There's A Lot More We've Yet To See

The Only Monsters in Your Head

Should be good ones like me.

__

Asriel sits in the center of a flower patch, legs folded beneath him, paws dutifully weaving a crown of violets and lilies and marigolds --golly, Dad sure does have a lot of flowers-- slipping the occasional forget-me-not in. He reaches into the pile of blooms beside him for another, coming up with a single buttercup.

It's a pretty one, with six petals curling ever so softly.

He smiles and braids it in beside the-- other buttercups?

That can't be right.

The prince frowns, and glances at the pile of flowers beside him, the ones that he's so certain are colored with every imaginable hue of--

Yellow?

He raises his flower crown to eye level and, strangely enough, finds the same flowers he made it with in the first place.

Except now they're in varying shades of gold and yellow.

Chara giggles beside him.

The wrinkle between his eyebrows smoothens as he realizes what it was. Just Chara playing tricks on him again. Geez.

"That's not funny!" 

But he can feel himself laughing along anyways.

Chara's shoulders scrunch up, their cheeks rosy, hand pressed against their mouth in a half-meant attempt to stifle their laughter.

"Cha-ra!"

Chara replies with an equally mocking rendition of his name.

"Geez!"

They continue to laugh.

Then Chara's shoulders stiffen oddly, the mirthful gasps and breaths turning strained, jagged. Their hand clamps over their mouth like a vice, strangling the sounds. Their cheeks pale, salt water carving tracks from the shadows under their eyes.

Asriel's stomach sinks. He tosses away the flowers that have begun to repeat their previous laughter as he attempts to console his sibling.

They call out, Asriel! Then again.

Asriel!

Asriel!

Asriel..!

Asriel...

"Asriel..."

He snaps awake, hastily banishing all traces of sleepiness. The prince looks to the side, where, painted in shadows, Chara stands beside his bed. Their arms wrap around themself, fingers vice-like, short nails digging into flesh through the fabric of their pajamas.

"Asriel," they repeat, awkwardly teetering on their feet as though unsure on how to proceed.

(He can't help but think that the space in their arms looks rather empty, and he berates himself for not giving them one of his numerous stuffed toys.)

"I..." Tear tracks glisten on their cheeks, not quite there but not quite gone; a result of being hastily wiped away. Strands of brown hair stick to tracks. "I had a nightmare... and since you said I could... May I join you? If- if it's not too much trouble, of course..."

Asriel doesn't need any further prompting, he's already sitting up, arranging the pillows to accommodate two, and shimmying off to give them enough space to climb into. With a grateful thank you, Chara slips in beside him.

They're silent for a while, but he knows they're far from asleep. Looking to the side tells him he's right. Chara's brown eyes stare up to the ceiling, dulled to sightless spheres, lacking their usual sparkle.

It bothers him in more ways than one.

He doesn't like how they wake up with darker circles under their eyes each morning, because he knows that means they didn't sleep at all that night. He doesn't like how their grin spreads perfectly even and controlled at every mention of the surface, because it's fake and it's not like them. He doesn't like the utter disbelief that seizes their expression at his displays of affection, like they've never felt it before, or like they don't believe they deserve it,  because they do. He especially doesn't like how they keep him and everyone else in the dark about whatever ugly things were eating them up inside.

Like they didn't believe it was worth their time. Like they didn't believe anything they did would help.

(And it stings, because isn't he their best friend?)

Even now, they lay perfectly still on their back, hands folded. Their breathing is calm and steady. If not for their eyes, they could almost count for asleep. (Or fallen. Depending on how you look at it.)

(He doesn't want to look at it that way.)

Asriel reaches over and takes one of their hands. He squeezes it gently, becuase he thinks perhaps they want something to hold onto. He waits a few moments. Chara lightly presses back.

He looks at them, and they slide their eyes over to look back at him. A crooked sort of smile breaks through the dead mask.

"Go to sleep, Azzy," they murmur.

Instead of replying, he says, "You know you can tell me anything... What did you dream about?"

Chara hums thoughtfully. They turn on their side to face him, bangs obscuring their eyes, and shrug.

"I can't remember."

"Liar."

"I truly can't."

Asriel puffs his cheeks and rolls to his side as well, so that both children are facing each other. The light seems to have returned in Chara's eyes, however diluted it may be. (He notices the redness and the dark circles underneath as well, but he'd rather not comment on it.) He knows they're lying.

"It was just..." The smile slips for just a fraction of a second, into something defeated, blank. Then they bring it back, chuckling as they say, "Kind of scary."

He knows they're lying. But he's not going to pry.

Instead, he plays along, declares, "Don't worry, Chara, as long as I'm here, you won't have to be scared! Bad dreams won't bother you ever!"

Chara snorts. "Whatever you say."

"I'm serious!"

"I don't doubt you."

"Stop laughing! Hey!"

Asriel tries to stay indignant, he really does-- but he chokes on his laughter and loses. When he opens his eyes, Chara is wiping tears from theirs. He can't tell if it's from laughing too hard or from something deeper, but either way he still wraps an arm around their shoulder in a half-hug. They quiten their laughter against his shirt, and he feels them put an arm around him in turn.

They're silent for a little while, catching their breath.

(Chara's fingers grip the back of his shirt tightly.)

"I'm here," he says, because he feels like he needs to.

"Thank you," they say, nestled somewhere between his shoulder and ear.

(He can almost swear he heard the tiniest sniffle.)

"Good night, Chara."

___

Pre-canon Dreemurr sibs being alive and okay. That's all this was built on.