The artist of the cover photo is breadmeat531 on Reddit.

Later chapters will be rated M.

1

Chara hated this place. The receptionist was a snotty stick of a woman. The air smelled fake. And worst of all, it was chilly as ice.

Oh also that she would have to have to talk about her "feelings."

The nine-year-old pulled her sweater closer to her body and leaned back and forth in her seat, sulking. She wouldn't be here if Asriel had kept his mouth shut. But no, he couldn't say that her attempted suicide was an accident. He had gone running to his mommy and daddy, like a wimp. Of course when Chara thought of her adoptive brother, of the look on his face when he tried to stop her from eating the poison, she couldn't stay mad at him. Truth be told she was happy to be alive.

Still...did he HAVE to tell their parents that it hadn't been a mistake? Now she had to go to therapy every week. She didn't want to tell some quack about her real father or her real mother. She didn't want to talk about the nightmares which drove her towards suicide. All she wanted to do was pretend that it all didn't happen, and take her pills.

The girl crossed her arms and tried to amuse herself by imagining ways to get back at her mother for sending her here. Just as she had alphabetically reached "guillotine" a couple of other adults entered the waiting room. Toriel had told her not to approach the other children, for fear that her child might be scared by the other loonies. But she was currently at work, and she had dropped Chara off here since Doctor Gaster was a friend of the family's and would "take care of her." Of course by taking care of her, the old man meant "I'll tell my secretary not to let her wonder out of this room." The woman didn't really care about anything other than being a warden, however. So as a result, Chara had no one to tell her not to approach the newest arrival to the waiting room.

He was a crazy just like her, otherwise, he wouldn't be here. But that's not what attracted her attention. He looked couple years older than her, yet still was half a foot shorter. He was dressed in a dark brown coat, with a bright red cap adorning his bald scalp. When he glanced up at the clock, Chara saw that he had the biggest eyes she had ever seen. To make it even stranger, his eyes were almost totally black, with blue running around the edge of the iris. His nose nearly disappeared into his face, and scars cradled his lips.

He sat crisscross on the floor and started drawing in his pad while the couple who had brought him here (clearly rich like her own parents, or they would not be able to afford W. D.'s expertise), chatted. The man wore a leather jacket and a fedora. The woman wore enough jewelry to feed a small country and her blonde hair spray that was probably tested on animals. They were not married judging by how they flirted and giggled like a couple of naughty teenagers.

But it was not the fact that the boy was dressed quite modestly compared to the other children she had seen come and go from the office. Or that he was drawing and humming to himself like a toddler. It wasn't that he looked scared to death when the door opened and the blonde with pigtails that Chara had watched play on her phone, exited the office. It wasn't that he looked at her like she was the angel of death.

Or even that, despite being ten or nine, he was completely bald.

It was the scar tissue in the shape of an upside down cross which lay upon his forehead.

"Excuse me?"

He looked up like a rabbit caught and raised his hands in defense. "I-I-I-p-p-please I...d-don't-"

"Hey! Calm down." He was on the brink of tears. The adults who had brought him were glaring daggers.

Chara tried her best to smile, finding if strange that the tears of this kid affected her, even though the tears she had forced out of Asriel's tormentors at the boarding school had not.

"I just wanted to know what you are drawing…"

He quivered. The he raised the pad, as though humbly raising a sacrifice. "It-it's not very good…"

She stared down at the drawing of a child with coins for eyes, fighting a gigantic gory worm, with a skinless head. The child was throwing a bomb with the universal symbol for death marked upon it. A sick smile crawled up her face, and she looked back down at the boy, who was confused by her reaction. She shoved the pad back into his arms and curled up beside him.

"Make another one."

He blinked several times, searching her face for insincerity. His caretakers looked ready to yank her away from their child as she gave the gesture to continue. But the boy smiled at the praise and began to sketch. Chara expected him to ask her name, or give his own. But all he did was sketch quietly.

She shoved her hand into his face. "My name is Chara, what's yours?" He looked at the hand as though no one had ever offered to shake his before. But he took it and shook it lightly. "I-uh-I'm…I-my name is Isaac Joseph Hart."

But he shook it lightly to stop the moment from becoming awkward. "I-uh-I'm…I-my name is Isaac Joseph Hart."

He said it like he had stepped out of the 1950's, so she half expected him to tip his baseball cap. Chara frowned when he pulled away with a red face. The physical interaction was clearly not his thing. But she remained quiet until he had finished his newest drawing. A smile replaced her patient expression as he showed her a new picture. It depicted a child resembling him wearing an eye patch, standing naked. The child was revering the head of some beast by holding it over his own, and four streams of blood red light poured out of the creature's head in the cardinal directions.

"Woah! What is that thing?"

Isaac beamed at the chance to share his morbid obsession. "It's the head of the Krampus...a German creature which drags off naughty children on Christmas Eve..."

Chara's smile grew exponentially. "Awesome!"

Isaac was about to say something else when the receptionist spoke up. "Chara Dreemur? Dr. Gaster will see you now."

Chara cursed under her breath and gave the boy one last smile. "It was great seeing you...maybe I'll see you on my next visit."

He tried to smile but looked crushed to see her go. The nine-year-old smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

"Good luck with your drawings!" She called out as she bounded towards the office.

Isaac watched her go with wide eyes. He rubbed the spot on his cheek and felt something bubble just below the surface. What's got you so worked up? Asked Cain.

Isaac smiled and spoke aloud to the voice in his head. "I think I just met an angel…"

(0)

Chara was anxious.

She did not remember the last time she was this anxious, but right now butterflies were batting about within her stomach. For the last week, she had struggled to keep Isaac out of her head. She couldn't help it, he was so different from anyone else she had met. The whole week she had researched the Krampus, hoping to share some information with him. Asriel had asked her why she had been doing so much studying. Her only response was for him to shut up.

Now she waited, with Toriel eyeing her movements curiously. When the boy entered, his father no longer hosting the fake blonde at his right arm, Chara jumped out of her seat. He spotted her and looked incredibly relieved.

After talking for a little bit, Chara was once again called into the office. The session with Gaster didn't seem as bad as last time, with her more anxious to get it over with than bored. Gaster seemed happy that she was more complacent than last time.

Finally, when it was time to leave, she actually thanked him. It was strange. Something about Isaac made her feel giddier than usual. Toriel approached her after she watched him get called into the office.

"I see that you've made a friend." Sensing smugness in the voice, Chara folded her arms.

"Mom, this isn't going to turn into one of those things where you start giggling because you think that I have a crush on somebody. We're just friends, okay?"

She giggled. "Well, would you like to invite him over?"

Chara's eyes widened. "We can…we can do that?"

Toriel laughed harder, "Of course we can sweetie! As long as his father is alright with it."

Isaac exited in time to nearly be knocked over by the over-enthusiastic Chara. His face went through a number of emotions as she explained the plan to him and he glanced at her mother with what looked like fear.

She took his hand and promised that it would be alright. He shuddered a little bit and then nodded. "Sh-sh-sure…okay…great…"

She could tell that he was still teetering on the verge of dread, but knew that they would have a great time. The scarred boy would never be happy if she did not rope him into this. Not to mention, that she had waited all week for this and was not about to let him go regardless of his crushing anxiety.

When asked, his father was, in fact, fine with it. "As long as I can tag along!" He asserted with a wink towards Toriel.

Chara wondered if he would try to flirt with her, and considered how awesome it would be if her father knocked him out. It wouldn't happen, though, as her father was a big softie despite his massive stature. She didn't mention this to Isaac, as he seemed to be hyperventilating.

She was about to reassure him again when she noticed that he was murmuring to himself. "Isaac, what was that?"

He shook his head, sweat pouring down his brow. "N-Nothing…I just…talk to myself sometimes"

Smiling, she pulled him towards their parents and told her mother that they were ready to go. Toriel leaned down towards Isaac, and the older boy tried to hide behind the smiling Chara.

"And what's your name little one?"

He stuttered and blanched, struggling to find the correct words. Chara wondered why he was so afraid. He had been nervous when she had first greeted him, but he had not been falling apart at the seams. Her mother taller than most people it was true, but she still had a very comforting air about her. It piqued her morbid interest.

She spoke for him with a bit of a forced smile but felt her heart flutter when he gave her a thankful look. "His name is Isaac. Sorry, he's very nervous around new people."

Toriel nodded sympathetically, and Chara wondered what it was like to care so much about everyone. "Well, hopefully, you and my son will hit it off. How old are you?"

She was clearly prompting him to talk, and he gulped before stuttering out "Tw-Twelve as of last June, Ma'am."

Chara was surprised, he was short and young looking for his age. Toriel reflected the same emotion as her daughter but smiled at his southern politeness.

"Well I'll have to remember your birthday my dear, I have a feeling that you and Chara are going to be friends for a very long time."

His father began asking her about her son, a subject which she could speak for hours upon, as they moved towards the parking lot. Chara asked if Isaac could come in their car, and Toriel said it was fine as long as he did not have any allergies. She asked if it was fine with him. He looked nervous at being anywhere new but nodded.

"Sh-sure…it will give me a chance to show C-Chara my n-new drawings." He raised his notebook lightly and held it to his chest like a man on a sinking ship might clutch a bible.

Chara leaned towards him and warned that her mother would talk his ear off, and he looked ready to laugh. However, he stopped himself and straightened up a bit as though he would be punished if he did not show the utmost respect for adults. His father reminded him that he should take a pill before they leave, and the twelve-year-old nodded solemnly.

Chara watched with intent as he downed a couple of blue pills and washed them down. She wondered if he came to Gaster for his self-worth issues, or if it was just a side effect of something else. His father had enough money to get plastic surgery to cover up his scar, but he must not have wanted it. Which meant that the upside-down cross was to the cause of his therapy sessions. He was clearly not the child of his father, with different eyes, different facial structure, and a completely different accent.

Although Chara had the empathy of a prowling tiger, she had more insight than most people. And even without the physical and vocal differences, it was clear that this man was not Isaac's birth father. Like her he was adopted. Upon this realization, she grew a little extra respect for the playboy. There weren't many people who would adopt a kid like Isaac, if not just because of his strange and disturbing appearance, but also for his broken personality. Something was psychologically wrong with the child.

And right now Chara was inflamed to find out what.

No promise to finish this story, just so you guys know. It's more of an experiment than anything else.