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The bumblebees were definitely a good addition to the house, Maddy thought.
They looked so cute, floating around clumsily, landing on the little white blossoms of the lemon tree. It felt way more like a home with these fuzzy idiots filling the air. She’d made a great decision when she’d impulse-bought the hive in the middle of the night. It wasn’t her fault the neighbors were stupid and didn’t have any taste.
Frisk stood on their tippy-toes on the bench, and tapped Maddy’s shoulder.
“What is it?” she asked, tearing her focus away from the bees. She sometimes struggled with paying attention to anything that wasn’t a bug, but she was getting better. She was too sexy and cool to let any character flaws stick around for too long.
Frisk just rolled their eyes and sighed dramatically.
“Are you almost done back here?” Undyne called, “or are you going to keep wasting Asgore’s time?”
Maddy would have snapped back with some witty retort, but Frisk was faster.
“We’re almost done,” they signed frantically. “Five more minutes.”
“Fine,” Undyne said, with fake annoyance. She was weak to Frisk's pleading eyes, and they all knew it. She ruffled their hair affectionately before heading to the back door of the house. “Five minutes. But that’s all the time you’re getting.” She smiled encouragingly at Frisk, then shot Maddy another unimpressed look. “You’d better be ready.”
Frisk nodded decisively as if they’d been given the most crucial mission of their life.
As soon as the door slammed behind Undyne, Frisk spun around to face Maddy again. They lost their footing in their rush and fell off of the bench, but Maddy caught them before they could hit the ground. She was also getting way better at controlling these new limbs, she thought with pride.
Frisk wasn’t as impressed. They squirmed their way out of her arms and onto the ground, glaring at her as they dusted grass off of their overalls.
“You have to hurry,” they signed. “Stop standing around.”
Maddy laughed, which made Frisk’s frown deepen. Somehow, even that made her feel a little bit giddy. She could get used to all these good emotions that were becoming more and more common. Arguing with Frisk was one of her new favorite things, alongside laying in the sun and trying to pet the bumblebees.
“I can tell you’re stressed,” she said. She was getting so good at talking about emotion, “but you don’t have to worry, okay? Your dad already likes me. We don’t have anything to prove. Confidence and hubris can get you anything.”
Frisk had already turned around and crouched down in front of the bench. They bit their tongue, staring seriously at the assortment of ribbons in front of them. They closed their eyes and took a shaky breath, then nodded decisively, picking up a highlighter-yellow one.
“Sit down,” they signed with one hand, while motioning towards the bench with their head.
Maddy complied, and bent down enough that Frisk could reach her hair.
They started combing their fingers through her hair, gathering it into a messy bun faster than she ever could have done herself, not that she’d ever admit that. If Undyne asked, Maddy would just insist that she was helping Frisk feel useful.
They finished tying the yellow ribbon around the bun, and then tapped on Maddy’s shoulder, motioning for her to turn around. They still didn’t smile, but they looked a little more relaxed as they assessed her appearance.
"You look like a bee,” they signed, motioning to her black dress and yellow ribbon.
Maddy was almost completely sure they meant it as a compliment.
They sprinted away and into the house, and emerged a minute later, out of breath. In their hand, they clutched a black handbag with a few bee stickers stuck to the sides, some of which were peeling off.
“Thanks,” Maddy said, as they solemnly handed the bag to her. “Now I’m even more irresistible than I was before.”
They nodded, and sat down next to her on the bench, leaning against her side.
For a moment, she let herself get lost in the sight of the bumblebees again. One landed on Frisk’s head, before stumbling back into the air. She laughed noiselessly.
Then, she felt Frisk shudder against her.
“Hey, are you okay?” she asked.
They nodded.
She was absolutely nailing the "hanging out with little kids" thing.
She tried to channel the calm vibes she’d been mastering. Thinking things through wasn’t her usual style, but sometimes it was nice to slow down. It reminded her of hanging out with Blooky, and of laying on the floor.
Before she could speak, Frisk tapped her hand, and held out another object. This time, it was a toy knife.
“For good luck,” they signed, hurriedly.
“Have I mentioned lately that you’re my favorite kid ever,” she said.
Frisk blushed and buried their face into their hands. For someone so serious and bossy, they got really awkward and flustered when anybody complimented them.
She moved to stick the toy knife into her handbag, but Frisk sensed her moving and snatched it back.
“Hey!” she complained. “I’m revoking my earlier compliment.”
Frisk sat back down on the bench and dropped the knife into their own lap.
“I need it for one minute, then you can have it.” They signed, with an irritated huff. “I need good luck first.”
“Okay?” Maddy asked. “Why do you need-”
“If,” Frisk interrupted Maddy by starting to sign, and she stopped talking. She was amazing at multitasking, but she couldn’t read sign language while speaking, and Frisk refused to repeat themself ever. She hated missing out on what they were saying worse than she hated being quiet.
“If you marry my dad,” Frisk signed, scrunching their face up, and barely meeting Maddy’s eyes. “Can you give me some little siblings? Because Mom said she won’t have any more babies, and-”
That was as far as they got, because Maddy’s self-control ran out. She doubled-over, wheezing.
“Yeah,” she finally said, when she managed to catch her breath for a moment. “I’ll see what I can do. Probably have to wait until at least the third date for that, though.”
Frisk nodded with satisfaction.
“I’m patient,” they signed. “I can wait for two more dates.” They closed their eyes and counted something on their fingers.
“Yes you can, you groovy little demon,” Maddy said. “Now can I have the knife back?”
Frisk handed the knife over to her, and she smiled.
“Okay. Now we really have to head inside, or your… Undyne is going to kill you.” She wasn’t sure if Undyne was actually Frisk's sister or not, but the word felt weird, so she stuck to using Undyne’s name.
“She’ll kill us,” Frisk corrected.
“I’m too sexy to be killed,” Maddy responded. “And I don’t fear anyone, especially not her. I’m just concerned for you. I kind of like having you around.”
Frisk snorted, rolling their eyes yet again.
“Come on then,” they signed, standing up and holding out a hand impatiently.
Maddy accepted their hand, and let them drag her into Asgore’s house.