what use is a present if you just leave it to look pretty

[dustless]

For all the time they've been at the castle, Frisk's never really hung around the Edge.

What would the point be? There's a lot more inside, where the rooms are ever-shifting, and the gardens are always full of sunlight and only a few clouds high above. If they really wanted to watch clouds moving, they could just go into one of the towers or higher halls and watch out the windows.

...and the Edge was a reminder that the castle's all there really is, and they don't...like thinking about that all the time.

But now that they've been guiding newcomers there to prove yes, this is all real, they've realized...it's not bad out there. It's beautiful, seeing the clouds close up like that, and the grass is comfortable, and the wind is nice against their face, even if it's kind of cold. And that last bit is helpful in another way, too--

High above the Edge, maybe even visible from the castle's other towers and the gardens, a red kite flies--after several attempts, almost staying in the air before falling out of sight again, once, twice, three time, four...eighth time's the charm.  It's Frisk's gift from Serif and S-4, with its kitty face, though that's impossible to see from so far below. 

Frisk themselves is just sitting cross-legged in the grass, holding onto the kite's spool tightly, watching it disappear and reappear with the clouds' movements. 

They hadn't thought about how that would telegraph exactly where they are, but that's fine. They won't mind if people come to keep them company.

Comments

[trombones]

Kites are sort of new to monsters. The idea of flying a thin object under some wind wasn't a bizarre concept, but they didn't have much wind under a mountain to begin with. Not real wind, anyway. So when Sans catches the red object out of the corner of his eye, curiosity gets the best of him and he follows it.

Thinking about it now, Sans hadn't been out to the edge much either. By the time he finds Frisk, he's mostly staring between the ground... and then the kite again.

"Hey, bud."

He nods up.

"That's called a... kite, right?"

[dustless]

Frisk nods solemnly back. "Yeah, kite. Not kitty. There's a kitty painted on that one, though," they say, as if it's perfectly sensible information he needs to know.

They nod again, towards the clouds speeding by thanks to the wind. "Out here's the best place to fly it."

[trombones]

Sans sits next to them, still looking up at the kite.

"Kite, not kitty. It's just painted on. Got it." He nods as well, as if this is very important and scientific information. "I didn't know they were a thing 'til the surface happened. Pretty cool."

Finally, he glances down.

"... You know, come to think of it, I don't think I've been to the edge much."

[dustless]

That makes sense. "Ever fly one before? This is my second time ever." And the first time was still in the castle.

Frisk isn't directly on the edge, like they sometimes are--they're afraid of losing their kite if it fell forward, or if they fell. Priorities.

"Me neither. It's sorta weird to be here."

[trombones]

"Not yet. Unless you count dropping paper on the air vents in Hotland. It looks pretty easy. You just sit and let the wind do the work, right?"

At least, so Sans is guessing. He finally glances up from the edge, and watches the way Frisk handles the kite.

But don't worry about the edge, kid. If you fall, Sans could teleport you back. Or just catch you by the soul. That'd probably take a little more work, since he'd have to turn it blue first.

"Yeah. I got a grip on magic castles, but bottomless edges... not so much. Kind of the opposite of the Underground, huh?"

[dustless]

"Sorta. You gotta move the string an' make sure it doesn't crash. And if the wind's wrong, it might fall, or never get into the air." There are plenty of places where the castle's winds don't provide much more than something to rustle grass.

The edge is given a sidelong glance. "Yeah. 'Sept we don't know as much about it."

[trombones]

"Huh. Figured that was a trick to it. Guess I oughta try it sometime."

As for the edge, Sans shrugs.

"The guys who can fly around here probably have a better way of checking it out than we do. But I could always tape a camera to some friends of mine and let 'em float around."

His 'friends' being the Gaster Blasters, but he's never shown them to Frisk before. At least, he hasn't. He's sure they've seen his magic one way or another.

[dustless]

"You can have a turn. If you want. I'll grab it out of your hands if it's gonna fall, though." They don't have quite that much faith in (this) him to just toss it over and not worry.

...Friends. Frisk gives him a weird look. "What?"

They have, in fact, seen the Gaster Blasters. Once. When 'their' Sans almost killed himself with his own and it was super glitched up and they were crying and screaming. They don't remember that well, understandably.

[trombones]

"Aw, come on, kid. You don't trust me?" Sans says with a wink, his grin too cheeky to pretend he's offended. He holds his hand out anyway. "Sure. Sounds fun."

The skeleton's grin widens just a little more.

"What? I figured you would've met them already, one way or another."

With his other hand, he snaps his fingers. A Gaster Blaster appears out of thin air in front of them both, now floating over the edge.

"Don't sweat the way they look. They're pretty harmless by themselves."

Meaning, if they have nothing to attack. Indeed, despite being large and also a floating skull, it doesn't actually do anything. Instead, it starts to look around. Curiosity gets the best of it, and it floats around behind Sans, then Frisk, lightly nudging the top of Frisk's head like it's sniffing them.

"And curious. I think Betty #8 likes you," Sans chuckles, bringing his hand up to pat the blaster. "I could only make them... yea big when I was a kid, or if I don't focus enough magic on them."

[dustless]

Frisk hands it over. Carefully. Not letting go of one side of the spool until they're sure he's got a tight grip on the other. "This is your first try."

Gaster Blaster. Oh. Oh.

Frisk's abruptly on their knees and staring it in the eye, following it with their head. Which is hard when it's actually above their head, but they can try.

When their Sans almost died--and when he turned himself into something with this---magic beast for a head.

...That Sans named Betty. He has a pack of Betties.

Okay.

"...What are they?" Frisk raises a hand too, lightly tapping it on the snout with two fingers.

[trombones]

Of course he has a pack of Betties. There's also one named Booger. Apparently, the king isn't the only one who's bad at names.

As Sans takes the spool, the Gaster Blaster floating above them blinks as Frisk taps it. It backs away slighty, at first unsure of what the human was doing. But when whatever-they-did apparently turned out to be harmless, it came back, sniffing in earnest down. Sans chuckles as he turns to the sky, watching the kite.

"My magic. I call 'em Gaster Blasters. They're technically attacks, but... eh. They kind of have minds of their own by themselves. Kinda like dogs, honestly."

[dustless]

"Gaster Blasters." A name that makes them look even more uncertain, even if that doesn't affect their outward reaction much. Said outward reaction has them tapping it again--and then, at the word 'dogs', outright petting it like Lesser Dog.

"Didn't know anybody could make a...living attack. Well--Temmies sort of could, I guess. But I think all of her are kinda different from most monsters."

[trombones]

Relax, kiddo.

"Heh, yeah. I name them that myself. And yeah... well. It's not THAT uncommon, but I guess Temmie's a pretty bad example, huh?"

The blaster's sniffing stops as Frisk pats its head. Now, a little less curious, it leans into the hand.

"Not too hard, buddy," Sans says carefully, which the blaster apparently obliges by remaining gentle. "Heheh. I wish I had pictures of the ones I used to make when I was a kid. They were like puppies. I guess I could still make one, I'm just used to my own magic now."