our efforts are for nothing, as bad as it is to say…”
“Don’t worry, Rosy, I’ll make sure they’ll be in top shape for their grades for this new chapter in our lives.”
“Oh, Orca~.”
“Our life will be Perfect, just as we envisioned it would be.”
They stared lovingly into each other’s eyes.
Ketch walks down the steps.
The couple pulled each other in for a kiss.
Ketch went to get their box along with their backpack.
Ketch placed their bed box near the window and shrugged their backpack to a random side of the room. They stood in the middle of the room wordlessly, their clothes felt heavy on them. They had to get better. They need to do better. It wasn’t good enough for them.
Why wasn’t it good enough for them? They were doing what they were telling them to do. Was it..?
Were they..?
Everything started to feel tighter; they reached up to clutch their shirt with a sharp breath. Ketch felt it like many other times before. Their chest was barren and cold. Every part of them was cold. But it’s okay. They’re human.
Ketch reached into their jacket and felt the smooth texture of a leaf.
They're going to be Perfect.
The vibrant red maple leaf glows in the darkness of their hands. It was the only light that they knew in everything. Your light.
They have to be Perfect for You.
A cough escapes from them.
Chapter 3: 2. Introductions
Summary:
The Cage gets well acquainted with its new inhabitant. Also, they want to lick a stove.
The new kid gets to meet their new classmates. One of them fumbles the bag.
Chapter Text
The feeling of a heavy weight pressed against your body. You couldn’t see anything. Everything was dark, and you couldn’t move. But you felt something else.
Strings. Strings upon strings pulled from your form, crammed into crevices that were too tight. Joints that were too small. It felt…wrong. Like, it was a rusted-over machine with its limbs nearly locked in place. This body lay still.
It was at this moment that you saw it all. Inside, you were locked in this new vessel; the strings from your smaller form traveled all across their body from their fingers to their ankles. Outside, your strings extended out from their limbs, traveling higher and higher until.
They choked your fingertips down to your knuckles. Rings of red encased around each finger, the tightness of each thread felt as if they could chop them into pieces if you made a wrong move. You weren’t sure if you had blood, but if you did, it would have stopped flowing long before you even noticed. It was painful. Uncomfortable. Unbearable.
You wanted to snap them off and find your original vessel.
But you can’t.
You reached up to touch your face, your eyes trembling with a weak light. Your hands trailed down your face.
Your mouth was gone.
And it was getting harder.
And ha r de r.
T o s p e a k. . .
“Kris!”
Opening the door to Kris’ and Asriel’s room, Toriel makes her way to the bed that currently holds her teenager, who sleeps like a corpse. She softly placed a hand on the lump draped in the weighted comforter and gave it a gentle shake. “Good morning, honey. It is time to get up for school.” Toriel began, taking a moment to look around the room. Goodness, it was so dreary here. She walked over to the curtains and pulled them open, the light now spilling into the room. The lump stayed static in their place in bed, even letting out a tired grumble. Toriel turned to the lump, her hands resting on her hips. She shakes her head, letting out a sigh that holds no malice in it.
“Kris, if you do not wake up, we will be late for school!” And with a graceful pivot of her heel, Toriel exits the room and makes her way downstairs. She had to get the car ready for when they leave. Suddenly, the blankets were thrown to the side, and legs swung over the bed's edge. It was the start of the morning, and they already felt more exhausted than the day before. There was a harsh stiffness in their arms and legs, their chest feeling heavier than before. Their mind was quiet, but in the back corners of it, there were the faintest of whispers and murmurs from the voice that wasn’t their own. That meant it worked. The connection was finally there. This better be worth it.
With a tired sigh, Kris hopped off the bed and stood fixed in the middle of the room.
Mom’s waiting for them in the car; they should get going, is what Kris thought to themself. But, instead, they looked around their side of the room.
Barren with dull colored weighted blankets and empty shelves, their side of the room was average. They had a clothing drawer next to their bed that held various styles of lime green striped tops with dark brown bottoms. Underneath their bed were rows of shoes, the same color as their bottoms, except for a pair of worn Converse with patches of white on them. A gift from a friend.
Kris walked over to the foot of the head, dragging their hand against the covers before they reached their backpack. It was light, holding only a few books and a notebook, with a deflated whoopee cushion matted to the bottom. It had a few tears in it, but nothing like a few stripes of scotch tape and colored pen scribbles would do the trick.
*(Equip the Backpack?)
Yes ❤️ No
❤️Yes No
Yes ❤️No
❤️Yes No
Kris slipped their backpack over their shoulders, adjusting the straps so it wouldn’t fall off.
*(You equipped the Backpack.)
Kris turns away from the large, unknown red stain on the carpet and stares down at the birdcage wagon. It looks like it’s seen a few crashes. There wasn’t a bird seen anywhere. Kris went over to the other side of the room, a harsh sigh leaving their mouth. Their brother’s side glowed yellow from the glow-in-the-dark stars stuck to the walls. The blanket and covers were neatly tucked in and flat.
A picture of a flower hung high on the wall, painted with warm golds and cool greens. There was a little signature at the bottom written in curvy letters “A.D.”. He always loved drawing, and he let them draw with him whenever he had extra paper.
An academic certificate for the Mathletes was next to the painting, its gold star of accomplishment shining in the morning light. Another certificate for Honor Roll lay front and center among the rows of glistening trophies.
Kris knelt with a light grunt to look under his bed. CDs of multiple different genres were all stacked on top of each other in a box. Kris felt an unknown spark of joy course through them as they reached in and pulled the box out, sorting through them. There was classical music, jazz, religious ska, and punk rock. Kris felt themselves go for a CD before they swiftly pushed the box back into the realm that was their brother’s bed. There was also a game console near the foot of the bed, next to it was a normal controller, and a knock-off controller.
Kris stood up and walked out of their room, finally. They left their room. Kris turned to the bookcase that was in the hallway.
Shit.
After scanning through the covers of various scientific research books about snails and a signed copy of The History of Humans and Monsters by Gerson Boom, Kris walked down the other side of the hall, where the door to their mom’s room is. And near the door stood a mirror.
Kris stepped in front of it, staring at themselves in the reflection.
You finally had a good look at them.
Shaggy, dark brown hair that went just past their shoulders. A heavy shadow covered their eyes, the faintest glint of red staring into the mirror. Light brown skin littered with bumps and ridges littered all around their cheeks. A dark turtleneck was covered by an oversized lime green sweater that drooped down on one shoulder with a large yellow strip going across it. The sweater looked fuzzy with some loose fiber strings sticking out of it and some open stitching. The brown color of their pants matched the brown of their shoes, making it look like they were wearing a sort of pants-shoes that you would see in cartoons. Kris stared at themselves blankly; to them, there was hardly anything to look at. They don’t even ever care as much about what they would look like for school.
But this wasn’t the body that you created.
While they had shaggy brown hair, you wanted your body to have black locs that bounced when you walked. While they wore large sweaters, you wanted to have zip-up jackets with hoods. While their eyes were curtained by the strands of their hair, you wanted to have dark brown eyes staring back at you. Not this.
This wasn’t the vessel that you poured all of your heart and love into.
Instead.
It is what they call “you”.
A shred of mourning weighs down on Kris’ shoulders as they turn away from the mirror. Where it came from, Kris wasn’t sure, but they had an idea of what the source of it was. Kris found themselves walking downstairs and through the kitchen. A comforting warmth came from the house, smells of butterscotch and cinnamon floating through the air. Pictures of three goat monsters and a small human were stuck to the fridge and hung up on the walls. The stove was caked in a sort of batter that smelled amazing. Kris was tempted to lick it clean off the stove top, but it was still hot from being in use. They walked past the trash can, which was nearly as tall as they were, that emitted a pleasant floral scent.
The living room was just as homey as the kitchen, with little clay blob people resting against the windows and Chariel, the beloved living room chair. Next to Chariel was a large CRT television set with a coat of dust covering its surface and screen. No one has ever turned it on since a few Christmases back. That was a long time ago. With that, Kris felt the option of snooping around their house beginning to waver as they turned to their front door and gripped the knob. They stood there only for a second, their chest still heavy as they took a deep breath. It’s now or never.
They pushed the door open.
Toriel stood near the driver's seat, rummaging through her purse to make sure she had gotten everything. Let’s see: The school schedule, her glasses case, some fur brushes, a pamphlet of last week's sermon, a bag of snail mix, and some loose change. Okay, looks like she’s all set! Toriel turns to see Kris closing the door behind them with a click. She smiled at them, going to unlock the car, “Kris, there you are! We might still be able to make it!” The two of them made their way into the car, Kris taking the backseat and Toriel taking the driver’s seat. Toriel looked up to the rearview mirror with a soft smile. Kris was leaning against the car door, looking at the endless trees around their house.
“Kris… It is a beautiful day today, is it not?”
With the car starting up, it began to pull back from the driveway.
“I hope it stays this way when ASRIEL visits next week.”
The car began to make its way down the road. Kris’ fingers began to curl into their palms.
“But I wonder… After all the excitement of university…”
They let out a silent sigh. Toriel focused on the road ahead of her.
“Will he still enjoy coming home to this little town…?”
They really hope so.
The bright red car was greeted with cheerful and friendly smiles.
The Cattenhiemers were frolicking within the very short fields of their front lawns. Mr. Frogbert let out a friendly croak while Bratty was laughing at a video on her phone. The car made a left turn towards what was considered the downtown area. QC and Grizz “Centrist” Bearby gave out warm waves once they saw the car coming down the road. Officer Undyne gave an energetic wave to the car as well before continuing to make her rounds around town. Same faces in the same town.
The car pulled up to the school’s parking lot and into the singular parking space. They had made it to the school. Toriel and Kris exited the vehicle, the goat monster double-checking everything one more time before they left. Once everything was in order, Kris took Toriel's hand and began walking into the school. Their eyes glanced over the front yard; everything looked the same as it always had been, but near the white fences of the school was an orange and black bike with a slanted basket in the front. Kris raised an eyebrow. Since when had anyone in this town ridden a bike? Before they could think more about it, the cool air of the school’s AC engulfed them like a blanket.
Toriel led them to the middle of the hall, turning around to face them. Kris looked up at her as she brushed some hair behind their ear. “Honey,” she starts, ”a new student is joining your class today.” She fixes up their turtleneck collar, a big smile fighting its way off her face. She seemed excited about something. “Would you make sure that they are welcomed here? I know it may be a lot to ask, but I believe it will help them adjust more.” Oh. This must be another setup for them to “make more friends” at school. Kris lets out a sigh. They didn’t have the energy to argue about it, nor did they have the will to. So, they gave their mother a slow nod just to make her content. She smiles, pulling Kris into a warm hug and placing a kiss on their head. Kris leaned into her embrace, their eyes closing underneath the bangs of their hair.
“Have a nice day, honey.” She whispers.
“... See you later, mom,” Kris whispers back. They both pulled away from each other and walked to their respective classrooms, Kris going to room H-B while Toriel went to room H-A.
“So,” Alphys turned to the class with her hands clamped together, “does everyone have a-“ She was interrupted by the classroom door opening, and in walked Kris with a hand gripping a strap to their backpack and their expression blank. “Oh… Kris…! We thought you weren’t coming in today!” Alphys was shocked to see them, considering that most days they come in late. She thought that maybe they developed a sleeping problem whenever they do come to class, they would always fall asleep at their desk. Well, that doesn’t matter now. She was glad that they made it in today, at least! Especially with the new student who came in today.
“We’re doing group projects this month, so, uuh…” She glances around the classroom, a nervous smile reaching her face as she looks towards the new student. “Walk around and find a partner, okay?”
Kris hums in response, looking away from their teacher and towards their classmates. Catti and Jockington were paired up with each other; it would’ve been surprising if they hadn’t. Noelle and Berdly were joined by the hip as the self-proclaimed “Smartest Sapiens In School,” according to the bird nerd sitting in the front row. Temmie seems to be chatting it up with…an egg? Okay, sure. MK and Snowy are-
Kris froze where they stood, their backpack almost slipping from their grip. Because right there, sitting at a desk on the far side of the classroom next to MK, was a human.
An array of conflicting emotions hit them all at once.
Shock.
Afraid.
Confused.
Intimidated.
Excited??
Elated????
The voice in the back of their head was making an annoying ringing sound, but they couldn’t form a coherent thought; their eyes were trained on the human absentmindedly sitting at their desk.
A human with a dual-striped jacket.
A human with hair covering half of their face.
A human with 5 fingers on each hand.
A human who had no fur, no scales, no shell, no feathers.
A new, unknown human face.
What were they doing here? How did they get here? Why did no one tell them about-
Kris’ spiralling thoughts came to a halt when they felt their body being lurched forward, straight to the desk of the new human.
Ketch had grown up being around humans most of their life. There were only a few times when they would visit their grandparents and cousins on their parents' side, but the visits would be short. Ketch remembers sitting in a flower bed, picking at flowers and nibbling on sunflower seeds, while their cousins chattered and gossiped about how strange they are compared to them. They didn’t have any flowing petals or healthy leaves on their stems. Just an afro of charcoal hair and baby fat. Often, they find themselves sitting in that flowerbed while their cousins do whatever. It was almost the same as it was with humans, who took things a bit more to the extreme.
It was rare for monsters to adopt human children, especially in the town Ketch grew up in. If the two monsters walking around with a human kid didn’t raise any eyebrows, then the kid that they were walking with, being a literal gray munchkin, definitely would. Ketch can give you the exact number of times when someone would stop their parents and ask, “Hey, is that child yours?” or question where they even find them. Then there were the kids at school. They would poke and prod about why they look the way they do. Ketch didn’t look like any of them, so they questioned what they were. Constantly. The other kids would stare and point at them in the hallways in between classes, sometimes coming up to them in groups to ask more personal questions.
The kids in this school did the same thing, at first. When Ketch rode in on their bike this morning, other kids were waiting outside the front lawn for the school doors to open. They felt their eyes train in on them as they walked over to the school fence to park their bike. They heard the whispers scattering among them once they turned around, their hands stuffed in their jacket. Ketch was thinking about just staying near their bike and waiting until the doors open, but then they heard footsteps approach them. They looked over to see Noelle clutching some books to her chest with a nervous smile. They stared back at her with a neutral expression as she cleared her throat and swayed on the back of her hooves.
“H-Hey, Ketch!”
“Hi, Noelle.”
“Listen, about yesterday, I’m really sorry about what I said!”
“Oh.”
“I should've known better than to say things like that and-”
“Mhm.”
“U-uhm. I’ve only ever met one human in my life,” She looked down at the grass with a distant flicker in her eye, “we grew up together, and they looked nothing like you and-“
“So, you assumed all humans look the same?” A single arched brow was sent her way. Noelle could feel herself crumbling.
“N-NO, OF COURSE NOT!” Her hair flared out behind her. “It’s just I’ve never seen anyone like you before and-“
“Anyone like me.”
Ketch scoffs. Noelle felt herself shatter into pieces again. No, it’s happening again! Ooohh, she’s going to hear so much of it from her dad.
Behind them, the students began to talk more and more among themselves, watching the interaction go down. Catti cringed at Noelle’s severe fumbling, holding up her phone closer to her face. “This is horrible to witness.” She mumbles to herself. Jockington plops himself on her shoulders, his sunglasses shining radically in the morning sun. “Noelle is, like, totally beefing up the opening pitch, how will she, like, recover from this foul ball?” He shakes his head, watching the cross-country team player sweat and stammer as she talks with the new kid.
“WAOW!! New huumens iz so KEWL!! Temmie wants tew know how new humen doez their HAIRSZ!!” Temmie was bouncing and vibrating in place as she stared at the new student’s head. Slightly messy, dark gray dreadlocks covered the right side of their face, leaving one eye exposed. The rest of their hair was tucked into their beanie.
“Yooo, look at their jacket!” MK grinned before turning to Snowy with a puff in their chest. “They got stripes! That means they’re a part of the cool kids!” Snowy snickered at the conversation between the monster and human. “Not like Noelle is any cooler, she’s absolutely freezing out there! Hahaha!”
Noelle took in a shaky breath. “Wh-What I’m trying to say is,”
“What are you trying to say?” Ketch stares at her pointedly.
“What I’m trying to say is that,” she gulps down a nervous ball of spit, “I’m sor-“
“OH MY DEAREST NOELLE! Are you ready for another studious day of educational conquest!” Suddenly, literally flying in out of nowhere, a bluebird monster landed next to Noelle with a too-wide grin on his face. Noelle jumped where she stood, “Ahh! Berdly!?”
“Berdly?” Ketch looked over at him with a tilt of their head.
“Berdly!” He finishes with a spread of his wing, pointing to the sky. “It is good to see your marvelous intellect here again, Noelle!”
“U-Uhm,” Noelle adjusts the books in her arms, “Good morning, Berdly..!” As much as she liked Berdly as her friend, he swooped in at an AWFUL TIME! Noelle frantically glanced over at Ketch, praying to the angels that they were still willing to hear her out and give her apology. Ketch’s attention was, instead, focused on her feathered friend rambling about the last math homework they were given. She has another chance at this!
She took a step forward, her posture straight. “Ketch,” she begins with a bit more confidence than before, “I just wanted to say that I’m sorr-“
“Do my optical visors deceive me?” Noelle was interrupted by Berdly reaching down to adjust his glasses, which were taped to the side of his face, a dramatic glint shining across them. Noelle shrank in the background. “It seems that a new hand has touched the beacon! You must be the new student that Ms. Alphys and Ms. Toriel were talking about a few days ago. And a human at that.” Oh, here we go. Judging by the look of this guy and his cleanly ironed button-up shirt, he’s probably about to throw a million questions per second about why they look like they came straight from a noir detective film in the olden days.
Let's cut back to now. Ketch sighs, narrowing their eyes at Berdly and preparing for the worst.
“Yeah, that’s me. What of it?” They drawled out.
”What is your intelligence quotient from before you arrived here?” He asked. Did he just ask them what their IQ was? That caught Ketch a bit off guard; they weren’t really expecting that question. They had to rack their brain for a second.
Ketch replied with, “I had an A in History, Science, Social Studies, and a musical elective. A B in P.E and language arts. And a C in math.” Berdly let out a loud gasp with a hand splayed on his chest. “WH-WHAT!? It can’t be!” Ketch was lost. “Could it be!? Finally, a worthy opponent to challenge me in the battle royale of the academic battlefield!?”
“What?” The ends of Ketch’s lips began to curl up. Noelle watches with shocked eyes, wait are they…?
“And here I thought it was only going to be me and Noelle at the top of the leaderboard in terms of our scholarly smarts. But no matter! With your mediocre standing in mathematics, our social standing of educational prose will remain at the PEAK of grade mountain.”
Ketch chuckles, “Hehe, yeeeahh. The letters mixed in with the math equations really messed me up when I first saw it.” Berdly squawked in laughter.
“BASIC ALGEBRA!? Perhaps you aren’t worthy of me and Noelle’s talents after all!”
“I do know that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.” Ketch grinned at him, Berdly staggers back at the reveal of the most useful information in the world escaping the new student’s mouth. “G-GAH! Only the elites of science know that forbidden knowledge! You might have bested Kris in that sense!” Ketch laughs at that statement, rubbing their cheek with their shoulder. “Man, you are hilarious, bird boy. Pfft,” They smile while shaking their head, “the peak of grade mountain. I’m stealing that.”
Berdly pointed his beak in the air with his arms crossed. “I’ll have you know that plagiarism is STRICTLY prohibited here!”
Ketch grins at him. “Then I’ll make sure to credit the source.” Was…WAS THAT FLIRTING!?
IT’S HAPPENING AGAIN!! But this time it’s with BERDLY!? Noelle was desperate to salvage this, her second impression was already on the way to falling into a trash compactor and after this, there may be no going back! In a spree of panic, Noelle steps in-between Ketch and Berdly giving the human a nervous smile that showed too many teeth. “HEY KETCH, I CAN INTRODUCE YOU TO THE OTHER HUMAN IN TOWN IF YOU WANT!!” Her wide eyes twitch on the verge of insanity. Ketch flinched, taking a few steps back away from her, Berdly gave Noelle a confused look. “What!? You want to expose Kris to them? Ketch, is that their name, will have their brain cells fried from them just by proximity!” Noelle lets out a forced laugh, nudging Berdly with her elbow. “Oh, don’t be so silly, Berdly! I’m sure that they and Kris will-”
“What.” Ketch butts in, a sharp stare going straight through the reindeer girl. “That we’ll get along? Just because we’re humans?”
Noelle freezes. “I-I… Uhm-”
Ketch pushes themselves off their bike, shaking their head lightly. “Jeez, you are really beefing this, aren’t you.”
“N-NO, I-!”
“Class is in session!” The front doors of the school burst open to reveal a small group of teachers with smiles on their face, off to the side was a short yellow dinosaur woman who had quickly stuffed her phone into her pocket to greet her students. Ketch thinks that she’s their new teacher for this school year. They brush past Noelle, sending her one last glance before heading towards their teacher.
“Bye, Noelle.”
Berdly watches them head towards Ms. Alphys, reaching into their backpack and pulling a piece of paper before talking with her. He turned to Noelle, who just became a statue there on the front lawn of the school, he wraps an arm around her shoulders. “Sheesh, talk about low charisma stats. Come now, Noelle! We mustn’t tarnish our perfect attendance record!”
“A”
That leads us to now.
Ketch’s eyes went wide as Kris slammed against their desk, their hands giving a death grip on the edges. Everyone in the room took a surprised glance over towards the two humans, who were in the middle of an intense staring contest. Shaky red eyes staring back at dark hollow ones. Kris’ breath was heavy and uneven, nervous sweats rolling down their face. Ketch was still in their seat, and the clicker part of their pen was wedged between their teeth. A million things were going through Kris’ head, things that they can’t fully understand. What were they supposed to say? What were they going to do?! There’s another human right in front of them AND THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY TO-
“Uh, hey.” Their voice caused Kris to flinch and snap up to look at them. Their speech was muffled due to the pen that was in their mouth, sounding like it was on the deeper side than theirs. “Yoouu must be Kris, right?” Eyes trailed up their messy hair and sweaty face, did they run a mile or something? Pretty sure they’re gonna cramp their hands holding onto their desk like that.
HOW DID THEY KNOW THEIR NAME.
Ketch looks down to their sweater. Huh, it kinda looked like their jacket but instead of two stripes, they had one big stripe going across it. The off shoulder style looked sick though.
“Cool sweater.” Underneath all that sweat, they kinda smelt like apples.
WHY DO THEY LIKE THEIR SWEATER.
*(Ask to be partners?)
Ask ❤️ WAIT A MINUTE
❤️ Ask WAIT A MINUTE
Kris felt like they were forcibly pulling out a splinter from their flesh, trying to say this. “Le.. Lets. Be… Partners…..” Kris spoke with a heavy strain, their grip getting tighter on the desk. Ketch blinks. They look around the class, who all took a sigh of relief at the interaction before chatting with their respective partners. Honestly, they were fine with going to do the project by themselves, since most people wouldn’t choose them as a partner. There was also an uneven number of students in class so it was bound to happen either way. But the way that this dude, Kris, just stumbled onto their desk and asked if they wanted to be partners the moment they stepped into class kinda has them staring at them from the side. They wanted to be partners with them? It was most likely because they were the only available right?
“...”
“...”
“.... Okay, sure.”
They were staring intensely into each other eyes.
Alphys, who has been watching the two talk to each other with batted breath, gives a wary smile before padding over to her desk to pull out some assignment papers. Toriel would be happy to hear about this once class is over! “O-Okay everyone! Now that your partners assigned, we can get started on-”
The classroom door slams open, leaving a small dent on the wall. Everyone stopped what they were doing, a sudden silence stretching across the room with heads turning towards the doorway, include Kris and Ketch. A heavy footstep thuds against the floor as the last student of class enters the room.
Her frame almost consumes the entire doorway, ducking her head a little just to walk through. A wild, frizzy mane of dark hair went down to her back, hiding her eyes from those who dared even looked at her. Large, scaled lizard claws curled up into fists, flexing her defined muscles that cause a few of her classmates to shudder in fear. She wore a long purple cardigan with a shirt that had claw marks tattered on the bottom. Her jeans were torn, exposing parts of her legs, and her shoes were heavy with dirt marks scattered about it.
She stared at the class with an air of annoyance.
Alphys shrank behind her desk, holding the papers close to her face.
“H… Hi, Susie…”