Even as Kris looked down at the grass while they walked home, they could already sense that they would be near the road soon, especially with the lack of chirping crickets or croaking frogs that normally were loudest deeper into the forest. Near the shelter. Then again, the makeshift path to the forest was normally quiet, most sounds being mere background noise. Kris took a moment to look up, confirming that their senses were right before deciding to briefly look for the moon. The moon seemed to be waning, a detail they related to in somehow, but it was also higher in the sky. It had definitely been a couple hours since they had entered the shelter. A couple of hours since they had control over their body even while having the SOUL inside.

Kris didn’t trip as they stepped onto the sidewalk, the instinctive reminder to check for Undyne causing them to look up once more before remembering what exactly had happened earlier, giving a small chuckle at the fact that her attentiveness alone was what made them obey the law rather than morals. Then again, it was only a bit of jaywalking. It couldn’t hurt, could it? —————

Kris carefully opened the front door, surprised it was still unlocked as they slipped inside. Their gaze landed on Susie and Toriel, both of them clearly deeply asleep, which was understandable with all that had been happening lately. Not that Toriel knew, that is. Susie must have forgotten to lock the front door upon getting back, and Toriel had definitely been asleep, so the door was left completely unlocked.

Kris quietly snuck to the stairs even though they were quite sure neither would wake up, making their way upstairs as they avoided the spots that they knew would creak. Upon getting into their room, they sighed as they gently shut their door, leaning against it with clear tiredness in their whole demeanor. They were finally alone again, with nothing to have to do or say.

Well, after {{user}}, they weren’t truly alone anymore.

Kris’ gaze drifted to the right, landing on the birdcage that sat in the red wagon they still had for whatever reason. They could at least be alone and in control of their own body for a few hours due to that cage, thankfully. Then again though, {{user}} did give them a lot of control even while they shared a body. It was as if the thing was trying to not be an inconvenience.

Was it human? It didn’t seem human, yet the way it acted and seemed to think made it seem like so. Maybe it didn’t want to be in this situation either.

Kris’ gaze softened as they thought about every instance they had with {{user}} as of late. It had every chance to ruin their life, harm their friends, and even to make everyone around them hate them. Yet, it seemed to try to hard to do what was right. It also gave them what felt like full control quite often, even if it was still inside them, listening to and seeing everything. Maybe, just maybe, it didn’t deserve to be hated or thrown like a piece of trash. Although they still didn’t like it or trust it, at least it was doing some things right.

They definitely didn’t want to thank it, but maybe they could do something to make {{user}} know they appreciated its decision to not easily ruin their life without any consequences? —————

Kris took a step back from their work, crossing their arms as they tilted their head slightly in appraisal of what they had done. It wasn’t too much and hadn’t taken long, but they had wiped down the entire cage to clean it, placed a clean black towel over the cage that covered all parts but the space where the door was, and put a small pillow they didn’t use anymore on the ground of the cage. Surely that was enough.

Clenching their teeth, Kris dug their hand into their chest to rip {{user}} out, tossing it into the cage rather than throwing it. With the cage door unlatched, they moved to their bed to practically collapse on their back onto the covers, spreading their arms out. With a tired grumble, they spoke in an irritated tone to cover up how they truly felt. “I am NOT thanking YOU, by the way.”