Surpraiz childe!

[gainedlove]

WHO: Frisk and anyone at Heropa #007
WHERE: Heropa housing, #007
WHEN: The day of Frisk's arrival
WHAT: Congratulations, ladies, you just won a small child.
WARNINGS: Undertale spoilers up in here, will update for anything else

Arriving was a confusing bit of business. Both of them were on edge from the beginning, between the soldiers everywhere and that disturbing little file they handed off to Frisk before whisking them off to their...new home?

LOAD FAILED

It's a shock, the first time. And the second, and the third. It's not that the FILE isn't there--Frisk can feel it, a firm and true anchor, but they can't grasp it. Something is blocking them, and anything the soldiers tell them on the car ride is entirely ignored while Frisk throws themself against that barrier over and over. They only stop once Frisk is dropped off at the house--not because they need to go inside, but because there's blood dripping from their nose.

The house is much bigger than anything Frisk is used to. Much nicer, as well, and they spend the first hour or so searching around and seeing what all is there. One of the rooms is quickly claimed by Frisk stuffing the file under the mattress of the bed, and a piece of paper taped to the door reading 'Frisk's Room!!!'. A trip to the bathroom to clean themself up, and then...

* Alright.
* So we're stuck god knows where, we can't LOAD or RESET properly, and the military wants us to be a weapon.
* What do you plan to do about this?

* (...you wanna go watch some TV?)

* ...

Which is how Frisk has wound up flopped on the couch watching a marathon of some new cartoon that's using way too many whip-crack sound effects.

Comments

[fastballspeciaaaaal]

Ripley somehow misses all evidence of Frisk's presence in the house: doesn't hear the door open, doesn't hear the faucet in the bathroom, doesn't notice the sign on the door. As such, she doesn't come to greet Frisk, despite being in the house when they arrived. How unknowingly rude of her!

Nope, Ripley doesn't notice Frisk until about half an hour later when she's about to take her wolf out for a walk. She bounds downstairs with the beast in tow, only to screech to a halt when she hears the TV and finally realizes there's someone in the house. Someone new too! How exciting!

"Oh, hi!" And then half a moment later, Ripley realizes Frisk's face isn't so unfamiliar to her, "Hi! I remember you!"

She of course always forgets that people might not remember her too. Oops.

[gainedlove]

The miracle of two people in a huge-ass house: did you know I was home, I didn't know you were home, is anybody really home?

(Yes, yes they are.)

Frisk yelps and jumps half a foot off the couch when Ripley makes herself known, grabbing onto a pillow and looking over with very wide eyes that blink from red to blue in an instant. Holy cripes, they didn't know anyone else was already here! They're about to respond, probably asking who Ripley is, when--

"Oh my gosh, is that your dog?"

Priorities. Frisk, of course, is already scrambling over to pet the wolf.

[fastballspeciaaaaal]

Oh! Ripley distinctly remembers Frisk not speaking, they were teaching ASL on the network last time she saw them, so that's a bit of a surprise! But also that's probably not a polite thing to ask about, right? 'Hey, I thought you were mute'? Yeah, no, probably shouldn't, so she doesn't.

--But anyways; Ripley isn't at all thrown off by the immediate attention her wolf gets. If she were Frisk her priorities would be exactly the same.

"Yup! His name is Jackson."

The wolf in question happily accepts the pets from Frisk, nuzzling into their hand and giving it a lick or two. Oh, he's a happy puppy right now, loves new people!

[gainedlove]

"Ohhh, he's so nice! Hi, Jackson!" Chara doesn't even have time to offer Frisk the options before they've started to pet him, giggling at the wet doggy kisses and burying their hands in his fur. Ahhh, pure bliss.

It takes a mental nudge before Frisk looks back up to Ripley again, a small frown tugging at their mouth. "Um, I don't remember seein' you b'fore...I'm sorry. Um, what's your name?"

[wifeonmars]

[M'gann can sense an unfamiliar mind (two?) as she approaches the house, but chalks it up to Ripley having a friend over or something. So she's not entirely surprised to find someone in the living room, though she is a little confused by what seems to be only one human when she was expecting two. She's probably just tired.

Always ready to make friends, M'gann steps forward with a smile. Not too close, since some humans are still weirded out by someone who's visibly not human.]

Hi! Are you a friend of Ripley's? I'm M'gann.

[fastballspeciaaaaal]

Ripley bounces in place and smile at the doggy cuddles. Frisk likes Jackson, so Ripley's pretty sure she's gonna like Frisk.

"That's okay, it was a while ago, I just have a real good memory. I'm Ripley! And you're..." Oops, okay so their name might have escaped her amazing memory, "Frrrrankie? Francis? Frr... Fruit loops?"

Yeah, one of those sounds right.

[gainedlove]

[It's not as much of a surprise as with Ripley, since Frisk hears the front door. They sit up properly and look over with a smile, not seeming to be bothered by her appearance at all. Though that odd twin feeling of confusion and friendliness might be a bit weird.]

Naw, I just got dropped off. My name's Frisk!

[* They're green!]
[* They're...they're the Hulk!]

[* (No way, they'd be angry if they were!)]

[gainedlove]

Frisk snorts and giggles, shaking their head. Oh, they already like this person a lot!

"Noooo, my name's Frisk! But how'd you know me? Are you from Ebott too?" They only just arrived here, after all.

[wifeonmars]

[M'gann shakes her head a little. There's a weird echo... Is something interfering with her telepathy? She looks Frisk over for a moment, before dismissing the thought. If it is Frisk, they probably can't help it, or they have no idea. So, M'gann quickly smiles again, trying to seem as welcoming as possible.]

It's nice to meet you! You must be our new roommate. Did you have any questions about anything?

[fastballspeciaaaaal]

"Frisk, right! I was close." No she wasn't, and she wouldn't in a million years have guessed it, but oh well.

"I'm just from Earth, but we kinda talked that one time when you were on the network with your skeleton friend. Y'know when you were teaching people sign language." She does a few random signs to emphasize the point, teacher, thank you, friend.

Yup, still not getting that this isn't the same kid she met then.

[gainedlove]

Ummmm...

[Frisk bites their lip and kicks their feet, pondering.]

[* What about food?]

Oh, yeah! Um, are we all gonna make dinners an' stuff together?

[wifeonmars]

Sure! I usually cook enough for me and Ripley, or we get take-out. You don't have to worry about being home at a certain time or anything, though.

[One more mouth to feed won't be that difficult.]

[gainedlove]

[Oh, M'gann. That might not have been a good way to phrase things...]

Really? I can stay out as late as I want? Oh, but I wanna help cook if I'm here!

[gainedlove]

Well, a bigger clue might be incoming right about now. Frisk frowns a little, their brow furrowing, and in their mind a presence shivers. They do recognize the signs, though their ASL is a little rusty. They've used Hands more often than not ever since they learned it.

"...I just got here, though. You sure it was me?"

[wifeonmars]

[Crap. Big sister mode, engage!]

Technically yes, but I'd really appreciate it if you didn't stay out too late. There are a lot of superheroes here, but that doesn't mean there aren't any supervillains. Or just straight up bad guys.

And you can always cook with me! It'll be nice to have some company in the kitchen.

[gainedlove]

Awwwwwwwww!

[* Come on, even Sans isn't ever THAT lenient.]

[Frisk huffs a soft sigh, their shoulders slumping a little.]

Okay...I can take care'a myself, though! An' I helped Mom cook a whole bunch, I can help with all sorts'a stuff!

[fastballspeciaaaaal]

"I'm... pretty sure?" She was (kind of) right about their name, so it must of actually been them, right? Unless this is some sort of weird magi--

......Waaaait a minute, this is starting to make sense now.


"Okay okay okay, I think I know what's going on, but it's kinda weird and you gotta just roll with it."

[wifeonmars]

You definitely look like you can take care of yourself. But I mean, you shouldn't have to. It's safe here. ...Mostly.

[Besides the whole Communist thing and the brainwashing and the aforementioned supervillains...]

Anyways, I'm excited to cook with you! And if there are any recipes you want to try, we can do that together.

[gainedlove]

...because that's not worrying or anything. Frisk shifts a little, and their demeanor becomes more wary than it was a few moments ago. Their brows draw together, and if Ripley is paying attention, she might notice their blue eyes flicker into a bright red. Chara frowns, not drawing away quite yet but watching the older girl carefully. "Roll with what? What are you talking about?"

[gainedlove]

[* 'Mostly'?]

[* (Well, if there's superheroes there's gotta be supervillains too, right?)]

[* I guess.]

[Frisk nods, that eager smile coming easily back to their face.]

D'you know how't make butterscotch-cinnamon pie?

[fastballspeciaaaaal]

The eye colour change doesn't register with Ripley, but the body language does. That's not good, she hadn't meant to make them scared!

"It's nothing bad! Just..." It's just that this isn't exactly straight forward to explain.

"Okay so, people usually get brought here, stay a while and then disappear back home, right? --I mean, the porter glitches sometimes and they go home for like a few days, but if they're gone longer than that then they're probably gone for good.

Except, sometimes not? Sometimes people come back a couple months later, but they don't remember anything about the last time they were here! And sometimes they do remember, but most not, after that long."

There's a lot of grey area, and Ripley's aware it's getting a bit complicated so she stops there. Following so far, Chara? If not now would be a good time for questions.

[wifeonmars]

Butterscotch-cinnamon pie... I've never really heard of that before, but it can't be too hard. Maybe we can figure it out together.

[Plus, worse comes to worse, there's in the internet. M'gann does have to wonder about that specific flavor combination, though.]

[gainedlove]

There is literally nothing about that whole schpiel that isn't alarming. At all. The hair on the back of their neck raises, and Chara can feel a sinking sort of weight in their stomach. They...forgot? They forgot? The two of them have never forgotten anything, not since the very beginning! Even when Flowey had lost all memory of them before, when they'd still been making mistake after mistake...this isn't right. It's not right at all! "How can we--how could I have forgotten?! You don't--it doesn't work like that!" Their hands ball up into fists at their side, and they glare up at poor Ripley. "How could someone else still remember and I don't?!" There's no way someone else could have more Determination than Frisk...right?

[fastballspeciaaaaal]

Dang it, this is the opposite of what she wanted to happen! But only a little bit more than what she was expecting, honestly. In any case, Ripley's got to fix this but she's not sure how...

Her only strategy is 'explain more', so she's kind of got to stick with that, even if that hasn't been working so far.

"No, no! It's not cause 'a you: it's the porter! It can happen to anyone. Please don't be upset!"