After that strange encounter with an equally-strange flower, Ms. Alexis shadowed a monster (that simply went by Toriel) through the hallways and corridors of the RUINS. A few monsters scrambled by, whispering to each other about something the human couldn't understand, before skittishly jumping -or flying- away in... fear?

It was hard to tell; she couldn't read the faces of frogs and huge flies that well.

She eventually became so intrigued with poking a rounded, gelatin-like monster that she didn't realize she was being asked a question about her occupation.

"Ms. Alexis, dear? Hello?"

"Yes, I'm alive! ...W-What did you say? Sorry, I kind of got distracted," said human replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck and smiling a crooked grin. Toriel sighed.

"I was wondering... you have an apron on you, and you are too tall to be a human child. Perhaps you have a job somewhere?" Toriel asked again.

Ms. Alexis nodded. "Yes, I work for an orphanage. It's a little ways above the cavern I fell from, and we hold in kids that have lost their families in some way or another until they're old and mature enough to live on their own.

"I came down here as a last resort; we had a child go missing recently, and this was the only place we haven't checked. We've put out posters, called around, hired search parties... But nothing seemed to work."

Toriel's face blanched, for what reason the human didn't know about. Her face returned back the way it was before, if only a little weary, and the pair continued onward without another word.

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Ms. Alexis noted that ever since she mentioned her job at the orphanage, Toriel didn't pry for more information about it. She thought that a motherly monster of her species would love to know about how her organization took care of the children, but she supposed that wasn't the case after all.

At any rate, the human left for bed quite early; snail pie wasn't something she wanted at the time. The emotional stress from the previous few weeks hadn't helped with her ability to stay awake, and she was asleep almost as quickly as it was to turn the lamp off.

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Waking up, she realized she forgot her promise to Frisk (that was the flower's name, right?) to meet them outside. Rushing past the other available room in the hallway (Toriel offered up her bed because the other bed was too small), through the foyer and the front door, she found that the flower was already patiently -impatiently? there was a scowl on their face- in the middle of the front yard.

"Where have you been? It's been a while, and I don't have all year, yanno!" the flower remarked.

"Sorry, sorry. A lot of things happened yesterday, and-"

"What're you talking about? You were only in that house for, like, an hour!"

Ms. Alexis paused, trying to piece the events together. "...Excuse me? I'm pretty sure I slept for a while... I wouldn't feel so refreshed if I slept for a few minutes."

Frisk huffed. "What did I say about things being different around here? You don't need to sleep very long, since time moves faster when you do that. You also recover faster."

The human sat on the doorstep thoughtfully. It sounds like a game mechanic or something, but she wasn't that well-versed in video games. It might just be the effects of magic down here, for all she knew.

"Okay, well, you said you wanted to show me around? I think I've looked almost everywhere with Toriel, but it's very nice of you to try, anyway."

Ms. Alexis smiled, but Frisk didn't want to return the gesture.

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After traveling through the RUINS, passing by yet another Froggit, Frisk tried to start up some conversation after what felt to be an eternity of silence. "...So."

"So," Ms. Alexis mimicked.

Frisk's face immediately dropped from neutral to irritated. "Well, are you going to stay here or not?"

"Of course not," Ms. Alexis responded, matter-of-factly. "Why would I? I have to find someone." She stopped walking, then gasped as she asked her next question with great urgency.

"Do you know of a little boy with a cross necklace? Borna W.?"

Frisk stayed silent. This was certainly something, that's for damn sure. They were quiet before deciding what answer to give her as she gave them a worried, wide-eyed stare.

As much as they wanted to feel the worry and grief and fear she had at that moment, it was impossible to bring up those emotions. They tried to recall how it felt to lose someone important to them, how difficult it was to let it all go, the time it took to remember but not break down in tears...

But it didn't work. They felt nothing.

The answer they replied with before they burrowed away was-

"...No. I haven't seen him."