Hometown hadn't changed a day since Asriel had left for college.
In the city, a year was a long time, a practical era where shops would close, new ones would open, and lives would constantly move and grow with such unrelenting speed. It was a living breathing ecosystem, constantly churning and evolving, becoming something new everyday.
But here it was different. There were the same faces and the same places everywhere he went. Honestly, the biggest change he'd seen was an extra dollar added onto QC's breakfast special. A piece of drama which he'd been assured was quite popular to discuss amongst the town's ravenous rumour mills.
Though had he honestly thought things would change?
Hometown was eternal and the memories of it were not going to go away no matter how much time had passed.
He laid in bed and scrolled through his phone, trying to distract himself by looking through social media feeds. There were plenty of cute monsters in there, plenty of friends he'd met during his two years of university. Some of them even flirted with him though he was always careful when he flirted back.
It didn't feel right though he had no idea if it ever would.
His attention turned towards the window, seeing the downtown in the distance which was bright with lights and life. A festival, one which happened every year. Though one which he opted not to attend this evening. He hated to break Kris' heart but he wanted to be alone right now.
Maybe he'd take them tomorrow to make up for it.
He sighed and shook his head, leaning back into his pillow and scanning his phone. Driven by instincts, he moved over to his photo album, searching back through time with such efficiency.
Picture by picture, he grew young and younger, more and more miserable. There was a point where his smile faded, then his eyes grew tired, and finally a period where he wore nothing but long-sleeved shirts. He glanced at one of his arms, happy to see that the fur was thick enough to hide any lingering signs of how unkind that period in his life had been.
Though suddenly, there was a break in the trend. In an instant, he was happy and smiling. Genuinely thrilled to live his life.
And it was because of the woman who was under one of his powerful arms.
December.
She was a force of nature personified, someone who could kick his ass while being two heads shorter than him. Her build was that of an athlete, slender but powerful. Her hair was cropped short and black, going so well with her chocolate fur. One of her antlers was chipped in this photo, along with a bruise on her cheek but she was still smiling through the blemishes regardless.
Back then she'd been too tough to let something like a little sports injury stop her from being happy.
Two emotions filled Asriel at once. One was of intense nostalgia as he remembered his girlfriend, happy to have those memories back. It gave him a chance to relive them as if they were fresh. Though this was but a temporary beacon when compared to the raw dread and depression he felt as he realized those happy memories were taken from him far too soon.
He sniffled and wiped at his eyes, cursing under his breath as he turned off his phone. He sighed and placed it aside on his bedside table.
Though as he looked back to the ceiling of his room, he noticed that there was something blue peering down at him. It took him a moment to realize that it was a face, grinning with such glee. A familiar face, a face which made his heart skip a beat.
``Boo,'' December Holiday teased.
Asriel bleated and scrambled back, pressing against the wall and shielding himself with his quilt.
``Wow, I show up, after all this time, and that's the reception that I get?'' Dess teased, pushing through the ceiling and floating down towards the ground. She settled upon it so softly as she looked around. ``Lowkey thought that you would be happy to see me.''
Asriel blinked and rubbed at his eyes, unsure of what to say.
``I'm the ghost of Christmas past, Azzy,'' Dess teased, adopting a spooky demeanour. ``I've come to show you the error of your ways.''
``R-really?'' Asriel asked.
Dess snorted. ``No, I just wanted to chat. I kind of missed you, big guy.''
She moved around the room and looked at the various posters and trophies that littered Asriel's half. As she moved past a full-body mirror, there was no reflection cast, seeming to prove that something paranormal was taking place.
``How are you here?'' Asriel asked.
Dess smirked. ``Got enough good girl points with the Angel that I'm allowed to come back and talk to some of my loved ones.'' She touched a hand to a picture though she exerted no physical force upon it. ``Wish I would've bought into that religious stuff sooner because it turns out that they're pretty chill.''
``So, you're dead?'' Asriel asked.
Dess snorted. ``Is that surprising?''
``They uh... they never found your body,'' Asriel admitted. ``Me and Noelle have always held out hope that you'd... you'd come back one day.''
Dess nodded and stopped at another framed photo, her attention lingering upon it for a moment. It took Asriel a moment to realize that this was him at his high school graduation, an event which December hadn't lived long enough to attend.
``Did you win any scholarships?'' she asked, looking at him.
Asriel nodded. ``I uh... I got one for community service and another for graduating with the highest grade in computer science that year.''
``What are you taking in university?'' Dess asked.
Asriel didn't know what to say. Sure, he knew the answer but this just felt too surreal. His girlfriend was here, back from the dead, and she just wanted to talk about his life. It...
``Earth to Azzy,'' Dess teased.
Asriel shook his head. ``Sorry.''
``You zoned out harder than the first time I showed you my tits,'' Dess said, winking at him. ``Come on, dude, I want to know what you've been up to. We only get messages from the living in the form of prayers and those are always so stuffy.''
``I'm taking game design,'' Asriel finally said.
Dess perked up. ``Yo!''
``Yeah, I uh...'' Asriel rubbed at his arm. ``When you disappeared, I became pretty asocial and decided to pick up coding as a hobby. Turns out that I was pretty good at it and I always liked video games so like... it felt like a natural choice.''
Dess frowned, looking guilty. Though she didn't let that look linger for long as she soon smiled and came over, settling down upon the edge of his bed. There was no weight to her body and there wasn't even an energy to her. It was like she was a picture being projected and nothing more.
``What kind of games do you want to make?'' she asked.
Asriel smirked. ``An RPG where the heroes are forced to partake in a quest to hunt down the prince of a disgraced king and queen. I know that the plot sounds a little generic but I'm pretty proud of the design I came up with for the prince.''
He quickly reached for his phone and went over to his game design folder, finding a picture of the God of Hyperdeath before showing it to Dess.
``What the fuck?'' Dess grinned before looking at him. ``When did you get into art? This is so fucking cool.''
``It's only pixel art but...'' Asriel began.
``Hey, hey, hey, no selling yourself short,'' Dess teased.
Asriel smirked and placed his phone aside. Though as he did so, he noticed that Dess' gaze lingered upon him. That's when he realized that he'd been getting ready for bed. And his PJs were usually just a pair of boxers and nothing more.
His cheeks warmed. ``Enjoying the view?''
Dess snorted and rubbed at her nose. ``You uh... you're pretty hot. So... yeah.''
``What is the afterlife like?'' Asriel asked, drawing his sheet away and giving Dess a chance to see his entire body. A little treat for her decision to come back and haunt him.
``It's weird...'' Dess admitted, rubbing at her arm. ``Your every want and need are taken care of. So, I'm pretty content. Though because I died young, it's a little lonely at times. None of my friends from life are there and really the only people I get to hang out with who are from my time as a mortal are Scamp and a few of my great grandparents. Who, don't me wrong, are nice but...''
Asriel nodded though cocked a brow at the mention of Scamp. ``Wait... dogs get to go to heaven?''
``Yeah, they go to heaven,'' Dess said, offering a thin smile before promptly frowning. ``Can I admit something to you?''
``What's that?'' Asriel asked.
``I'm a little nervous that, by the time all my friends and family start dying, they're going to have forgotten who I was,'' Dess whispered as she gave her head a tired shake. ``So, when they finally join me, I'm going to be this weird figment that they can barely relate to.''
Asriel snorted. ``I don't think you have to worry about that, hun. Plenty of people are still mourning you down here.''
``Yeah, I guess you're right,'' Dess replied, though she didn't seem too sure about it.
The two of them sat in a moment of silence, looking at one another. It gave Asriel a chance to appraise what Dess looked like in this form. She wore her leather jacket and jeans with a build that was similar to the day she died. Though she'd aged along with him, being in her early twenties as well. She'd grown and filled out her attire nicely.
Was it weird to think of a ghost as sexy? Maybe though that didn't stop Asriel from thinking such things.
Though the main thing he noticed was that her body was blue and semi-transparent with the room beyond bleeding through her ethereal flesh.
``What's university like?'' Dess finally asked.
``You would've hated it.'' Asriel stirred, going on as Dess motioned for him to do so. ``Think about all the final exams and essays you had to do in high school and think about how miserable they were. Then realize that you have about four or five of those for every class you take.''
``Okay but what are the parties like?'' Dess teased.
Asriel smirked. ``Okay, the parties are pretty nice.''
``Personally, I probably would've gone to a college and taken welding courses,'' Dess said.
``Really leaning into being a tomboy, huh?'' Asriel asked, grinning at her. ``Though I suppose I couldn't really see you going into nursing or something.''
``Taking care of sick people sounds fucking terrible,'' Dess groaned.
Asriel shrugged. ``But yeah, university just feels like all the worst moments of high school amped up to eleven. Like I'm on spring break but once I get back, I have two coding projects, an essay, and a book summary to complete within the first couple weeks.''
``Fuck that,'' Dess groaned, rubbing her temple between her forefinger and thumb. ``Why would you go through that?''
Asriel smirked. ``The curse of living.''
``Angel, you almost make dying sound preferable,'' Dess grumbled.
Asriel frowned and looked off to the side.
Dess immediately picked up on this as she winced. ``Sorry, sorry, guess dark humour kind of falls flat when you're actually dead, huh?''
``How did you die?'' Asriel asked, blurting out the question before he even realized that he'd asked it. ``Sorry, sorry, that was...''
``Nah, it's cool,'' Dess said. She worked her jaw and looked away from him. ``I'll tell you but you have to promise me that you won't get obsessed over avenging me or some shit.''
Asriel felt a pang in his heart as he realized what that statement meant. Those words hinted that there was likely someone to blame for Dess' death.
``I promise,'' Asriel lied.
Dess looked at him and scoffed. ``I see university hasn't made you a better liar.'' She sighed then shook her head. ``I'll put it this way; I really hope Undyne got fired for how bad her driving was.''
Asriel winced.
``What?'' Dess asked.
``They uh...'' Asriel sighed. ``Your mom made her the chief of police after firing my dad for failing to find you.''
Dess looked serious for a moment before rippling with such grim laughter. ``Holy shit! And I thought my joke was dark. Angel, that's some poetic irony right there.'' She shook her head and cackled with such dark mirth. ``God... fuck cops.''
``Fuck cops,'' Asriel agreed.
``Did she help with the search?'' Dess asked.
Asriel sighed. ``Yeah.''
``That's so fucked,'' Dess whispered, shaking her head in disbelief. ``Holy shit, that's fucked beyond belief.'' She looked at him. ``Never mind what I said about not fixating on this. Feel free to avenge the shit out of me, babe. No way I'm letting that bitch become chief of police off my corpse.''
``I think haunting your mom would be more effective at getting Undyne fired,'' Asriel commented.
Dess sighed. ``But then I would have to talk to my mom.''
``Dess,'' Asriel replied, looking serious. ``You should probably haunt your mom.''
``But she's a bitch,'' Dess whined.
Asriel opened his mouth to rebut Dess, though she was quicker on the draw.
``So, are you fucking any cute monsters?'' she quickly asked.
Asriel blinked. ``What?''
``You know... do you have a girlfriend or a boyfriend or a fuckbuddy or...'' Dess motioned towards him. ``Something like that.''
Asriel sighed. ``No, I uh... I don't have anything like that.''
``But you're hot and kind and beautiful and...'' Dess began.
``Just never really wanted to fill that hole in my heart, I guess,'' Asriel admitted, rubbing at his arm. ``Never wanted to find someone to replace you.''
Dess seemed taken aback by this, frowning and looking away. She was silent for a good long moment as she obviously contemplated something.
``Huh,'' she finally said.
``Feels like moving on would mean moving on from you,'' Asriel stated, sighing as he ran a thumb over his knuckles. ``And I never really wanted to put you in the past in case you came back.''
``Well, I got some bad news,'' Dess replied.
Asriel looked at her and nodded. ``Yeah...'' He snorted. ``Maybe we could be together in the afterlife?''
``Well, if you wanted that then you'll either have to wait eighty years or kill yourself now,'' Dess said, snorting as she motioned towards him. ``And personally, I don't really want your mom pinning your death on my extremely tempting doe pussy.''
Asriel choked and snickered into the back of his hand. ``Dess!''
``What, it's true, they would've sent armies to save this pussy if it were ancient times,'' Dess explained, gesturing to her crotch. ``Me and Helen are in a whole other league here. But sadly, I'd prefer if you lived a happy life instead of lusting over me.''
Asriel shook his head. ``Brat.''
``So maybe consider moving on,'' Dess teased, winking at him. ``You know, for me?''
``I'll...'' Asriel sighed. ``I'll think about it.''
``Like I don't want you losing your entire life because of me, dude,'' Dess admitted. ``And as much as I'd like to enjoy our time together, I have to admit that ghost sex is kind of mid as fuck. I can't feel anything, you can't feel anything, it's like... masturbating with a hologram projected over top of your dick.''
``Okay!'' Asriel barked, feeling his cheeks warm. ``Let's stop talking about sex, now, okay?''
Dess smirked. ``Only if you promise to go on some dates once you're back in the city.''
``Fine, fine, I'll consider dating some other monsters,'' Asriel quickly snapped, glaring at her. ``Didn't think you had a cuckquean fetish, Holiday.''
``Damn straight, it's the thinking woman's fetish,'' Dess replied as she batted her lashes at him.
Both of them deadpanned and looked at one another before devolving into a pair of snickering fits, giggling so wildly. The laughter lasted for several long moments before slowly fading away. Though for Asriel, it quickly devolved into raw sobbing.
``Whoa, whoa, whoa, Azzy?'' Dess whispered, coming over and placing her hands upon his shoulder. They bore no pressure, no contact, no energy. Yet, her touch still felt so special. ``Are you okay?''
Asriel choked upon his misery and shook his head. ``I miss you, Dess.''
``I miss you too,'' Dess replied, carefully stroking him. ``I miss you so much that I came back from the dead to haunt your stupid ass.''
Asriel laughed through the tear, making such ugly noises as he did so. He reached around and tried to hold Dess though his hands found nothing but the air to embrace.
``Please don't go,'' he whispered.
Dess sighed. ``I need to, big guy, I... I only have so much time and Noelle needs closure too.''
Asriel sniffled and nodded. He couldn't speak, didn't trust himself to in his current state. There was simply too much misery and pain, a trauma that ran impossibly deep and permeated through everything that had to do with Dess.
``Will I see you again?'' he asked.
Dess bit her lip. ``I hope so but that's up to the Angel.'' She laughed. ``I... I can't believe I'm about to suggest this but...'' She worked her jaw, snorting. ``Going to church and praying to them... praying to me, that's the best way to get a message across. The Angel is a nice monster, they'll answer your prayers eventually, I promise.''
Asriel snickered and shook his head.
``What?'' Dess asked.
``I must be dreaming if you're trying to get me to go to church,'' Asriel whispered.
``Hey, hey, hey, the Angel turned me into a true believer,'' Dess said, holding a hand to her chest. ``It's pretty hard to deny they exist when they literally come to visit you and see how you've been adjusting to the afterlife. Plus, they come to our support group and I think that's really nice.''
Asriel cocked a brow. ``Support group?''
``Yeah, the afterlife has like a support group for youth who have died prematurely,'' Dess explained. ``Helps us work through the trauma of having died young.''
``That sounds... pretty heavy,'' Asriel whispered.
Dess nodded slowly. ``Ain't an easy thing to come to terms with.'' She offered a thin smile. ``I met a girl through it though.''
That probably should've made Asriel a little jealous though he actually found himself touched by such a statement, offering a thin smile. It was good to know that Dess was happy and loved, even if it wasn't by him.
``I'm happy to hear it,'' he said, surprised by how sincere those words felt. ``You deserve to be happy.''
Dess nodded. ``So, if I can literally die and move on then you should find yourself someone too.''
``What's she like?'' Asriel asked, distracting himself from admitting that Dess was right.
Dess smirked. ``Beautiful and kind. She was huge into poetry while she was alive. Kind of had an emo thing going on for awhile but has really come out of her shell recently. She wanted to be a musician growing up and we love to play music together.''
``Musician.'' Asriel smirked. ``She sounds perfect for you.''
``Not anymore perfect than you were,'' Dess replied, drawing away and giving him a little room. ``Not anymore perfect than you,'' she repeated, smiling at him. ``You'll always be special to me, big guy, and I really can't wait to touch you again when we meet on the other side.''
Asriel smirked. ``You were perfect too.''
``Promise to introduce each other to our partners in the afterlife?'' Dess asked, holding out her pinkie.
Asriel nodded and did his best to interlace his finger with her own. Though it didn't work perfectly as the two of them phased through each other. Still, it felt right, like a proper promise.
``Promise,'' he whispered.
``Now I'm sorry to leave you on something like that but...'' Dess stood up and moved towards the wall. ``Noelle could probably use some closure too.''
Asriel nodded and sat up. ``I'll make sure to give her a call in an hour or so.''
``Thanks for looking out for her,'' Dess said, placing her hand against the wall. ``I appreciate it.''
``You would've done the same for me,'' Asriel said.
Dess nodded. ``Yeah, I would've.''
They lingered like that for a moment, at the precipice.
``I love you,'' Dess said.
Asriel smiled. ``I love you too.''
And with that, she stepped through the wall.
