Midnight Sessions

Soft.

The revelation shouldn't have been surprising at all, but they were still somewhat surprised to find how soft his petals were. They fluttered a little under Frisk's finger, but otherwise barely registered their presence. The half a dozen rounded yellow splotches all moved in soft rhythm, more to his ongoing soft snoring, than anything else. How a flower could snore was a perplexing question, but in the dead of night not even they had the mind to explore this biological phenomenon any further. For now, they were content with just idly passing time until their body would eventually give into sleep.

"The thought of everyone else asleep fills you with exhaustion."

Frisk picked their head up, a smile finding its way on their face right afterwards. All this time and they still couldn't suppress a reaction. Flowey had not stirred in his pot, though there was nothing to really for him to react to. The voice was part of Frisk's world and existed for their ears alone.

"Tommorrow's Saturday, I can sleep in." they muttered. Even though there was no need to say the words out loud, it was much harder to let go of that, than to accept the existence of their companion.

There was a face to the voice and from time to time Frisk could almost see it, if only beyond the realms of the waking world. A face and form similar to their own, plastered over the inside of their eyelids. They had a nice, if unknowable smile.

"Flattery. Of course." they spoke, Frisk almost sensing a bit of effort in trying to hide the obvious bemusement. "The first line of defense."

"It works wonders sometimes." Frisk said.

They reached out and ran the tip of their finger down the top half of his stem. Flowey didn't wake up, but it was hard not to notice the way he trembled, much like any creature would upon even such a kind spinal tap. A low groan did escape him, but at most it signaled the end of one dream and a foray into the next. While he was normally a very spry little plant, the approach of winter caused him to be a lot sleepier and quicker to tire out.

"Do you want to?" Frisk broke the silence, hand resting just above his petals again.

"Do what."

There was an edge in their voice.

"Touch him. Give him a pet, or something."

"No."

"Don't want to?" Frisk perked up, twirling fingers like they were preparing to play an invisible piano. "I can give you my hand for a minute."

"No."

"It's fine." they insisted. "My hand is right here. Just take it."

"Stop it."

"I'm sorry?" they stopped with the silly motions, leaning back just a bit till their back hit the chair. The edge of hardwood dug into their shoulder just a little. "I didn't want to upset you, Chara."

"Enough." the reply came like strike upside the head, a mild sting included. "I hate it when you do this."

"Do what?"

"Pretend." the word came across like one would spout an insult.

"I don't know what you mean." they said, though the words emerged faster than they could think to close their mouth.

Flowey stirred, but did not wake up, merely turned his head a little, curling up not unlike a snake would.

"I hate how you pretend so much."

Frisk paused, hand resting on the side of the pot this time. They swallowed, feeling cold even though Toriel had made sure a hundred times over the room would always be warm enough.

"I don't pretend all the time." they muttered, looking away like the child they were, as they were scolded. Then again, sometimes even that was hard to remember.

"More than enough."

"It helps."

"It conceals."

"It's fine." they picked their head up, nails scraping against the ceramic. "It's better for everyone else."

"And you?"

"It helps me too."

If disapproval could manifest a physical reaction, Chara was making sure Frisk got a hefty taste of it. It turned their face red from shame, but with no one in the room to see them, it was bearable. The hard lump in their throat somewhat less so.

"You were so much more honest the first time."

"Where I was a murderer?"

The mental equivalent of a shrug was a strange sensation, and from time to time Frisk could swear it made their shoulders twitch for real.

"You protected yourself."

"I killed them."

"Yes. Those do not cancel each other out." Chara said. They had a way of sounding colder than the night sometimes. "You wanted to live. They disagreed."

Swallowing once more did not make the words come out any easier. The image, the look on their faces before they collapsed to dust, those never left them. Even when they were seething with anger and lashed out in rage.

"I didn't want to hurt anyone." they sighed, shaking their head. "I don't like hurting people."

"You made a choice. They did too."

"What was I supposed to do?"

"You are asking the wrong person."

The dull, somewhat mocking tone was hard to ignore without a snippy comeback. Conversing with Chara was not the easiest task, which is why the role of navigator was a pleasant compromise for them. At the height of tension, facing off against monsters Frisk desperately wanted to connect with, or ones who had a history with Chara, even this role was almost too much. Sometimes, they really did prefer if Chara kept some remarks to themselves.

"I tried..." they sighed. "I tried so many times to be nice. I wanted to make friends. I wanted to help."

"They wanted the same." Chara reminded them. "Some of them wanted friends. Some wanted to help. Your intentions did not always intersect."

"So I went back."

"And you started pretending."

"I started fixing things." they pushed the words through set teeth, barely even noticing their hand had curled into a claw by now. If anyone were to walk in, they would have rightfully assumed Frisk intended to rip Flowey to tiny shreds. "I was trying to listen to you!"

The headache returned, almost like a bullet.

"I observed." The words dripped with barely restrained, yet largely impotent fury. "No more, no less."

Frisk's heart was pounding in their chest. They suspected some of Chara's emotions could have an effect on them as well, but it was hard to tell and ill-advised to test. Some lines were clearly not to be crossed though.

"They were your parents." they said. "All kinds of monsters... your brother."

The brief pause did not inspire much confidence, nor did Chara's tone when they spoke again.

"Is that why..."

The fury in their voice spiked, along with Frisk's headache.

"You brought him to the surface to appease me."

"No!" Frisk wanted to jump out of the chair, but that surely would have caused even Toriel to stir and check. "I brought him here because I felt sorry for him!"

"But he killed you."

Frisk sat back and looked at the ceiling. A humorless smile danced across their face, eyes and throat burning from the same pressure boiling under the surface. Their chest quivered, but it wasn't anything Frisk couldn't suppress. They had practice.

"They all killed me."

There was no good answer to that, or at least Chara had none. The silence that followed was uncomfortable.

"At the base. From the back."

Frisk shook their head, shedding the stupor that had set in. Chara's directions were unclear, but soon gained meaning when they realized all this time their hand remained next to the sleeping flower. Pins and needles hit their hand from the position they've left it in, but the sensation was negligible. They reached up and touched Flowey's sepals, feeling a soft bit of fuzz under their fingertips. Flowey groaned a little a leaned against their finger, almost like a house cat.

"His old weak point was the ears." Chara said. They didn't bother to mask the amusement in their voice. "He would get sleepy when I scratched them. Hated it."

They smiled, petting him some more as he slept. Moonlight drifted into their sight, signaling the need to go back to bed soon, lest they spend the entire weekend under the covers.

"I should talk to them." they said, covering up a yawn afterwards. "Once things have settled down a bit."

"Hm."

"I'll probably back out a few times." Frisk tried to joke with little success.. "But maybe it'll help. Or maybe it won't. I've never tried it before."

"Being honest?"

"Being completely honest."

"If that is your choice." Chara said. "You are free to do as you like. All I can do is observe."

"You can help."

Their laughter wasn't the most honest, but it was better than nothing.

"Maybe." Chara paused briefly. "But I am not the best person to ask for help."

"I can live with that."

"That would make you the first." they remarked. "So does this mean we are partners?"

Frisk smiled and raised their hand again, open palm facing upwards like an offering. "Friends."

The chuckle was a bit more honest this time around.

"How very presumptuous." Chara said and reached out.

Moonlight spilled from behind the curtains, painting half the room with a faint shimmer of silver. Flowey groaned and lazily opened his eyes, peeking up. He could barely see anything, but he could faintly identify the shadowy mass before him, its outlines blending into glow beyond them. He blinked a couple times, trying to identify the figure. The eyes were familiar and so was the smile on their face, but for some reason he just couldn't pin both on the same person, not with an exact match.

The call of the night proved far too much though, especially with that very comfortable feeling by his sepals. He yawned and let his head droop once more, postponing this perplexing mystery for the morning. As he drifted back to sleep, they continued to pet and guide him back to his dreams. Another day would soon come to try and fulfill them, however grand or childish they might be.

And perhaps the dawn would make another mask fall.