VOXISTALE: Novel Edition

Chapter 145

After having checked up to see how Carl and the rest of the police were holding up during these trying times, Frisk had decided it was time to see how Rian and Sadie were doing. Just as she'd expected, the two of them happened to be at the same place: Rian's house. Rian told her over the phone that Fuku was also there - as were Sadie's little sisters, which made sense, considering neither of Sadie's parents were around anymore. Frisk knew Sadie was probably still hurting, she was all too familiar with the pain of having a mother die at the hands of the Messiah. And to also have confused, grieving siblings around as well . . . it was only natural that Rian had offered to take them in for a while.

Rian's house, or rather his dad's house, appeared almost untouched, as did just about every other building in this part of town. The suburban district. Middle class population and whatnot, the only difference was that the house looked brighter. The first and last time Frisk had been here was when she, Sadie, Fuku, and Skeeter had been in the limo and swung by to pick up their dates, or lack thereof in Sadie's case.

With a knock on the door, it was promptly opened by Rian's father, who was looking a little plumper than usual, though his eyes were bright. Heavy cologne hung around him, and his face was badly unshaven. "Hey! The Ambassador!" he greeted with the wide spread of his arms, though this was for show and not for a hug as he stepped aside and ushered her in. "They're all upstairs in Rian's room right now. I'm Rian's dad, by the way. Jerry works, too. Was just about to cook lunch, anything you want?"

"I'm alright, thank you for offering though," Frisk smiled.

"Gotcha. I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything, make yourself at home!" Rian's dad said, before disappearing past the archway heading into the kitchen. Past the entrance hallway of the house was a nice living room, complete with a flatscreen TV currently displaying the news. As curious as Frisk was about what the reports lately looked like, she had other things to do.

Heading up the nearby staircase, she could hear voices from above, but was unable to make out just what they were saying. Following the sound led her to the first door on the right, and upon knocking, the room briefly went quiet. "Dad? There's no way lunch is already done," Rian's voice called from inside.

"It's Frisk, actually," she responded.

"Oh. Come in!"

Frisk tried the knob, and gently pushed open the door to reveal Rian's room. She'd been expecting sports merchandise, but his walls were covered in posters from movies made before the 90's and beyond. Mary Poppins, Rocky, Grease, Superman, Outsiders, Clue, Back to the Future, Big, Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, Top Gun, Kung Fu Kid, CyberCop, Alien, Halloween, The Terminator, and those were just the movies she could see right away, as many were overlapping and some seemed covered by others.

His bed was queen-sized, and a lot nicer than she'd been expecting, completely made up with quilts and blankets, alongside plenty of fluffy pillows and a single stuffed animal of what looked like a sheepdog wearing a pair of thick, horn-rimmed glasses.

Rian was seated on a spinning chair, back to the desk it was positioned at where an Alien-themed lamp post sat, accompanied by a laptop that was currently closed. Sadie and Fuku were seated on the bed, and three small girls were sitting on the ground, the youngest of which was playing on what looked like an NES, her eyes glued to the Italian plumber jumping on turtles on Rian's old-school box television, situated on a coffee table, a VHS player beside the NES.

"Nice room," Frisk commented. It certainly went against everything she'd been expecting from a high-school football player's room, but the surprise was a pleasant one, even if she hadn't seen most of those movies . . . of course she'd seen Die Hard though. Everyone who was anyone had seen Die Hard starring Bruce Willis.