With a soft thunk of the large double doors frisk walked through the open room, silently glad to be out of the cold stinging wind from snowdin. They made their way down the long lavinder hall, the quiet squeaking of their rainboots against stone were the only sound intercepting the uncomfortable silence and their steady breathing.
As they made their trek they reached up and dusted the particles of snow that had gathered onto their hair and sweater in a thin layer during their time walking through snowdin, carefully shifting the small paper bag in their arms off to the other side to prevent it both from toppling from their grasp and to save them from another trip through the cold forest.
If that ever happened perhaps it would remember to grab their coat that time.
They walked up the soft carpeted stairs and back into the chilly home, they'd probably would have to light the fireplace again after their trip to toriel's room. the place was once warm and bright, the comforting glow of the fireplace casting across the soft cream colored flooring, but as of recently that warmth has been absent due to no fault of it's own.
They walked down the hall and towards the second door to their left, lifting their hand to gently knock on the flat surface of the door a few times to signal their return before it drifted down to the doorknob. gently turning the knob the dim glow of the hall illuminated the soft blue room in a thin strip, squinting their gaze immediately darted to the large bed, slowly approaching as their mother carefully sat up in bed.
It took her a moment for her own eyes to adjust, this time due to the light streaming in from the hall. Her hand absentmindedly went to grasp her head, But as soon as her gaze met that of her remaining child a warm smile graced her features.
"I see you returned my child, safely too I presume?"
Frisk gently nodded their head, pulling up a chair from her desk and up to her bedside to sit, there was an attempt of light humor in toriel's voice they noticed.
"What was it you needed to go into snowdin for exactly? You mentioned it being a surprise."
She recounted with a small endeared chuckle. such a strange human they were, so quiet and stoic yet so compassionate and emotional.
Frisk perked up at the question, they looked down at the paper bag in their arms and reached inside, pulling out a small cute bear shaped jar of honey. Toriel quirked a brow at the item in their hand but looked back up at their face in silent question as frisk handed her the jar.
"For your throat.."
They explained plainly as they slumped over and rested their crossed arms on the edge of her bed, their head dropping down soon after atop their arms.
Toriel's gaze softened at the given context, her throat was fine in comparison to how the rest of her body felt. but they were trying to be helpful, the small gesture was sweet regardless.
"Thank you dear, I am sure this will be useful one way or another"
She carefully set the small jar of honey on her bedside table before her hand drifted down to rest on top of frisk's head, soothingly running her claws through their curly hair. This time however she didn't pull her hand away immediately after, her hand remained on their head, savoring the moment as he stared blanky at the wall ahead of her.
Frisk glanced up at their mother, their worries that had briefly been eased by her comforting touch bubbled up slightly at the glimpse they got of her expression.
She seemed much better in comparison to yesterday, almost drastically so. Yet her expression was void of the warmth she previously showed them, she looked lost in thought, her mouth cast downward in a small frown and an almost bittersweet look in her eyes.
Toriel glanced back at frisk, noticing their gaze on her, she gave them a small smile.
"Frisk dear, now that you are home..."
She paused momentarily before something seemed to come to her mind.
"Since I am feeling much better than the day before, what do you say about us two spending some time together?"
Frisk couldn't help but slightly perk their head up at her offer, they had been undeniably lonely the last few days. Toriel usually spent most of her time resting since she had fallen ill, leaving frisk to their own devices.
"We could read through that one insect encyclopedia you borrowed from the library, I am sure you want to touch up on your bug knowledge a bit before I take you out bug hunting"
She playfully ruffled their hair, that sure got a reaction out of them. She could see the faintest crack of a smile on their face that they attempted to bury in the crook of their arm.
"Oh don't you hide that smile from me now I saw it already"
This only caused frisk to bury their face deeper into their arms, pulling genuine amusement from toriel accompanied by a few snorts of laughter. After her giggling died down she spoke again with a small amused sigh.
"Or perhaps maybe something a little less underwhelming? I believe we left a few boardgames out by the tree last week..."
"It should be on the shelf in the living room..."
She trailed off as her brows furrowed
Really?
She wanted them to go out there just for boardgames? Not that they were complaining no no, it's just that there were definitely other things besides boardgames they had.
Maybe frisk could suggest showing toriel the pocket console they and monster kid both took turns borrowing each week.
"Actually..."
Frisk snapped out of their thoughts when she spoke up again, lifting their head slightly to show they were listening.
Her eyes flicked back over at the jar of honey on her nightstand in consideration.
"My dear, it has been a dreadfully long time since you had a proper baked meal..."
She stated with a hint of shame in her tone at the fact that frisk was the one prepping food for themself as of recently.
"And it just so happens that this honey you brought me works wonders as a pie drizzle!"
Frisk furrowed their brows, where was she going with this?
"Frisk my child, what do you say about going to the market to pick up a few ingredients we need for the pie?"
Oh. Alrighty, guess they were going to bake a pie. They still wanted to show her the pocket console while they still had it had for that week but surely that could wait till after.
She gently moved their bangs out of their eyes and affectionately tucked their hair behind their ear. Frisk's firm grip on their sleeves tightened slightly, the thought of going out into the cold again however wasn't all too appealing.
"I do not believe it would be too much of a hassle for you, some flour, eggs and cinnamon is all that is missing."
Frisk remained silent as she listed everything, they hadn't eaten anything besides TV dinners and takeout for the past 2 weeks, the thought of literally eating anything else, and something sweet at that was more than appealing.
"my child..."
Her tone had faint underlying pleading to it.
She usually hadn't been that insistent on doing anything since she had gotten sick, maybe she was as itching to get a different change of scenery as they were.
"flour...eggs...and cinnamon...?"
They repeated.
A small smile graced toriel's face.
"Correct dear."
Frisk sat up in their seat with a nod, carefully getting up and slowly walked back towards the door leading back out into the hall, toriel quietly mourned the loss of their comforting presence beside her once they got up however she kept on a warm smile.
"Be safe my child...know i love you dearly"
As frisk stepped into the hall they glanced back to meet her gaze, something about her phrasing made them feel uneasy.
"I love you too mom.."
They softly mumbled back, giving her a small smile in return, before slowly closing the door behind them.
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Silently standing in the dim hall with their palm pressed up against the door, they silently recounted the dialogue in their head a time or two.
Flour eggs and cinnamon...
Grabbing their coat they repeated the name of the three ingredients over in their head.
Flour eggs and cinnamon...
not sure how cinnamon pie would've tasted with honey...but at the time it didn't sound too bad of a combination.
By the time they returned from their thoughts they already found themself in front of the large lavinder double doors leading out into the snow, something in their gut nagged at them to halt, to stay...just for a bit longer. But their legs continued moving much to their growing discomfort.
Opening the double doors they winced at the cold yet thankfully calmed wind. Eventually stepping forth into the forest, the snow crunching beneath their boots as they left the home that seemed to only get colder and colder by the day.
And yet upon their return
it's nearly hypothermic.
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This ended up being more lore focused than what I expected, I promise some fluff for the future prompts as an apology 😔