The Dreemurr Family

"B-brother, is this really necessary?"

Chara peeked out through the little gap Asriel had left open. She was huddled up in the cramped wardrobe, watching her quite excited little brother scurry around the room. The goat monster shushed something to an unseen person or object, before returning to her, peeking back into the wardrobe. As usual, the sight of his bright yellow, overly mischievous eyes were tad bit disconcerting, but nothing Chara wasn't mostly used to by now.

"Of course! How would you play a closet game without shutting the closet, right?" he assured, trying to close the doors on her before they could protest any more.

"Okay..." Chara mumbled from inside the closet.

The darkness wasn't exactly much of an issue. Chara was used to being in dark places and their wardrobe was probably one of the better ones she has been to so far. Sometimes, the darkness could even be the most comforting place to be. However, the present issue wasn't with that, but several other facts. One of them being the closed doors, the lack of an obvious other exit and the fact that Asriel was still outside, meaning he had something cooked up much earlier.

She tapped around a bit, but there wasn't anything to be found. Several rows of sweaters and shirts a couple of loose cobwebs were all they could find just by touching randomly about. Her rummaging unhooked several of the sweaters, which piled onto her like she was some kind nicely-knitted monster. Other than a lack of light and cleanliness, everything seemed perfectly fine. She scratched the door a bit with her nails, attracting her brother's attention.

"So what's this game about?" she asked.

"Beats me!" came the quick reply, though with an odd bit of impatience. "Skunkle Gaster found it in some old human book."

Chara frowned a bit from the name. Skeleton-Uncle or 'Skunkle' Gaster was an odd fellow she still wasn't quite sure was to be befriended, or arrested on sight. The skeleton was supposedly the Royal Scientist in charge of making life better for everyone in the Underground, but she couldn't really name any grand invention of his besides copious amounts of highly volatile arms and other bits of patented 'Gastertech'. The only unifying theory behind 'Gastertech' seemed to be that they were all rigged to explode within an unspecified amount of time. Chara learned this the hard way and constantly reminded herself ever since never to ask the skeleton for a set of drawing pencils again.

"You're supposed to go in a closet with a friend... and I dunno, he said he couldn't find the next page after that."

The fallen human couldn't help, but chuckle a bit, despite the growing nervousness.

"So does that mean you're climbing in here with me?" she asked, barely masking the amusement in her voice.

"O-of course not!" the young Dreemurr stammered, crossing his arms. She could hear the sound of him running about once more, before returning to the door. "Besides, you're already playing!"

"What do y-" Chara couldn't finish the sentence. Her eyes had gotten used to the darkness just enough for her to stop something wasn't right. Her skin crawled from the unfamiliar presence she suddenly felt within the wardrobe, signaling that she was nowhere near alone. There was someone, or something here with her, but she couldn't readily pinpoint their position at all.

"Asriel?" she whined, fear crawling into her voice. "Asriel, who's in here with me?"

"Oh, you found them?" her brother's voice was far too amused for this to be anything even remotely good.

"Them?"

"Yeah! Remember, I told you this morning: Old Miss Charlotte is sending over her kids to play a bit." he said. "They said you were so funny the last time, they wanted to hang out again."

All color drained from Chara's face, so much so that the ever-present blushes felt like cold spots. She pushed against the wardrobe door, only to find it firmly shut.

"No cheating! The book said 5 minutes at or until there's strange noises coming from inside!"

She barely even heard Asriel's retort, far too engrossed in the overwhelming amount of terror grasping at her heart. As with the Underground's strange magic, her rapidly dwindling determination answered the call and summoned the very familiar bright red SOUL that belonged to her. For once in her lifetime though, Chara wished the SOUL lay dormant instead. It illuminated the wardrobe just enough for her to make one very keen and important observation.

There were things crawling along the inside walls. Fuzzy balls with legs crawling all across the numerous sweaters. Eight horrific legs crawling back and forth, covering up every formerly dark corner.

And crawling up and down her arms, legs, back and hair.

- - -

Toriel walked past the children's door, humming a little tune to herself from memory. She wasn't sure where she had heard it, but it had a somber and unsettling slowness to it, perfect for such a fine day.

She paused briefly as her ears twitched and returned to the door. The room was strangely quiet, much unlike the usual noises of rampant chaos she had been used to. Normally, this wouldn't have been too bothersome, but it was common for the kids to start roughhousing a bit just before dinner, so the unusual silence was out of the ordinary. She leaned a bit closer to the door, trying to catch a peep at least to know what they were up to.

A low noise started emanating from inside, consistently getting louder. Toriel raised a brow and continued listening. The noise amplified in volume every moment, until it was clearly identifiable as a raw, primal scream of terror, one expected from no less than thousands of yawning souls from the Abyss. It was as if a tortured SOUL was stuck inside that room, screaming for release from horrors no mortal could bear, followed by loud banging and what sounded like wood cracking and splintering. Toriel giggled and continued along the corridor, relieved to know the kids were doing just fine.

She headed for the kitchen, only to find Asgore sitting and reading up on what she assumed to be Torture Devices Monthly, one of the few publications that survived their banishment beyond the barrier. No one knew where they still managed to pull funding, though Toriel suspected her husband had several strings pulled for their continued existence. The monster was highly engrossed in the current month's contents, but just about chucked the magazine, once she stepped into the room.

"Tori!" his booming voice still had that charming rasp to it that first clawed its way deep into her heart. "You look positively ghastly today!"

Her eyes burned in the same otherworldly yellow as her husband's and while the rune-adorned robe she was wearing wasn't exactly her regal clothing, in Asgore's eyes it suited her just fine, the red and black garments beautifully complementing her graciously full figure and soft, almost grey fur.

"Oh, you little flatterer." she moved over to behind the easy chair, just barely within his sight.

She removed his crown and placed it on her head instead, replacing the regal adornment with her soft, furry paw instead. She started scratching his head, running her nails across her husband's long dark hair. The boss monster groaned in delight, closing his eyes to the sensation of Toriel's nails scratching at his scalp. His queen moved to his side, watching his expression with a smile. He smirked and a playful glint flickered in his eyes for a moment.

Without notice, he reached up and grabbed hold of his lovely wife, pulling her into his arms with barely an effort. Toriel giggled loudly as she landed right in his grasp, lying over his muscular legs. She reached up to cup his face, paws running past his thick dark beard. Asgore paused for a moment to just take in the sight of his lover, before sharing a brief, passionate kiss with her as the room's temperature rose rapidly. Behind them, the fireplace burst into flames, even without a hint of firewood to support it.

The door to the children's room swung open mere seconds later, nearly dropping right off the hinges. Chara stormed out of the room, her steps loudly echoing across the corridor.. The two goat monsters glanced in her general direction, only to see the human heading straight for the stairs and most likely the bathroom they've constructed below. Her eyes were downright burning in anger, red eyes flashing in a way only a demon's could. Her brief interlude paused the lovers just long enough for Toriel to give her husband a light smack on the face.

"In front of the children again." she scolded, though her voice contained no anger whatsoever. "You are irredeemable, Lord Dreemurr."

"You're monstrous, Tori." he said, grin wide as ever. Usually, she reserved that title for other, more private occasions.

"I am what I am." she raised a brow, returning the smile. He moved in for a kiss, only to be stopped by Toriel's finger. He tried to press on anyway, not at all minding that her claw was almost drawing blood.

"A filthy monster." he corrected himself, earning another playful snap.

"Watch it." she warned, but with an encouraging wink nonetheless.

The king's expression clearly showed there would be more to come, but nonetheless adopted a less openly seductive approach for now. He shifted around and let Toriel back on her feet again, allowing his wife to place the Monster Crown back where it belonged. He glanced towards the children's room again, after hearing a couple of unidentifiable bleats from inside. The slightly annoyed sounds made him smile.

"So good to see the children getting along." he said.

"They really are like blood siblings at this point." Toriel nodded. "I was a bit worried how Chara would fit in. Not just because she is human, but because she can be a little distant sometimes."

Almost on cue, muffled grumbles from the kids' room got louder and soon enough, Asriel emerged. He stumbled through the door blindly, and proceeded to walk wall-to-wall, his vision completely obscured by the sizable flower pot stuck on his head. The tacky vase covered him all the way down to his neck, with only a tiny bit of his ears sticking out from under it. Toriel covered her mouth and at least tried to stifle her giggle, while Asgore took no such effort and laughed heartily at his son's predicament.

"Nonsense, she's just as much of a Dreemurr as you and I!" he said, watching Asriel stubbornly trying to find his way around. He knew the hosue from top to bottom, but it was difficult for him to tell which direction to face at all. "It's just like my great-uncle Aries used to say: 'Human or Monster, always bet on red eyes'. He was a wise man, the old horny." he chuckled.

"It's certainly good to see them having so much fun." she said, her words accentuated by repeated banging as Asriel continued his trek from one wall to the next.

She finally decided to assist him a little and briefly returned to the kitchen. She took the freshly baked snail pie she made and cut a single, small slice of it, just enough so it wouldn't spoil dinner. Returned to Asgore's side, who had since started to mark every close encounter with the walls or floor their son managed. At point it seemed rather likely he would tumble down the stairs as well, but managed to pull back at the last second.

Toriel briefly stopped to scratch her husband's ear, making the king of monsters murmur in delight. Before he could have attempted anything though, she held out the tiny slice of snail pie. Asriel stopped in his tracks, the scent of the pie managing to crawl under the vase. His resolve stronger than even, he held his arms out and trotted straight towards Toriel in a completely straight line. He only stopped once he bumped against her leg and reached up to claim his prize.

"I do not want to see you skip dinner, young man." she instructed, but handed him the snail pie anyway.

Asriel nodded, the pot narrowly missing Toriel's knee several times over. He seemed puzzled at first by what to do exactly, but chose the easiest way to success and reached under, mashing the snail pie through the tiny opening at the bottom, one that until now was also his only source of air. Toriel's pie was well worth the potential suffocation though, in his view.

"Come on over here and I'll help you with that." Asgore reigned in his laughter a bit, but it was still rather hilarious to watch Asriel stumble about. And so he did, though the distance to his father was rather short compared to the earlier journey. "Hold it steady, son."

Another brief, yet highly dangerous nod later Asriel grabbed the pot from either side to support it. Asgore peeked around as he scratched his beard, contemplating on what approach to use. The gap was far too narrow and Chara must have used significant force to stuff his head in there. He finally decided to use the easiest and most direct method. He carefully tapped the top, or rather, bottom of the pot a couple of times, before bringing his mighty fist down. The strength behind it was carefully calculated and rather than sending Asriel halfway into the floor, it merely resulted in the head-vice cracking and quickly shattering to pieces. Asriel was free once again, face full of pie and his quite dazed look suggesting some of the excess force did get carried over. He collapsed a second later, the perfectly intact bottom of the vase sitting on his head, like a silly flat-hat.

Chara had since emerged from below, all freshened up and looking quite amused by the scene. She was leaning against a tall, ravishing pillar of sentient fire, letting the generous amount of heat seep right into her bones. Grillby, loyal and dependable butler to the Dreemurr Royal Family was holding his arms out and tracing the rough outline of Chara's form, making the girl shiver from the heat. The quick shower significantly improved her mood, but it would have been far less enjoyable, if it weren't for the support of the family's one stop butler-boiler-drier-oven-in-one.

"Thank you, Grillby." she said, smiling brightly at the fire elemental. Although his emotions were difficult to read without a proper face and behind the shades he always wore, watching the intensity of the fire that sustained his form was a fairly reliable way. Grillby said something akin to a 'you're welcome', but the resulting noise was little more than crackling flames.

The sound of someone knocking caught the Dreemurrs' attention soon enough. They weren't exactly expecting any visitors, but monsters all around the Underground knew they were always welcome to stop by, so it was likely someone finally took upon that offer. Asgore got up from his comfortable sit and took his wife's hand, giving it a light kiss. Toriel raised a brow, but gave his scalp another scratch, even as the knocking continued.

"Grillby, can you please get that?" she said.

The elemental was already on his way even before the request. Chara followed along, once again wondering why, of all things, his butler uniform never caught on fire. It seemed like the Underground was still full of mysteries to solve.

One of them was why Grillby avoided the door entirely.

Instead, he approached the fireplace, which still have a very soft fire burning in it since the King and Queen shared their passionate kiss some time ago. He reached out and tapped a couple of the bricks, before deciding on a specific one. In a flash, he slammed his fist against the brick, causing no structural damage whatsoever, but enough of a shock that it made the whole fireplace rumble slightly, especially the exhaust line. Not a moment later, a completely dark figure fell from whatever height it might have been, landing straight in the flames. The figure let out a brief yelp and rolled out into the study room, landing splayed out in a black mass.

"Master Gaster." Grillby announced, in one of his rare audible moments.

Asriel, who had since risen from his father-induced concussion, approached his sister and the two quickly became embroiled in a secret pinching war. They quickly agreed on a ceasefire at the sight of Gaster, who rose to his feet with the usual alarming speed and unnatural movement only a skeletal void scientist could produce. Chara gulped as the shadowy mass surrounding him solidified into a long, flowing black labcoat, giving her a much better look at his face. The smile was there, but so were the cracks across the skull and that glimmering light within his eyes, that signaled nothing less than what others less-willful monsters would have considered drooling craziness.

"What up, family?" he asked in with his usual cheery tone, his oddly hollow hands taking a quick spin around his wrist. "I hope I didn't drop by at an inopportune time."

"Nonsense, Gaster!" Asgore chuckled and slammed the skeleton's back so hard Chara could swear she heard his spine snap into several tiny pieces. He didn't show any sign of it though, and the black lab coat protected them from the sight of it. "You know you're always welcome in this house!"

"You're too kind, my Sanguine Sovereign. And of course, my Quaint Queen." the scientist chuckled, taking a quick bow at an angle no living being could have survived for more than a blink. "Such a model couple you are, I wish I still had that great photo from some years ago. You know, the one with you two and all those corpses? I must have left it in some void and I just can't find it again. I tell you, the whole composition with the skulls was just-" he closed his eyes, conjuring the photo in his mind's eye "-superb."

"And where are the little hellspawn hiding?" His eyes darted around till he noticed Asriel and the slightly taller, badly but actually hiding Chara behind him. "There you are."

Without even taking a visible step, Gaster was right behind them, scooping one giggling and one frantic child into his hollow hands. "C'mere, let old Skunkle Gaster see you." he said, balancing the two as if his body and hands were just a large scale. "You both grow so quickly, I can barely keep up!"

He looked a bit more intently at Chara, to the point where she could swear he was running several rows of complex calculations through his head, though for what she could only guess.

"Yes, yes indeed, growth exponential... at least 120% at the rate previously expected... will need to run some numbers again." he mused, but quickly realized what he was doing. "How did you like that pencil set I gave you?" he asked, smiling brightly at the rapidly shrinking human.

She gulped, having nothing but horrid memories of an afternoon she had planned to spend drawing, only for it to turn into several hours of bunkering for dear life, as the certified Gaster-brand pencils came to life and began a bloody war of color-spectrum persecution, with her as the unwitting arbiter.

The inside of his coat stared rumbling and grumbling, something very unlike a normal skeleton. The noise did not belong to him though as a quite animated skeletal head emerged from within the endless dark void of the lab coat, only to jump into Chara's waiting hands.

"Skully!" she giggled, her terror evaporating completely.

Although merely one of Gaster's many experiments, they still called it by a name most monsters outside the Dreemurr family would have just shaken their heads at. She petted the living arcane weapon as it let out a raspy whinny. It also started nibbling on her sweater almost immediately, just as always. Asriel reached over to pet the magic blaster as well, letting the ghastly skull lazily enjoy the children's attention.

"You should have brought your kids along, Gaster." Toriel said. "Sans and Papyrus always like hanging around with Chara and Asriel."

"Trust me, I wanted to." Gaster groaned, putting the children back down. They started running almost immediately, giggling as a loudly chomping Skully hopped after them. "But I've made promises and Auntie Roman's a hard skull to crack, so they're spending the night with her in the Mausoleum."

"Tinew was always a stubborn crone." Asgore nodded, chuckling. "But I thought you got along much better these days?"

"Please, Asgore, it's a forced truce at best." the skeleton groaned, spreading his arms in a very theatrical fashion. "I'm a scientist and I send my kids to visit a literature teacher? Dust me here as I stand!"

The royal couple both laughed, while Grillby passed by them, collecting the bits of broken pottery that had trapped Asriel earlier. With just minor effort, he melted the material enough to reshape it again in the form of a swirly bowl, which he then put outside the children's reach to cool down and keep its new shape.

"Grillby dear, could you check the oven for us?" Toriel asked, to which the fire elemental nodded dutifully. He walked over to the oven and opened it just a little. The muffled 'hOI' noises from inside suggested dinner wasn't quite ready just yet. The butler closed up the oven again and turned the heat up before returning to the rest of the family.

Asriel was trying to order Skully to chomp on Chara's hand, but it was far too interested in just nuzzling to her, in exchange for more headpats. He finally gave up and instead reached for the little box their skeleton-uncle left them as a present, each with their name on it. Asgore, Toriel and Gaster had since sat down by the dinner table and were heavily invested in their discussion, allowing Grillby to clean the fireplace. While the spontaneous eruption of fire thanks to the royal pair were expected, the leftover void-matter on Gaster's coat was always rather nasty and difficult to remove after a while.

"And then, and then I said-" Gaster was slamming his fist on the table from barely repressed laughter. Toriel and Asgore were also chuckling, clearly having a hard time making it to the end of the story. "-'not if I can aVOID it'!"

All three of them burst into laughter from Gaster's anecdote. Although the end result was yet another failure and an intern most likely driven to insanity, the skeleton's delivery made every single story priceless. Their amusement was amplified only by the small-scale explosion that resounded across the room. Asriel stared at his hand, his fur frazzled all around his face. His features darkened quite a bit, though mostly because Gaster-brand chocolate still had that very strict 'explosive taste' quality their uncle took so much pride in.

"Hey, Az?" Chara asked, her brother's ear twitching a bit despite the very loud ringing noise he was hearing. "I'm sorry for the pot... you can have mine, too!"

With that, she quickly placed Gaster's present in the goat's lap. Asriel didn't really spend much time looking the gift Aaron in the muscle supplements, and instead excitedly opened up this one. Chara covered her ears, and was thankfully shielded from at least another explosive noise, as this time a tower of smoke erupted from within the box, enveloping Asriel and turning his fur charcoal black. He blinked again in bright surprise, looking to Grillby of all people, who immediately gave him the thumbs-up. Charcoal was a style the fire elemental could only ever appreciate.

"Clever girl." She heard Gaster's voice behind her as usual, stifling the oncoming giggles. She glanced up to meet his gaze and despite his often highly-questionable attitude, morals, sanity and general behavior, the skeleton-scientist-uncle was a mostly nice person. He reached out with one hollowed-out hand, an amused glint flickering in his cracked skull. "Shall we?"

Chara was a bit confused. The faint sound of music hit her ears, getting stronger with every passing second. She didn't even have to look at the clock to know what time it was. The Dreemurr family had a number of quirks, but one of the most peculiar ones she had to get used to was the mandatory dancing. Toriel and Asgore claimed this was to 'strengthen familiar bonds and empower them through rhythmic exercise', but Chara was rather sure this was just an excuse for them to flirt even more than they already did during the day.

As weird as this custom was though, she hardly ever minded it. Technique, finesse and overall skill were entirely secondary in this ritual. Goat Mom and Dad Guy were always locked in whatever very close, very personal and very sensual style they picked for the day, but as for her and Asriel, learning was encouraged, but not necessary. She would always just wobble around the first few weeks, until some tiring, but very useful hours with Toriel later, she could perform a few simple styles and really found the joy. Even Gaster's children were always free to join when visiting.

Dancing with Gaster himself, however, has been beyond her experiences so far.

A quick glance told her she was indeed the only suitable partner available. Asgore and Toriel could only be separated by heavy-duty machinery at this point and her brother was far too busy learning some sweet moves from Grillby of all people. Normal dance routines were out of the question, due to the unfortunate effects of fire on fur, but Grillby instead busted out some of the craziest legwork Chara had ever seen him do and as Asriel demonstrated, weren't quite easy to follow, either.

She took a deep breath and reached up to meet his hand. Before she could even so much put Skully down, Gaster pulled her to her feet with a single move. The quick pull didn't hurt at all though, as for a moment it felt like she was completely weightless. The scientist took the lead right away and the weightless feeling continued along with it. Little gasps and shrieks left Chara's mouth as he pulled off all kinds of twirls, spins and twists, some of which would have been difficult without the added mobility of his purely skeletal body. She was pushed, pulled, tossed and spun more times than she could count and yet none of them felt forceful or aggressive. She even found herself trying to follow the moves to the best of her ability.

"That's right, get in the spirit of it!" he encouraged, sending her into another spin.

The human was ready this time around and timed her steps accordingly, returning to his hold almost perfectly. The skeleton had perfect balance and yet his tall stature and long limbs didn't hinder the dance in any way. He easily could have handled a partner twice-thrice her size, but instead chose to show her some moves to aspire to, for which she could only feel thankful for.

"Left, left, right, spin." he counted, highly amused by her enthusiasm. "The Fluff Couple taught you quite well."

Chara giggled to the name, but a brief glance showed that Asgore and Toriel were shredding through the impromptu dance floor like no tomorrow. They held onto each other like a voice and yet still have the finesse to not only move in delicate patterns, but kiss at roughly three second intervals. She didn't have time to observe them any further though, as Gaster spun her around again. She wasn't even sure how much time she had spent in the air, but the weightless feeling never quite left her. She giggle once she saw Skully bounce happily around them as well, even the blaster weapon taking part of the daily celebration of culture and family.

A spin, another, yet another left her almost dizzy, only for it all to end as abruptly as it started.

She needed only a brief moment to refocus, but within that time, everyone had already gathered before her. Asgore, Toriel were kneeling in front of her and even Asriel seemed a little less quick to bounce, than usual. Before she could ask what was going on, Grillby appear and knelt down by her side, passing a slightly-charred wooden box to her brother.

"It's been some time since you have fallen into the Underground." Asgore began, his raspy booming voice always both meaningful and comforting. "And you chose to spend that time with us."

"You're a great sis and a good friend!" Asriel continued in place of his father, before Toriel took the word.

"We have said this before, but with your blessing, it is time to make it official." she said, nodding towards Asriel, signaling him to open the box. "This is a gift from us to you, as the newest member of this family."

Chara imagined any possible number of things that could have been inside that box, but not necessarily what she actually found. Inside, resting upon soft velvet, was a beautiful knife. The blade held intricate floral designs that must have taken ages to make, while the handle held a collection of letters. Each of them were placed differently: some carved, burnt, seared, pressed, one even appeared to be gnashed in by unknown teeth. The unifying thought behind them was to spell out one name in particular, despite the haphazard assembly.

C H A R A  D R E E M U R R

She had to swallow a couple of times to really get over the shock, but at no point did she even consider rejection. She took the knife, letting the beautiful armament sit in her hand. Quickly wiping her eyes before anyone could really ask about the rapidly welling tears, she bowed before them, bringing a bright smile to their faces.

"Excellent." Asgore said, grin running wild across his face. "However, there is also a principle you must always adhere to."

He stood up and held his hand out. The familiar glow of magic pulsed around his hand, only for a long, red trident to materialize. Asriel, Toriel, Gaster and even Grillby had all take a few steps back, allowing some space for the King and his newly official Princess.

"A Dreemurr never backs out from a challenge." he stated, slamming the bottom of the trident into the floor.

Several weeks ago, the same motion caused Chara to instantly hide under Toriel's robes, in fear that she would end up on top of that trident within seconds. A lot has happened since then, and she would have been lying to herself if she kept clinging to the idea that she has barely changed at all. She was a Dreemurr now: she talked like a Dreemurr, ate like a Dreemurr, danced like a Dreemurr. Perhaps it was time to fight like one, too.

The knife's grip held a comfortable, almost familial warmth.