Making a Difference - Ch. 2 - A Depressive Lifestyle

	"*...You spend your weekends coming up with plans for pranks that you know you won't actually commit to, attempting to access your brother's locked computer, eating pie, and... drawing dragon girls apparently."

	The human paid no mind to the soul and continued adding the little details to his masterpiece. A muscular, anthropomorphic, female dragon donning skimpy armor and wielding a weathered mace. Each stoke of the pencil was deliberate and slow, each marking placed with the precision of a scalpel. The boy had a lot of time on his hands to perfect his craft, with the added help of his dragon art book that he had failed to return to the librarby for longer than he cared to keep track of.

	"*Just let me know when you're done, alright?"

	The human paused for a brief moment before continuing. He was just about to be done with the details on the dragon's weapon before he heard footsteps approaching his door. Quickly and quietly, Kris hid his drawing underneath a school textbook just before the footsteps stopped, followed by a polite knock. "Kris, dear? Dinner is ready!" It was Kris' mother, Toriel. "...Okay." With no hesitation, Kris stood up from his chair and greeted his loving adoptive mother in the doorway with a blank expression. The aroma emanating from the kitchen filled his nostrils, intensifying a small cramp that had been building in the human's stomach for the past few minutes. As the caprine boss monster lead the way, her son followed closely behind.

	"*Smells good. I don't recognize much, but all I know is that there's MEAT. Please try not to eat too fast. It's been too long since I've tasted anything good, and I want to savor it."

	The table was already set with two plates, two glasses of water, napkins, two forks, and two knives, one obviously sharper than the other. Kris and his mother each sat down in their chairs, picked up their utensils, and began to dig in. It was pork roast served with a side of corn and salted mashed potatoes. "It seems that I still have my touch!" Toriel cheered with a proud smile. "...So, Kris, how has your day been?" The teenager took a brief moment to finish chewing a mouthful of corn before giving his mother an answer. "It was okay."
"Could have been better?" The young man shrugged and he scooped a piece of mashed potato into his mouth.

	"*Man, your mom has a knack for this stuff. You should ask her to teach you a few things every once in a while."

	The fluffy mother finished another gulp before letting out a small sigh. "...I cannot wait for Asriel to visit next month. You two were always so fond of each other." Kris let out an audible exhale through his nose at this. Asriel was one of those people who could make Kris say anything other than what was absolutely necessary in order to get by, and for good reason. Ever since he left for college, every day felt like a slog that never seemed to end. It was no help that Asriel didn't give Kris his computer password. "But!" Toriel broke the silence once again. "Halloween is coming up soon! Are you going to dress up this year?"
"...No." The boss monster's eyes narrowed at this response. "Kris... You are not planning on pulling any mean pranks, are you?" For the first time all day, a smile crept up onto his face, albiet a mischievous one. "......Maybe." Toriel's eyes widened with concern. "Kris!" The smile only grew larger, prompting another motherly sigh. "Whenever you get into trouble, I end up having to deal with it, Kris. I cannot keep cleaning up your messes forever, and it is getting quite tiring." With every word, Toriel's voice was raising, becoming more stern. Almost angry, even. The smile on Kris' face faded, replaced with more chewing as he stuffed pieces of pork into his mouth. "I do not understand why you play such mean tricks on other people. You could be making friends and having fun. I understand that you do not tend to be very social, but you have have to at least try..."

	As the final piece of meat was scarfed down, the teenager wiped his mouth with the napkin, carried the dishes to the sink, rinsed them, threw the napkin into the flower-filled trashcan, and went back upstairs without another word, leaving his mother to finish dinner by herself.

	"*...That was delicious. You should have at least thanked her, you know."
	"...I'm going to bed." Kris mumbles, kicking his shoes off as he climbs into his bed.
	"*What? Dude, it's only 6:32 and you don't even have to get up in the morning."
	"...I don't care." The human stuff himself under the covers, and turned to face the wall.
	"*No, come on. There's things you could be doing, like finishing your drawing."
	"Mnh...."
	"*Kris."
	A spark of anger flickered within the young man. "...I don't even know you. You come into my life out of nowhere and you want me to do things when I want to sleep. Leave me alone."
	"*Hey, I didn't ask for this either!" The same anger burned within the invading soul. "I was going to be MY own person, control MY own body, and make MY own choices, but look where we are. I'm just trying to make the best out of a shitty situation. I've only *REALLY* looked at your life in detail ONCE, and it's depressing as all hell."
	"...I didn't ask for your opinion. I said to leave me alone."
	"*..."

	The teenaged human shut his eyes tight, not caring to turn any lights off or close any windows. The soul pondered on thoughts of how to gain Kris' trust. Kris held no memories of his adventures in the dark world, the way that certain classmate of his smiled a sweet and genuine smile at him before she left the school building, or even the promise to hang out with a smiley skeleton's brother. Kris had no actual reason to trust the soul at all beyond mere words, and it was only a matter of time before they ended up in that bird cage again. That's when it hit them. Maybe there was a way to gain his trust fast. Something specific. Something like executing the perfect prank and NOT getting caught. All they needed to do was look over all of Kris' planned bamboozlings, pick the best one, and help Kris carry it out. Right?

	If they could do that, Kris would have a real reason to trust them. For now, however, it would be best to wait.