"I look like I'm wearing capris but at least the shirt covers everything. Hell I've worn worse, I'm lucky she had anything."
You stack the rest of the clothes back into a pile and unwrap your hair from the towel. It was dryer now and you had to work the tangles out, you grab the brush on the sink ledge and brush it out.
'Man I didn't realize how long my hair had gotten. Maybe I can find something to cut it?'
You root around through the drawers in the bathroom but you couldn't find any scissors.
"I'll just ask Toriel if she has some in a minute."
You toss the towel in what looks to be a laundry basket of sorts and grab the extra clothes as you shut off the light and leave the bathroom. You stop by the room you woke up in and drop the clothes on the bed in there before heading out to meet Toriel in the living room. When you enter the room you find Toriel sitting in the armchair reading a book. She looks up as you enter the room and smiles.
"Did you enjoy the shower, dear?"
"Oh yeah, thanks." You shuffle over and pull out one of the chairs from the table and sit in it facing Toriel. "It was the first hot shower I've had in months."
"Oh my, that sounds rather unpleasant."
"My landlord was a piece of shi- uh, piece of crap, the water heater in the building went out months ago but he refused to get it fixed. But better a cold shower then none at all."
You smile at Toriel as she closes her book and takes off the glasses she was wearing.
"Oh I meant to ask, do you have a pair of scissors or something? I kinda need a bit of a haircut."
You hear Toriel sigh heavily as she stands up. She walks into the kitchen and you hear her rattling around in one of the drawers before she returns with a pair of scissors in hand.
"Here let me give you a hand doing it dear."
"Oh no that's not necessary really. I can handle it."
"Nonsense my child it will be much faster if I help you."
You open your mouth to protest once more but Toriel is already behind you and has started to run her hands through your hair, pulling it out over the back of the chair. You settle in knowing that you can't resist any more.
"Tell me dear what is the surface like?"
You take a moment to collect your thoughts as you think of the surface,of your home, the war that's still silently being fought, how you can almost never see the stars, how humans have killed the earth and almost nothing grows because the soil has been contaminated and the waters poisoned. You think of the communities coming together to rebuild, families reuniting.
"It's not perfect but we are still surviving up there."
"What was your life-"
"Hey wanna hear a joke? Knock Knock."
"Who is there?"
"Wire."
"Wire who?"
"Wire you always asking 'Who's there?"
You hear Toriel giggle behind you. Once she stops laughing she continues to cut your hair with each snip your head feels lighter.
"So what's it been like here in the Underground? Or whatever you call it."
"The Underground is what most people call it dear, and life down here is not always the most ideal but we do not complain much, many just wish to return to the surface, though there are many who do not remember or know it."
"How long have you guys been down here?"
"I do not quite remember anymore child, it has been so long. When we were forced down below I was still just a child myself."
"How old are you Toriel?" You hear Toriel mumbling behind you some of the numbers almost sounding like they were in the thousands.
"If I am remembering correctly, thirty six."
"Thirty six? As in 36 years?"
"No thirty six hundred dear. We monsters celebrate our birthdays every hundred years."
"Wait your a few thousand years old? That's kind of amazingly terrifying. Do all monsters live that long?"
"Not all but quite a few do. We do not live forever, we die just the same as humans do."
Authors note: Sorry this part took so long, I was struggling to find the motivation to write. I'm breaking this chapter up into a couple more parts, just because it's pretty dialogue heavy and I don't want it to be overwhelming,
