Chapter Text
It kind of slipped their mind, in all honesty. The token of friendship the poor puppet had left them. The dealmakers burned a hole in Kris's pocket the entire fight with Queen, but it fell to the back of their mind after Ralsei started explaining the roaring. That was kind of important information. By the time they had sealed the fountain and walked home with Susie, too tired to be excited about their new friend coming over, they couldn't focus on anything in particular. Leaving Susie to chat with their mom, Kris slipped into the bathroom for a breather. The Soul seemed to be letting them have more control at the moment, which they were (begrudgingly) thankful for after the day they'd had.
Thinking back on the events of this dark world, Kris jolted in surprise, pulling the dealmakers from their inventory. The poor things were dusty as hell, with water spots and various scratches. How had the little salesman even seen out of these? Frowning, Kris delicately ran the glasses under the tap, rubbing a small amount of soap on the lenses before washing the suds off. They patted them down with a paper towel, careful not to exacerbate the one large crack in the yellow lens. Holding them up to the light, they squinted, checking for any left over dust. With a confused tilt of their head, they noticed the view through lenses seemed.. off in a way? Warped, simultaneously less and more photorealistic, uncanny in a way they couldn't describe.
A tingle of apprehension ran down their spine, the image projected through the glasses unsettling something in their gut. No…that wasn't right…it was in their Soul. Clenching their jaw, they slipped the dealmakers on their face before the Soul could think too hard about it. On instinct Kris closed their eyes, not sure what to expect. Blinking them open, the first thing they noticed was that with the glasses fully on their face, their vision wasn't tinted at all. Inexplicably, the pink and yellow lenses seemed to not affect the colors in their vision at all. The second thing they noticed was the sudden weight lifted off their shoulders. The loosening of strings around their wrists. In shock, they stared at their trembling hands. Trembling, for once, in shock, and not in restraint. This feeling… it wasn't quite the same as when they were separated from the Soul, but almost in-between.
As if the puppetmaster had loosened their hold on their strings. The shock of this revelation very nearly distracts them from the third thing. A very faint, almost silent, static noise in the back of their mind. They shook their head softly, careful to not dislodge the glasses. That could wait. First, they needed to confirm something. Hesitantly, they placed a hand on the dealmakers. Kris needed to confirm that the glasses were the origin of this sudden freedom, to keep this control. But if…if they were, and the Soul wrenched back control in the second they took them off… Kris took a shuddering breath. Well, standing here doing nothing wasn't solving anything. With a swift hand, they swiped the glasses off their face, shaking.
They felt the pressure of the Soul returning, almost blinking in, and slammed the dealmakers back on their face, breathing heavily. Holy fuck. Somehow…the dealmakers muffled the Soul's control.
…Guess they weren't prescription.
At that thought, they heard a burst of staticky laughter in the back of their mind. Jumping in surprise, they whipped their head around, searching for the source of the noise. Confused, they peeked behind the shower curtain, nothing, and in the trash can, empty. What the fuck?
“Sorry [Little Sponge] your buddy [NUMBER ONE RATED SALESMAN 1997!] isn't at [100% OFF!] at the moment so I kept [[silent.]]”
A distinctive voice piped up in their head. It couldn't be. He was…he was dead, wasn't he? They saw him die.
“Aww you [DISCOUNT GRIEF COUNSELING] me, pal?! You flatter me!!”
a glitchy cackle rang out,
“Don't worry your little [Head Massage Coupons!] about me, [[Kris]]!! As long as those [SWEET SHADES] are intact, so am I!!”
Spamton's voice was weaker than usual, but hearing the puppet was ok… They started tearing up, they couldn't help it. The puppet was quite possibly the only one who understood their situation, and meeting him and seeing him go through a manic episode and die all in the same day had affected them more than they had been able to process yet.
“HEY HEY!! DON'T [Leaky Sink Repairs!] PAL, IT'S ALL [[okay?]]!”
Kris could hear the panic in his tone, clearly not used to comforting others. The thought made them huff a silent laugh, sniffling. They slumped against the bathroom door, sliding down to sit on the floor, hugging their knees. Sure, Spamton was a gross little trash rat that smelled like sewage,
“HEY!!!” ,
but angel above did Kris miss him. Puppets stuck together, after all.
“I'm glad you're not dead.”
They muttered, voice weak and raspy from disuse, resting their chin on their knees.
“...me too, kid.”
A shaky smile made its way onto their face. Kris shut their eyes and just sat and breathed for a second, calming down. It felt nice to have more control over their body again.
In the days before, any moments of control they managed were due to clawing for it or the Soul's seemingly spotty attention span. At the same time, they didn't feel the sharp burning pain in their chest from ripping the soul out and the subsequent shocks of pain in their nervous system. Who knew all they needed to make this situation easier on them was some little spam email?
“I'm glad you feel [BETTER DEALS THAN-] kid, I owe ya after that [stunt double needed] I pulled, hah.”
He piped up quietly. Kris bit the inside of their cheek, thinking. Yeah, the whole thing with the NEO suit had been terrifying, but…it wasn't Spamton's fault. Not his fault for freaking out when he was so close to. Freedom.
“[[Thanks]] kid.”
They could almost hear the puppet tearing up. Deciding to take pity on him, they abruptly stood up, stretching.
“I was more preoccupied with how ugly you were than scared anyway.”
they whispered with a grin.
“YOU LITTLE [@%$&]!! THAT BODY WAS [[Heaven]] AND YOU KNOW IT!!!”
Kris snickered at the yelling in their mind. It felt nice to talk to someone again with their own voice. Especially with no pressure to try and fix something the Soul had fucked up.
With a start, they remembered they had left Susie in the kitchen alone with Toriel. Ah…they hoped Susie wasn't too overwhelmed by their mom's doting. They really should go join them.
Reaching for the doorknob, they…hesitated.
“...[[Kris]]?”
The deal…they… Hm.
Oh to hell with it. Making the next dark fountain could wait.
As they walked out the bathroom, a glitchy voice screeched in the back of their mind,
“THE [$%#&%%@] WHAT!??!?!”