Chapter Text
It’s getting impossible for Alphys to keep her eyes open.
The tv is humming a quiet lullaby as the credits crawl across the screen; bright and blurry and harsh against the soft darkness surrounding it. Her eyes keep unfocusing when she tries to read the names, no matter how much she squints or blinks the drifting colours away.
Though come to think of it, she should probably stop blinking. That last time it was tough to force her eyes back open.
Why she’s actively trying to stay awake, Alphys can’t tell.
It’s just something about the peacefulness of the house, something that makes her want to enjoy it as long as she can. A rare moment of stillness in the suddenly chaotic life she leads.
It feels like no matter the hour there’s a skeleton crashing through a window or a table being suplexed by her girlfriend or Mettaton…. being Mettaton.
Which is fun. And good for her. (She knows that now. That locking herself away within those unchanging grey walls and suffocating guilt was the opposite of good for her.) And more than she could ever hope for on the surface but…
But….
She yawns, tilting her face away from the screen and burying it into Undyne’s side. Her girlfriend (that title still sends shivers through her spine) had long ago fallen victim to the dozen or so blankets and feather-soft pillows encompassing the two of them. Spread out like some absurd four-legged spider, snoring loud enough to shake the earth, and yet impossibly still. Perfect to rest against and feel the rumble in her ribs.
But peace is nice. Really nice.
Alphys’s consciousness is fleeting now. She stops fighting with the words dancing across the screen, letting it all blur into a mess of pink and white, and black.
She allows herself a small, contented sigh, taking in the smell of salty skin and fresh linen and spilled popcorn. The faint tune of the tv has changed into the thunder of Undyne’s snores and the air hissing softly through her gills. Only the creak and groan of a new house settling into place dare disturb them.
With the last of her fading strength, Alphys wraps an arm about her girlfriend's middle and curls tighter into her side. And then she is asleep.