Wholehearted Half-Souls

Chapter 15: Revving (Part 1)

The sun shines on the dynamic trio walking towards Flower King, with Asriel taking a sip from his Grillby's brand hot chocolate. He smiles at Frisk and says, "it's a little hot for hot chocolate, but I can't help it! Grillby serves the best hot chocolate in the town."

Frisk nods and lowers his head, staring at the line outside of the flower shop. "I'm glad that you're doing well, bud." He shrugs. "I wish I felt that way too."

Asriel takes another sip, and his smile fades. "What's wrong?"

Frisk shakes his head and points to the line. "Just watch. You'll see."

The Dreemurr brothers begin to walk past the line, with Susie behind them. The townsfolk begin staring at the trio, and glares shoot at Frisk's head. Susie puts her hands behind her head and smirks. "Don't these numbskulls have anything better to do than stare at us? It's weird."

As Frisk tries to squeeze past the line into the store, a hand reaches out and grabs him, spinning him. Frisk looks up and sees a pair of dog monsters peering down at him while sniffing a little. "Ambassador, what's going on? You said that the police are on the case, but no arrests have been made! What's the deal with that?"

Frisk lowers his head and thinks for a moment, then lifts his gaze to glance at the monsters again. "I'm sorry. The Ebott police have a lot of cases they're working on, and it's not exactly the largest department in the state. But we're trying our best."

From within the flower shop, a particularly angry customer shoves themselves through the pair and begins to raise their voice. "Well, if you ask ME, this ambassador's done jack for us!" They turn red and shake, eyes shooting balls of fire. "If you actually CARED about us, this murderer would've been caught by now!"
Frisk shakes his head. "We're trying. Please, lemme explain..."

Frisk's ears burn from the back of the line as he listens to jeers from the back of the line. "Yeah, they're right," one queue member says with a twinge of cynicism in his voice.
Another yells out, "who knows how long the ambassador will be passive before all of us are dead?!"

Frisk's soul wrenches and stings. He clenches his fists and raises his voice a little as the sorrowful emotions take his body hostage. "Everyone, my soul hurts for each and every one of you. But you need to give both the police department and me a little more time! We should be able to catch him soon; just let us prepare, and then we'll find him."

The angry customer yells, "THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" Lowering their volume, their voice hisses. "If you ask me, you should resign!"
Frisk's eyes grow cold. "If I don't serve as ambassador, who else will? I love and care about you, and you're gonna yell at me like that? I told you that I'm trying my best!"

The opponent curses at Frisk, and he backs away, holding onto his chest tightly. Asriel does the same, with the siblings sharing soul pain all over again. Chatter from the back of the line swirls and grows as Frisk sweats. Asriel nudges him, pointing into Flower King, and says, "bro, we should head inside. You don't look well."

Frisk shakes his head, his face turning red. The ambassador hadn't felt this embarrassed in a long time. But, trying to play it cool, he says, "I'm fine, Asriel. I don't need to be in there and get away from the people. I need to be here to comfort them."

Asriel shakes his head, brow furrowing. "No, listen to me! I can tell that you're hurting; don't lie to me. Did you forget that our souls are connected? Besides, it doesn't take a genius to tell how stressful this is for you."

Frisk ignores his brother. Unfortunately for the trio, angry talk continues to increase and swell. Frisk takes a step towards the back of the line again, but Asriel catches onto his sleeve. He turns to his brother and growls, "bro, what are you doing?"
Asriel shakes his head. "Please, let's go inside. Everyone needs a break."
"I told you that I'm fine, Asriel," Frisk shoots back.
"But, you're hurt...give yourself a rest," Asriel advises. 
"No!" Frisk snaps. 

Frisk and Asriel stare at each other, gripping their chests tightly, their souls writhing in pain. Susie sighs and, while rubbing her scalp, picks up Frisk and slings him over her shoulder. He looks at her and raises an eyebrow, protesting. "Susie! What do you think you're doing?"
"Sorry, dude, I agree with Azzy. Let's ditch these bozos!"

Susie shouts out, "move aside; fun gang's comin' through," while pushing the shoppers aside. Entering the flower shop, she stares at Asgore, who dances to and fro between the collections of flowers. He looks up from what he's doing and waves at Susie and Asriel. "Asriel, my son! And your friend. I hope you're doing well." He then looks at Frisk and frowns. "Is our dear ambassador alright?"

Susie nods. "No problem, Mr. D. Frisk just needs a little break time, and I'll carry him there myself if I have to!"

Asgore nods and sits in his chair. "Very well. The back room is all yours."

"Sweet," the muscle of the trio replies proudly.