"Why are you doing this?! Why NOW, of all times? Frisk questioned, hoping the answer wasn't what they thought it was.

Please, oh please-

"Why not? Now seems like the perfect time for it. Good food, safe shelter, close friends..." Chara laughed with Frisk's vocal cords, their childish laughter echoing through the empty house. Frisk was sure that if they had any control of their body, their hair would stand at the back of their neck.

They don't even have control of their nervous system, how sad was that? They could feel everything, see everything, hear everything, taste and smell everything, but they can't do anything about it.

They're helpless, trapped in their own body.

W-well, what happened with my family? ...Your family? I-I...

"Not to worry. They're safe. I dug through your memories, and it appears they went to go about their days as usual. They might not be too happy now, but once they see "you" awake and moving, they'll be just fine and dandy," they said calmly, taking another bite out of the bar of chocolate in their hands.

Frisk didn't ever want to see chocolate for as long as they lived, and yet their body is eating it, completely out of their control.

They hated that.

You plan on giving me back my body soon, right? Frisk paused for a response, but asked again when they heard nothing.

...R-Right?

Still no response.

Will I ever get it back? they asked, quieter this time.

Nothing.

.

.

.

Seeing as no one but a sleeping Toriel was in the house, Frisk decided to gauge how terrible it would be to take a backseat to their own body before trying to get their body back.

It... wasn't all that bad, actually.

Except for the nauseating taste of sugar with every bite of chocolate Chara took, nothing seemed too different out of their normal routine at home. Their paperwork for being a Monster Ambassador wasn't being done, but that could be delayed for a while; Flowey was still offered his gummy worms for staying out of trouble, but he seemed more tense than usual; their favorite TV shows came on as scheduled, and Chara even seemed to take a liking to a few of them.

It wasn't too bad of an arrangement.

It could have been worse.

That was Frisk's opinion before everyone returned home.

"Frisk! You're okay!" A cracked voice shouted, and suddenly Frisk's body was surrounded in scaly arms. Alphys cried into their shoulder, and Chara made no emotions with Frisk's face as they stood in the middle of the foyer.

Soon after, Undyne burst through the door and scooped up the bundle in her arms. "You're okay, punk! If you were gone, I woulda... I-I woulda... GYRRRAHHH!" If she didn't think Frisk was still recovering, she would have practically suplexed the child and her girlfriend right then and there.

Ah, the benefits of instability.

The moment Frisk's body was set down, it was scooped up again in Asgore's arms as he wept tears of joy. By now, they felt all the tears of various monsters soaked into their sweater, and that wasn't really the greatest feeling to have. Really, it was about as bad as stepping into a puddle with socks on.

He whispered words of comfort to them, occasionally checking the child's face to make sure this was even the right person he was holding.

...

Through the whole scene, Frisk was unnerved that Chara didn't react to the comforting and babying at all. They had total control of Frisk's movements, and yet they aren't doing anything the owner's body would normally do.

It was frightening.

.

.

.

The events slowed down to a sense of normality, but it wasn't completely there. Alphys noticed it the moment she hugged Frisk's body.

Their body was stiff, unsure. When they spoke, their voice sounded foreign, like they were trying to imitate another child's voice.

Their face was blank, like they didn't know how to react, and they didn't cry like they normally would have.

Hell, their eyes are open for god's sake! That almost never happens!

Their mannerisms and behaviour, after shadowing them for a little while, weren't the same as before the headaches got bad, either. She stopped following them after they told her to stop, in that suspicious, foreign voice, and she took notes of her observations on a scrap of paper.

Something was up, and she didn't like what was going on.

((Mld rg'h z izxv ztzrmhg grnv zmw nlizoh. Dslhv xlmhxrvmxv droo yv erxglirlfh?))