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The thought shouldn't have surprised Frisk, really.
Really, it shouldn't have. They had spent the better part of a decade- possibly far longer depending on the semantics- with Chara in every part of their life. They had already both accepted that they would spend the rest of their lives together, however long their currently latent ability to time travel would make that.
They shouldn't have been surprised, and yet here they were.
To set the scene, they were laying in bed next to a (presumably) sleeping Chara, their eyes tracing the other's shoulders and arms with quiet appreciation; century-old scars that even restoration to the mortal coil couldn't fully remove, the constant hum in lieu of a pulse where magic worked to hold flesh and plant matter together...
(Chara had joked once that they were at least 20% wormwood. Frisk always felt like the main source of their prolonged existence was more of a false cedar.)
Utterly perfect, they had thought. They couldn't think of a single thing they didn't like about what they were seeing, no matter what Chara may have said about themselves in the past.
...
They couldn't help but reach out slowly, until their hand was tracing the side of Chara's face, thumb stroking where their cheek, permanently stained pink, met their jawline.
Chara blearily opened one eye at the contact, always a light sleeper; Frisk had more than one "fond" memory from when they used to share a body of being woken up in the middle of the night because of the other's whims.
"...mm. Go back to sleep, partner," Chara murmured, burying their face against Frisk's upper chest with an annoyed sigh. It wasn't long before Frisk could hear their breathing deepen again.
They loved seeing Chara eloquent and verbose, but... something about the unguardedness that they witnessed whenever Chara was sleeping always made their heart twist. They just wanted-
...
That was when it hit them. Like a punch to the gut, or a slap in the face.
They wanted to marry Chara.
Really wanted to, the more they thought about it.
Again! It wasn't surprising! Frisk couldn't say they were shocked that this was happening. Really, they were surprised they hadn't thought about it sooner.
But they still almost jolted out of bed in shock.
Because one, would Chara even want that? They were always more subdued than Frisk was in most aspects of their life, and Frisk wasn't sure if trying to formalise their relationship like that would be an overstepping of their boundaries.
But then, they argued to themselves, they could always have it be a private affair. Chara would probably take that better than if it were a whole thing.
Two, relatedly, they weren't sure if it were necessary in the strictest sense. For all intents and purposes, they and Chara were bound together in every regard but legally; there wasn't any way to be closer than sharing a body, mind, and soul, even if two of those things had changed.
Once more, their own mind refuted them. They were close in every other sense, so why shouldn't they hash out the last one?
...Possibly most importantly, however, was the fact that they had no idea where to start. Were there any monster traditions that Chara would rather they respect instead of anything humans did? Probably, but... where would they learn about those?
...
Frisk would have to ask one of their friends, they supposed. When it wasn't one in the morning, that was to say.
...But who? Someone who wouldn't make a huge deal about it, which already removed most of the options from their list. The fact they would have to have gone through the monster process for marriage removed most of the others; Alphys and Undyne had a wonderful ceremony some years back, but it was far more steeped in humanity than they expected the norm to be. They loved Toriel to bits, but she was on the list of people who would potentially make it a situation.
Which left... well...
"How do monsters get married?"
They watched Asgore jolt at the question, almost fumbling the (comparatively) tiny teapot in his paws. He recovered quickly enough to sit down and pour them a cup of tea before the silence could become awkward.
"I assume you are not asking... er, hypothetically?" he asked in turn, albeit not unkindly. Frisk shook their head.
They had hung out with him for a while before asking, figuring that they should at least stick around for a while before telling him they wanted to marry his child. It was nice to catch up with him, almost enough to make them briefly forget the nerves that the whole situation had brought.
(...It was also nice to make sure he wasn't isolating himself in a jungle of houseplants after Chara moved out. Though the answer to that one was still debatable, honestly.)
"Not this time," Frisk answered, taking a rather enjoyable sip of absolutely scalding tea. "I figured you'd be the best person to ask, since..."
(They were really asking a divorced man about marriage. They were out of options, sure, but they were confident that was at least sort of offensive.)
(Oh, well. They needed the information.)
Asgore put down his own cup, clapping his paws together.
"Admittedly, I do not remember the finer details. It has been... well, at the very least more than a century."
"That's fine. I just want a basic idea."
"Well, I... doubt we do anything too differently from human traditions. It was already a concept by the time we were sealed Underground, see," he began. "Though, I imagine our ideas for it have changed since then."
Frisk nodded, already resigning themselves to a lengthy exposition.
"Probably."
"With the loss of proper sunlight, the idea sort of shifted more into showing another person- or multiple people- how they were your light. I believe it was common for folks in Waterfall to carve a gem they found in the walls. In Home and New Home, a lantern was often given. Frankly, as long as the sentiment is there, you won't have too much trouble!"
...They could do that. But what to pick out? What exactly would Chara appreciate the most?
...
Frisk cleared their throat. Asgore definitely had a hunch why they were asking, so there was no point in not ripping the bandage off.
"What would Chara like?"
(Asgore beamed at the confirmation of who Frisk wanted to propose to. They just bowed their head, trying to ignore the embarrassed flush crossing their face and neck.)
"Hm. They were always practical. But I don't believe they ever really escaped being a little sentimental."
...Frisk had a very prominent scar above their heart that made that statement feel incredibly ironic. Still, Asgore had a point. They were pretty sure the first thing Chara asked for upon being brought back was their locket.
Even so, they could use a bit more advice. That was sort of vague.
"Any other pointers?" they asked, a little desperate for more help.
"It isn't my place to say," he simply concluded. "I doubt it needs to be a surprise. If you wanted to just ask them what they'd like..."
"No!- No, I'll... figure it out. It'll mean more if it's fully from me, right? They'll find out when they see it."
Which was admittedly a very hypocritical statement considering they were just about to ask Chara's dad for help instead. Speaking of Chara's dad, he was now fixing them with a smile that seemed mildly sympathetic.
"Of course. Just remember that you aren't planning for a stranger, Frisk. You know them."
He reached over and pat them on the shoulder, annoyingly right.
...
Alright. Alright. They could do this. They just had to get over being a nervous wreck, and everything would go off without a hitch.
Once they... actually started planning everything, that was.
After a few more cups of tea, they bid Asgore farewell. He gave them a hug that left them stumbling to recover and what appeared to be a few plant cuttings, presumably to pass on to Chara.
The sun was setting as they walked down the streets of New New Home, streetlights sporadically flickering on as they trudged through an unusually cold spring evening. They didn't mind the cold, really; they weren't scrawny like Chara was, and that tended to lend itself to staying a bit warmer a bit easier.
...Still, it was April. It should have been warmer.
They made their way up to their apartment, thoughts beginning to race as they did. Asgore was right. They knew things Chara liked. Plants and constellations and all those little meticulous things that Frisk never would have paid attention to otherwise because they always bothered more with the bigger picture.
But how to combine that into something light-related? Chara had lived with the Dreemurrs in New Home, so that suggested that they should've gotten a lantern, but was it possible to get those custom made?
...
Probably, actually. They'd ask around.
Alright. That was one problem taken care of. Frisk couldn't help but preen a little as they unlocked the door to their apartment and made their way inside.
It was small, possibly not befitting monsterkind's ambassador and a Dreemurr, but it was a good location in town and Chara liked the way that the balcony offered a good view of the stars, so it was practically perfect in every way that mattered.
A lamp was tucked into the corner of the living room, illuminating the space up to around the kitchen counter a handful of paces away.
No sign of Chara, though. That was alright; Frisk was fairly sure they knew where their partner was. Indeed, the curtains to the balcony were wide open, and the glass sliding door was slightly ajar.
They briefly considered locking it for a while, just to see if Chara would even notice. But they thought better of it, taking the cuttings Asgore had given them out of their pocket before nudging their way through the door.
Chara was sitting on a deck chair, a mug of what they could only assume was either hot chocolate or tea in their hands. They didn't look over as Frisk sat down in the chair next to them, instead focusing on the first stars that were appearing in a swiftly darkening sky.
"Beautiful as ever," Frisk greeted with a grin, and that was enough to motivate Chara to put down their mug on the table between their two chairs. They looked at Frisk with a small smile, already reaching out to take the plant cuttings.
"Greetings. I trust your visit with my father was enlightening?"
(For a moment, they worried that Chara somehow knew what they were planning. But that was literally impossible.)
"Something like that," they answered, shamelessly stealing Chara's mug and taking a sip from it. They knew immediately from the glare that Chara gave them in response that it was hot chocolate.
...Which was honestly better than tea right now. They weren't sure they needed or wanted any more tea.
"Have you just been sitting out here for hours?"
Chara huffed at the question, shooting Frisk a wry smile.
"Of course. You know me, whiling away the hours in a manner befitting a medieval lunatic because I want to see if I can spot the Spring Triangle."
As always, Frisk's interest was piqued. They leaned forwards on their hands, now looking up at the sky with Chara.
"Well, can you?" they asked.
Chara took one of their hands in theirs, raising it up towards the sky. Frisk readily obliged with the motion.
"See the Big Dipper asterism there?" they explained quietly, before moving Frisk's hand down slightly. "The bright star a few ways below that and Canes Venatici is Arcturus. Then you just... take the triangle shape from there."
They pointed to the other two stars, and even if Frisk could barely see them they positively adored the sentiment.
"The Canes one is your favourite, right?"
...Chara smiled, covering their mouth with their free hand in an effort to at least sort of hide it.
"Something like that, yes," they said, voice dripping with fondness. Frisk always found it endearingly dorky, really; all they had to do to make Chara happy on a good day was to engage in their interests. And they'd get that adorable tone of voice in turn, that-
Right. They were making up their mind again. Actively. They were going to propose to Chara, and it was going to be the best thing anyone had ever seen.
Well, no. It was going to be the best thing Chara had ever seen, they supposed. They didn't plan on having anyone else around for the occasion.
It took a few weeks of bargaining with artisans, a few more desperate conversations with Asgore, and a horrifying time period of hoping Chara didn't somehow sleuth out their plans, but eventually Frisk was able to pick up a custom-made lantern.
Really, it was a beautiful thing. The base and cap were mostly black, vines engraved on the former that somehow seemed even darker under the sunlight. On the cap were a few painted golden flowers that, while not perfectly realistic, contrasted the darkness of the rest of the lantern perfectly.
Furthermore, the burner and wick were encased with one of the fake stars from the Waterfall wishing room. It took a lot of asking around to see if they were allowed to take one of those for the pursuit of love, and they weren't entirely confident they would have been given permission if not for their ambassador role.
It was perfect, they decided. They could only hope Chara would agree; and for the love of the Angel, just looking at the damn thing was already making their heart beat a few paces faster. They were going to do this. They had already invested time and money into it. They were going to.
Frisk took a moment to reorient. All they needed to do was figure out what to say and where to say it.
Proposing on the balcony would have been easy, but it would be a little too simple. Going to Mettaton's restaurant where they had had their first date would be classic, but... Mettaton.
They could always go out to Mount Ebott, they supposed. Where they met, subsequently almost ended the world, and set free an entire species. That would be... sentimental. They could do sentimental! They loved sentimental!
...Maybe they were rushing into it a little, but they felt like every moment they were going about doing this just reiterated their desire to do so. For Chara, for them, for this stupid little life they had wrenched from fate itself.
...
They had some thinking to do. But it felt real. What they were about to do was real, and that meant something in and of itself.
"Mount Ebott?" Chara asked one evening, a week later. "An odd place to take someone unprompted, you know. Are you secretly planning my demise, Frisk?"
They would hope not!
"Would believing that be good or bad for the odds of getting you to go with me?" Frisk responded. Chara shrugged.
"I suppose I have better things to do than die."
"Then no, it isn't me trying to kill you. Are you coming or not?"
...Chara rolled their eyes, but they were already standing up to tug a thin jacket over their shoulders. This was it, then.
Frisk had scoped out the location a bit prior, if only to hide the lantern there (they realised incredibly quickly that trying to smuggle a lantern up a mountain without looking incredibly suspicious was nigh impossible, and just accepted to leave it there to keep Chara wondering a little while longer). The weather seemed like it'd be reasonably good the rest of the day.
They just... had to get up there and say it. Which at this point was feeling more and more like the hardest part, because they had something to prove and that something was that they hadn't been freaking out about this for almost two months on end.
They led Chara to the apartment parking lot and got into their car. They talked on the way there, mostly Chara making progressively more esoteric assumptions as to why Frisk wanted to, quote, "drag them to a mountain where they had both died multiple times in the middle of June for no apparent reason."
Notably, none of their theories were correct. They decided to take that as a small win.
When they parked at the base of Mount Ebott and began the ascension, they couldn't help but muse about the past. They were fairly certain that the mountain itself had been absorbed into some kind of national park so as to keep eyes on it, while the Underground was...
Possibly a historical site? That was one of the earlier meetings they dealt with, so the details were a little fuzzy now.
They supposed that meant it was possible that other people would be in the vicinity as they proposed, but... they could hope not. Frankly at this point more for their sake than Chara's; Frisk was relatively confident that any other eyes on them would make them chicken out.
Even if it was... kind of late for that now. Far too late, even, considering where they were.
They were a little out of breath by the time they made it to the overlook on Mount Ebott, staring down at the town below for several seconds as they waited for Chara to catch up.
(A thud next to them alerted them to Chara's presence. Looking over revealed that Chara was already laying down on their back and staring up at the sky.)
(Right, maybe Frisk should've considered the exhaustion factor a little more before deciding to propose on a giant mountain. Whoops.)
Frisk sat down with an apologetic smile, reaching over to pat Chara on the shoulder.
"Sorry about that," they said. "I guess we could have gone a little slower."
"No," Chara retorted, "by the way you've been clearly nervous all day, I don't suppose we truly could have."
And then, noticing Frisk looking even more apologetic, they elaborated further:
"That isn't necessarily a bad thing, bear in mind. I just would have appreciate more warning."
Chara finally sat up, looking over at a very distinctly not nervous Frisk.
"Anyways," they finished, now sounding slightly curious. "Why did you bring me up here exactly, Frisk?"
"Well, I... wanted to tell you something, I guess."
They stared out at Ebott below for a few seconds, taking a deep breath. They were granted an encouraging nod when they looked over at Chara, and it encouraged them to press on.
"It's been a while since we've been up here," they began, standing up and making their way to the pile of stones they had hidden the lantern behind. It felt cool in their hands, and they weren't sure how bad of a sign it was that that managed to ground them.
"Indeed it has," Chara agreed. "As I recall, the last time we were up here was when you had dragged my barely alive wreck of a self out of the ground."
Frisk couldn't help but laugh, turning back to look at Chara while hiding the lantern behind their back. There was an easy smile on their face, and their leg was bouncing slightly as they watched Frisk expectantly.
(Frisk was confident they had figured it out at this point and was just thankful that they hadn't said anything.)
"That's... kind of it, isn't it?" they continued, sitting back down next to Chara. "Being with you, around you- just... I don't know, really. It makes things I think are impossible happen. Time travel, raising the dead, freeing an entire species..."
They trailed off, a slightly sad smile coming to their face.
"...Being happy. You name it, really."
Chara was clearly halfway through starting some kind of awkward comfort, but Frisk raised a hand to stop them. They needed to finish.
"And at first, that was kind of really terrifying. You were terrifying. But now, I guess I can't imagine being without it. I want to see what other limits we can break together."
Chara's eyes widened slightly.
"You do?" they asked weakly in response, looking past Frisk like it would give them some kind of answers.
"I'm sure of it," Frisk confirmed.
Right. This was the moment. They took a deep breath.
"I don't know how much this means to either of us considering everything we've been through," they finished, "but you're, well... the light of my life, I guess. And I'm fairly sure I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So, uh..."
And then, with an awkward laugh, they held the lantern out to Chara and flicked it on. The fire caught on the star encased within, illuminating both of them in a faint blue light.
"Chara, would you do me the honour of marrying me?"
Chara's eyes flicked between Frisk and the lantern a few times, and they looked like a fish out of water. One of their hands came up to their mouth again, and they let out a laugh that Frisk was terrified was a bad sign until-
-they took the lantern, holding it to their chest like it was something fragile. Which, now that they thought of it, it probably was. Chara lowered their hand, and by the Angel, Frisk wished they could capture the smile that they saw forever, because holy shit it was soft and adoring and everything a younger them never would have thought Chara would have regarded them with.
"Is that a yes..?" they asked stupidly.
Chara nodded in return, putting the lantern aside to take Frisk's hands in theirs.
"I'd say it is," they croaked out, before leaning up to press their lips together.