Chapter Text
Throughout their life so far, Kris Dreemurr has only one wish: To blend in with everyone in Hometown.
Kris has never truly seen themself as anybody particularly special since the day they got adopted to the Dreemurr family. In truth, they simply wished to be like their monster family. They know deep down they’re different from the others, but they still wish to be like everyone else, why are they stuck as a human?
Even with those devil horns on their head—the headband their parents have given to them—they can only do so much when deep down they know they are different.
They did not want to be different, they never asked to be special, and they never wished to be special.
Yet still, here they are, as the only human in Hometown.
It hasn't been all bad though, they have many friends by their side, mostly consisting of the Holiday family, having known them since they were a toddler. Asriel has also helped them through their struggles, playing with them whenever they were lonely. Being the only human in town…it always felt different, but they had fun with their friends.
They especially enjoyed having time with Noelle, they enjoyed playing pretend with her and pranking her sometimes whenever they felt like it. Since Kris and Noelle get along really well, noticing this, Asriel would start to try and find items and toys for Kris to play with with Noelle—going as far as to take a laptop from the library—ultimatly finding a lot of the toys and games from the school Toriel kept.
The items Kris has obtained are nice, they love playing cards while Noelle is on the laptop, but they want something more, something different and strange than what Asriel takes from the library and school.
Because of their want for some real fun, they catch sight of a lone power strip in the library’s computer lab.
They remember it being a school day in the middle of autumn, they were wearing their usual green and yellow striped shirt alongside a long greyish-black skirt. Their hair is short, only going down to the middle of their neck. It seemed just yesterday that they were with Asriel and having fun with him and expressing themself in a fun and safe way.
Kris and Asriel were at the computer lab about to head home. As they are packing up some of their supplies into their bag, that is when Kris catches sight of a lone power strip next to the closet. With curiosity and fascination, they head to it to analyze it.
When they look at it more closely, they see that it is dusty, and not really used. It's functional, it works well even! Yet it is not quite like the others, and that makes them feel seen.
They find themself now fascinated by how it works, it makes them so curious that they forgot what they had been doing just minutes ago.
“What are you doing there, Kris?” Asriel asks as he is packing his books in his bag, noticing his sibling near the closet door crouched down.
Their attention now shifting to their brother they start calling his name, “Azzy Azzy! I want to take this!” They unplug the power strip, holding it in front of them excitedly as they run to Asriel to show it to him.
Immediately, he takes it from them, a shocked expression on his face. “Woah there!” He tells them, flipping the switch at the very end. Afterwards he calms down, his expression now with more concern than shock, “You really should turn off the power switch and let it cool before unplugging an extension cord like that, Kris.”
“I wanna take it! Let me have it! I'll be careful next time I promise!” They try to reach for the powerstrip with their hands, their voice sad as they try to grab it from Asriel but unable to because of their small size, “Can I please have it, Azzy?”
“Of course Kris!” Asriel encourages them, now smiling with endearment, “We took a whole laptop with us, a small power strip wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
Kris claps and cheers, a beaming smile on their face, “Hooray hooray!”
“Just be careful, you could burn yourself easily with this! I would know.” He laughs nervously.
They tilt their head, wondering what their brother means by that. They soon forget about what he said as they now jump up and down, trying to reach for the object in Asriel’s hands, almost tripping on their skirt multiple times. Eventually Asriel crouches down and gives them the power strip, they grab it instantly, holding it to their chest.
They head back to where their seat was, packing up the rest of their things in their bag. Then they grab their bag and put it around their back, all the while keeping the multiplug right by their side.
Already having packed his stuff, Asriel urges his sibling to exit the computer lab, “Come on Kris, let's go. Mom will be worried if we are out too long. Dess and Noelle are going to be coming over as well, don’t want to keep them both waiting!”
They nod, running to catch up to Asriel as the two siblings walk back to their home, Kris even sometimes skipping on the sidewalk while holding the power strip tightly in their grasp as though it is the best thing they have ever had in the world.
For the first time in their life, they feel truly happy with everything they have, and it's all because of a simple multiplug that makes them feel seen.
.｡*ﾟ+*.+.｡*ﾟ+.｡*ﾟ+*.+
Once they arrive at their home, Kris immediately sets up the toys and gadgets for them and Noelle to play with. Soon after, Noelle and Dess both arrive at the Dreemurr home, Asriel is up in his room, meanwhile Dess heads to the living room watching over the two children.
As Noelle sits on the floor, taking out the borrowed library laptop. That is when Kris shows Noelle the multiplug, a big smile on their face as they look at her.
“Kris? Is that a…?” Noelle tilts her head as she looks at the extension chord in Kris’s hands. “What is that?”
“He is a power strip! His name is Ramb!” They wrap around the chords, and point the multiplug towards Noelle, a huge smile on their face, “And he will be joining us today!”
“Really now?” Noelle laughs a little bit as she looks at the extension chord curiously. Her head tilting to the side as she analyzes it, “What does he do?”
Kris laughs, “What do you think? He emits lightning!”
“Right, and doesn’t he have to be plugged in for that to happen?” Noelle laughs in disbelief.
“No he doesn’t! Raaah, lightning attack!” Kris gets up and chases Noelle, to which Noelle squeals and runs away, they both run in a circle a few times until Kris pounces on Noelle and the two fall to the ground. Kris squishes Noelle with their body as they poke her with the power strip.
“Stop, stop!” Noelle laughs, pushing away Kris as she says, “Be careful Kris! You could have broken the laptop!”
“But I didn’t!” They say matter of factly, “ And I struck you with Ramb’s lightning attack!”
“That’s not fair! I did not get a chance to strike!” She exclaims despite her laughter, “Now go back to your side of the room!”
“Okayyyyy, but only because you said so!” Kris replies, keeping Ramb close to their chest. “But remember, Ramb is not just some extension cord, he is powerful!” They say with a slight extravagance to their voice.
“Aww, Kris, did you give the power strip a name?” Dess—who is sitting on the couch on her phone—asks as she looks away from her phone and now at Kris playing with Ramb, “Lemme guess, did Azzy suggest you the name?”
Now broken out of their focus on Noelle, Kris looks up at Dess, shaking their head, “No, I just think the name suits him!”
Dess hums, “I see, that’s a shocker. I guess you must have a knack for names, then.” She leans forward closer to Kris, looking down at the power strip, “He’s certainly different from the power strips you normally see around Hometown.”
Curiously, they look at the metal prongs used to plug into an outlet, and they notice that Dess is right; the prongs are different from the normal ones used. Three metal prongs like the ones that are used in Hometown, but more simple in design and rectangular instead of circular.
Seeing that Kris has noticed the differences, she asks “Where did you get that from anyhow? It really ain’t like the other power strips you see here, I don’t even know where we would have any plug adapters like that.” Dess looks at it curiously.
Noelle asks with a sigh, “Kris…did you steal him from the school?”
“The library, actually.” Kris replies, looking at Noelle and her disappointed face, “Azzy told me to take it, so I did!”
Dess lets out a huff, a smile on her face as she says, “Of course Azzy encouraged you, I should have expected him to.” She starts laughing a little bit, “Too bad he is up in his room right now. Hey Kris, when you see him, can you tell him that a certain deer is gonna give him a good wack on the head for not giving his poor sibling an adapter for the plug to work? What is he thinking?”
Kris tilts their head curiously, “So Ramb won’t work with the outlets here?”
Dess nods, leaning back onto the couch, “Unless you got a converter, I’m afraid the poor guy won’t work.”
“Oh…” They look down, holding the multiplug close to their chest, “Well, where can I find a way to make him work?”
“Hmmm…Tell you what.” Dess smirks, “While I don't think we have outlets of that shape. I can find something around Hometown to make it work. If this was in the library, there has to be a way that it actually worked right?”
“Mhm…he was working fine from where I found him.”
“Well, I’ll make sure to get an adapter for you, alright?” She clicks her tongue, winking at them.
Kris smiles widely, “Thank you Dess!”
“Are you two done talking? I wanna play more with Krismas!” Noelle looks at her sister with pleading eyes.
With a smile, her sister replies, “Alright Elly, they’re all yours, we still have an hour before mom starts complainin’ anyway.”
So the two children play until the sun sets completely and it starts to get late.
Even after they stop using him when playing with Noelle, they keep him by their side, finding themself happy around Ramb. They really, really like Ramb, in a way that feels intensely sacred. It is strange how much attachment they have towards this object, but they are so happy that it doesn’t ever matter if it is strange. They look forward to seeing him actually work so they can use him for the games they play with their brother.
Kris and Ramb are going to have so much fun together, and the human cannot wait!
.｡*ﾟ+*.+.｡*ﾟ+.｡*ﾟ+*.+
That night, after Noelle and Dess head home for the day, Kris takes Ramb up to their room. Asriel is already in his pajamas, and is currently playing some video games on the computer. Kris only looks for a moment at what Azzy is playing, before shifting their focus back onto the power strip.
They look around the room, placing the multiplug on the top of the dresser. As Kris opens their dresser and finds one of their long nightgowns to wear, they slip it on and look towards their brother.
“Big brooooo,” They call for his attention, and when he turns to see them, they say, “Your girlfriend told me you didn’t give me an adapter for Ramb to work!”
“Dess is not my girlfriend, first of all.” He tells them, turning back to his game, clicking the computer mouse at a fast and intense pace, “Second of all, what did she mean by that anyway? That plug worked just fine at the computer lab.”
“Well she told me Ramb won’t work with the plugs at home! Now you’re going to get wacked for it, she said!”
Closing the game he is playing, and turning off the computer, Asriel turns his chair around fully to see Kris, “Well, tell her to cut me some slack, because I didn’t think Hometown had different—” He interrupts himself as soon as he processes what Kris says, “...did you just name the power strip?”
“Yes! You finally noticed!” They smile wide, grabbing the power strip from their dresser and holding it to their chest, twirling around in their nightgown as they show him off, “His name is Ramb!”
“RAM?” He laughs at the name, “As in random-access memory?”
“Maybe? I always thought there was a ‘b’ at the end, I know that he has a ‘b’ at the end of his name.”
“Does he?” Asriel smiles with amusement, “The ‘b’ is silent then?”
Kris finds themself blushing at their brother’s response, “I didn’t think about it, but I suppose so.” They put Ramb on their lap, analyzing the details of the object.
“Are you really taking the power strip to bed with you?” Asriel asks, now walking up to and sitting down on his bed, fully noticing that Kris has the multiplug in their grasp.
“Yes, I am taking Ramb to bed with me!” They say as they lay down on their bed and hold Ramb as if he is a stuffed animal.
“Maybe put him…next to your lamp?” He suggests, “I think putting him on the bed might damage him, I mean, he is a power strip.”
“That doesn’t make him any less of a toy to play with.” They put the multiplug on the nightstand next to their bed. “But I do want to make him last, so I suppose right here will work.”
He smiles at their enthusiasm, “Just be careful and don’t break him.”
“Of course I won’t break him, Azzy! I am not that irresponsible, I treat my toys with care! I painted the playing cards with care!” They cross their arms as they glare at their brother.
“We’ll see about that.” Asriel says, laying down on his bed, not even bothering getting under the covers.
With a pout, they tell him, “I’ll take good care of Ramb, and he will even be used for the games we play together when Dess gives me the…whatever it is she called it!”
“Plug adapter, I think.”
Kris snaps their fingers lightly and nods, “Yeah, that!”
“I am looking forward to it!” He smiles at them before turning his body to face the wall, “Well, goodnight Kris.”
“Goodnight Azzy.” They say to him as they turn off the light and get underneath the bed covers, with Ramb right next to them on their nightstand, as though watching them fall asleep, keeping them safe.
From that day onwards, whether they wished for it or not, everything in Kris’s life begins to change: their relationships, their entire sense of self, and the toys that they had lost and forgotten about.
Even as the years go by and the seasons change, even as Ramb ends up being kept under the unplugged TV in deep, deep darkness, he watches them grow older and change.
Ramb knows that someday, he and Kris can have fun again like they used to.
All the simple powerstrip has to do is wait for the right time.