Sock Slip

[dustless]

The Castle has variation in everything.

Most of the halls have floors of stone, but not all. Some have an unspecified sort of tile, shining and smooth.

There’s one set of four, arranged in a perfect square. They just finished breakfast when the castle decides to let them out into those hallways instead of the ones they’d come from when they’d stepped into the kitchen a little while before.

“The floor’s really shiny,” Chara comments. “I bet someone put a lot of work into washing it.” Frisk is a bit quiet, and doesn’t seem to mind Chara talking, so they’ve gotten into the habit of making little observations about the castle. They slip their hand out of Frisk’s and kneel down to brush their fingertips against the floor.

“Castle magic? It’s...nice...to clean up after everybody’s messes.”

“Oh! It’s cold too.” They slide their fingers up and down a tile. “And sort of slippy? It’s like ice.”

Frisk kneels beside them, testing it with a matching motion. ”Yeah, it is. Better than the stuff outside on the ground, though,” they add. They do like dressing up in different clothes, but they’re not quite as fond of having to dress up in so many layers at once and then have to wriggle out of it all to rest by the fireplaces. Besides, most of the ice outside’s covered in snow and slippy in a way that can be unpleasantly unexpected.

Chara turns their head to the side, giving Frisk a considering look. “I bet if I took my shoes off and ran really fast… I bet I could slide further than you.”

Frisk tilts their head back, pulling an overlong sleeve down over their palm and running their hand over it again. It moves smoothly.



They look back at Chara, grin slowly spreading over their face and an extra flood of warmth growing in their chest. ”You really think so?” They balance themselves on their hands and shoot their legs forward so they’re sitting rather than kneeling. ”We’re only gonna know ‘f we try it, right?” they go on, unlacing their shoes.



Chara chirps out an enthusiastic “Yeah!” and flops back onto the floor to join Frisk in wrestling off their shoes.

That’s precisely what anyone that happens to stumble across that square of halls will find--a pair of children racing sliding laps around the whole thing, giggling and calling encouragement and maybe some silly taunts to each other.

And Chara’s usually winning.

Comments

[dustless]

Frisk can't be sure. This Chara is so tentative about everything they do. Maybe Frisk should be walking on eggshells a little more carefully, but then they wouldn't be getting anything done.

"That's okay, don't worry. I won't keep you." Their fingers twist together on their legs, and they dip their head at the shoes. "But you don't hafta leave. You can even race with us if you feel like it. Though you might fall more. Have a bunch even before you showed up," they add with a small grin.

[itstheend]

Walking on eggshells is what got two of these defeated Charae stuck in a feedback loop of meaningless politeness, so good call on that one.

Chara pauses, their hands still on their shoes. Was doing that, assuming that their presence was unwanted, presumptuous? They can't imagine why the other would want them to stay. They're uninteresting (deliberately so) at best.

"I do not mind falling," they say slowly. If the other wants them to race (otherwise why would they mention it?) then Chara... then Chara will certainly oblige.

They've never been allowed to do this before. The other Frisk looked like they were enjoying themself before the crash, and it's a little bit of a cookie-jar thought.

They tug, and the laces get undone all in one go.

finally throws this tiny in

[buttercup_eater]

This particular Chara has been busy zooming around the rest of the circuit, although they've been trying to go faster since they heard Frisk (and someone else?) slamming into the ground. Not that they're particularly worried- Frisk and them have both already fallen down a couple of times, and they've always come up giggling.

(They'll have bruises later on, but there are worse ways to earn those.)

Chara skids past a corner, twisting their head to get a glimpse of Frisk and a familiar looking child hanging out on the floor, before they have to throw their hands out so they don't slide face first into the wall. Their hands and forearms, alas, smacked into the wall instead.

Leaning against the wall, they call out a breathless greeting: "Hi Frisk! Hi, other me!"

chara party

[dustless]

"Alright!" Frisk hops to their feet just in time for the tinier one to come flying around the corner.

Frisk has to resist calling out a 'careful'. Who are they, Toriel? No, even if they are trying to take care of a Chara. They've already fallen a few times and were fine, even when they think they would've just cried if Frisk were their age on some of them.

"Chara-Chara. You winning this time doesn't count!" they say, sticking the tip of their tongue out. As if they haven't won the majority of the races that happened already.

They hold their arm out for the Chara on the floor to take and pull themselves up. "More's merrier," they say to both. "But, um, d'you want a break for a minute?" they ask the smaller one. (Maybe they are a little more Toriel-y than they think.)

[itstheend]

Oh it's... the first one of them they saw. The one that wouldn't stop poking them. So this is who this Frisk was racing with.

"Hello," they greet their other self in return.

A certain amount of tension has come back into the set of their shoulders, but they take off their shoes all the same. They've already committed to this line of action - they can't back out now. They look at the offered arm, and slowly take it, pulling themself up with one hand while holding their shoes in the other, letting go as soon as they have their balance again.

They walk to leave their shoes at the side of the hall as Frisk speaks to the other Chara. Don't want to have them in the way, after all.

[buttercup_eater]

Chara notices the lack of enthusiasm in the other Chara and it take them a moment to place exactly which one this is. Thinking back to when they met makes them frown but at least this other Chara isn't trying to tell them they're not real again.

They shrug it off, force a bright look back onto their face, and return their attention to Frisk and copying the older kid's blep. "Yes it does~!" they argue, oh-so-very eloquently. Okay, sure, they'd still be winning by a significant margin either way, but they really like winning.

Since they don't have quite enough room to safely build up speed for sliding over, Chara simply trots over to the other kids. And- okay, they are still a bit breathless, but when Frisk expresses concern Chara shakes just their head. "One more! Just one more."

[dustless]

"Was busy!" Finger-wag, still with their tongue stuck out.

They decide to use the time it takes for the older-but-still-little Chara to come back with...spinning. One foot on the floor, using the other to propel them in a dizzy circle. (Not the fastest, they don't want to sabotage themselves hard enough to ram into a wall.)

"One more, 'kay, and then we should find a drink. Line up in a row!" they sing-song.

[itstheend]

Chara watches the back and forth - they get along well - while feeling a little like an outsider here. They watch as Frisk spins, wondering if they should be doing that as well, but before they can reach a decision on it, it's time to line up.

If they put Frisk between them and the other Chara it's... pure coincidence, isn't it?

"Do we count down?"

They didn't mean to say it out loud, but it's there and they can't take it back, and they think it's probably something they should know in any case.

[buttercup_eater]

Privately, Chara has to admit drinks would be a good idea, as long as it's not something like the weird, vinegary punch they sometimes found in the kitchens. Eggnog is much better!

They skip over to where Frisk and the other Chara are lining up, privately feeling a bit relieved to have Frisk between them and the other Chara. They still find that kid kind of... weird.

In response to the other Chara's question, they lean forward with a determined expression and chant "Three!" between grinning teeth.

[dustless]

They hadn't really bothered with counting down before, but it's not a bad idea now that they've got more than just two.

A part of them wants to hunch down, put their hands on the floor, like they're prepping for a sprint--but that's silly, and they're probably going to lose this race to at least one of the Charas even if they try hard. Instead they just shift their feet and continue with a toothy grin. "Two! One! Go!" Frisk sings, and they're off!

[itstheend]

'Kind of weird' is this Chara's MO. It's okay, they've been called worse.

You'll excuse them if the amount of teeth in that grin doesn't reassure.

At the word go they dart forward, and then slow down. They're not the most athletic child in the world, but it's clear they're somewhat deliberately letting the others go ahead, checking their speed whenever they start to pull up and speeding up whenever they fall behind - they don't want to make it seem obvious, because people dislike that too.

This is how you make friends, right? Or at least, fail to make enemies.

[buttercup_eater]

This Chara, meanwhile, is off like a shot the moment they're told, slipping and zooming around like a rabbit on throbbing legs. They're breathing hard and they're too focused on what they're doing to really smile but there's a definite gleam in their eyes. They're in this to win.

They don't pay much attention to the other Chara or Frisk, and especially don't pick up on any deliberate slowing down. Why would anyone do that, after all?

[dustless]

The smallest Chara is so competitive! But they're having fun, so Frisk guesses that's okay.

They blast forward with all their strength down the first hall and around the first corner, taking it so hard they can hear it despite just wearing the socks. They overtake the smallest Chara at least once, but after that they're slowing down, just a bit. They don't want to make the other Chara totally lose their first race--it'd make sense if they did better too, since they weren't just racing for the past...however long.

Carefully, they keep an eye out until last-place-Chara is near enough they can shoot them a grin. "C'mon, or you'll be left in the dust!" they sing.