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

[dustless]

They shrug, knocking the tips of their shoes together. "I dunno. It's hard to get back up from there, usually, so it might be a good...trap. 'Cept I think there's a bunch of ways down there, and there's a trap door in the garden that's easy for anybody to fall in to get down there, so there might be...other ones."

The mention of birds is enough to distract them, and Frisk gives him a small glare. "Don't think there's birds there. I don't want him to eat the birds, I like them."

[oldmantiger]

Yikes. Frisk has a surprisingly scary glare for such a small child. Or maybe Kotetsu is just especially susceptible. Either way, he draws back a little, holding up his hands in a gesture of peace.

"You've got it. No eating birds." Fortunately, his mind is already ticking over to other possibilities. "There's, like, a lot of meat under the kitchens? No idea where it comes from. But I'm pretty sure it's chicken. Maybe he can have some of that until we figure out a better plan."

[dustless]

They immediately relax, smoothing their expression out a bit. "Good. They're nice, too. Mostly. Peacocks are kinda rude, but shouldn't get ate."

Frisk nods, lightly frowning. They still have a tight feeling in the pit of their stomach that trying to lock him anywhere will just make things worse in the long run.

"And maybe he can eat other stuff. I dunno. He's not just a crocodile, he's a crocodile monster." Can't ever guess all of what a monster might eat.

[oldmantiger]

And now it's Kotetsu's turn to frown just a little, although for entirely different reasons. He finds himself feeling curious, more than anything, and turns a little where he sits to properly face Frisk.

"I'm...not really seeing what the difference is. You say 'monster' like it...means something?" No, that's not right, of course it means something. What does he really mean? It's just that...

"I kind of think we might be working off of different ideas of what a monster is. Since I'm not running around trying to find my partner right now, mind filling me in?"

[dustless]

Frisk blinks. They...forgot they hadn't talked to him much about it. They just said not to fight most, right?

"Um...monsters...I know a lot of them where I'm from. They're people, like humans, they're just made of mostly magic and look really different. Does your world have stuff like that?"

[oldmantiger]

"Kind of? I mean, my mom used to tell me a lot of stories about monsters that were magic and not human. Like kitsune, and tengu, and bake-neko." He ticks off three fingers, knowing that he could go on for hours, before shrugging helplessly. "But I never saw any. And they all had different names. And some of them were really scary. Even worse than crocodile monsters."

[dustless]

Kitsune. That word sounds familiar--they might've read that word in Alphys' lab, actually.

They nod. "I dunno how many names there are for monsters, even though there's lot of different kinds. I just know Boss Monsters--they're big and look like goats in a human sorta shape. Toriel an' Asriel are those, you might meet them around here. Nobody saw any for a long time--humans got scared of them 'cause of their magic and locked them under a mountain. So everyone home thought they were just made up."

[oldmantiger]

"Hm...sounds like they could be the same, maybe. I mean, no one ever locked monsters up under a mountain where I'm from. We probably couldn't have even if we'd thought of it." Kotetsu's idea of "monsters", of course, also includes such creatures as the Gashadokuro and the Wanyudo. Memories of stories about the Starving Skeleton had made it especially alarming to encounter Sans in the kitchen. But they'd got to chatting anyway.

"Maybe they just know more about that kind of thing, where you're from. Sternbild still barely has any idea about what to do with NEXT."

[dustless]

"...hope they're not. Actually there an' locked up, I mean. It was for a really long time, I think--least a thousand years. Humans used to be able to use magic, but that got forgot too."

They seem to make themselves a little smaller, somehow, hunching. Frisk's wondering how things might be going back where they came from. Hopefully everyone's safe, even without them being the ambassador.