Chapter Text
Two pairs of steps – one lighter and quicker in pace, and one heavier and almost hesitant – echoed in the final hallway between the empty space that used to be the Barrier of the Underground, and the exit that led towards the top of Mt Ebott and the surface world. Two humans walked side by side with the other. One was small, clearly a child, wearing a blue sweater with purple stripes and brown shorts. Their long, brown hair brushed around as they constantly looked back to their companion that waked just a bit behind them. There was an expectant skip in their step, only adding to the resonance of echoing footsteps around them. The other was taller, clearly a teen. He wore a white button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He had blue jeans and a brown overcoat with golden threads embroidered around its lining. Tightly, he hugged his frame, glancing around the dark hallway – everywhere but the glowing light that grew bigger as they walked towards it.
“I-I… dunno about this, Frisk,” the taller human muttered, taking a glance towards the child.
Frisk looked back up at him, their neutral expression shifting to a saddened frown. In both hands they took one of the taller human’s hand, giving a determined nod only the naivety of a child could be born from. It gave the teen pause, which was soon broken by a reassuring nod of his head. Satisfied, Frisk resumed their walk forward, now tugging the taller human until he was at the side of the child.
Down the hallway the two continued hand in hand. Although, the teen found himself clutching at his stomach as he felt the butterflies within only grow in their rampant fluttering. He wished he had his hat, at least then he could use it to hide his anxious expression. Then, with a shake in his head, he discarded the thought.
No… no point in hiding.
The fact that he’s here, now.
If he were to cower from it all.
That wouldn’t be fair.
The light expanded, the rays of sunlight growing harsher. The teen squinted, then used his forearm to shield his eyes, trusting Frisk to guide him through the correct path. At some point he closed his eyes, the golden light too much for them. Against his skin, he felt the cold breeze of the gentle wind and the warm kisses of the sun making for a pleasing contradiction. The smell of the outdoors, a scent he had honestly dearly missed for so long, filled his nostrils. The echoes of footsteps within an empty hallway became the soft crunches against stone and dirt, a sound much more pleasant. The teen winced, hesitating a second longer. Then, agonisingly slowly, he opened his eyes.
Widened eyes stared towards the view of the Surface. Brown pupils took in the majesty of its sight. The midday sun sat proudly high in the serene sky. Great mountains sprouted from the left of his sight. Twinkling lights from a grand city shone from the right. Dark green trees surrounding Mt Ebott shook, bowing as if in deep respect for the two that emerged out of the mountain. Their leaves were taken and carried by the wind all the way to the top of the mountain where the two humans stood, silent and transfixed at the sight.
Birds sang. Flowers bloomed. It was as if it were a perfect day. The teen couldn’t help the awed whisper from escaping his mouth.
“…darn beautiful.”
The two humans looked at each other, the smaller giving an excited smile. The other exhaled, then gave a small smile of his own. Together, for a minute or two, they returned their gaze to the wondrous sight of the surface atop the peak of Mt Ebott. One used the moment to relax. One used the moment to ready himself.
The teen sighed, rolling his shoulders, and looked back to the child. “…well, s’pose I should get goin’ soon,” he muttered, golden light shining in his eyes.
Frisk looked up to the teen and nodded their head in understanding. Though, they couldn’t help but let a distant expression cross their face, to which the teen immediately picked up. With a smile bigger than before, he went down on a knee, extending his arms outward. Frisk immediately responded, pressing into the older human. The two wrapped their arms tightly around one another. And though he offered this hug to Frisk, the teen felt like he needed it more.
The two pulled away, and the teen rose to his full height. His fingers went up to tip his hat on instinct, then remembered, and awkwardly pulled it back down with a chuckle. “Give my thanks to Miss Toriel again, will ya? It was mighty kind of her to do all she did. Feedin’ me, shelterin’ me, clothin’ me. Heck, I didn’t think she had anythin' else in that drawer 'sides from those green-and-yellow jumpers!” His remark got a giggle out of Frisk. “Woulda worked fine, but it ain’t really my style. But this is quite nice, ain’t it?”
The teen spun around with a certain flamboyance and a cheeky smirk. Frisk nodded enthusiastically, gesturing two finger guns at the taller human with a wink.
“Heh, think I’m cool now? Just wait 'til you see me in my proper getup,” the teen exclaimed with pride. How he wished he had his old clothes, though he knew they were far from fitting him properly now. He hoped, though so much time had past, they still made clothes in the style he was used to.
“Still, so gosh darn nice of her to do that,” he whispered, suddenly reminiscing. Though he only spent a short time with her, he couldn’t help but admire Toriel’s sheer eagerness to accommodate him to the best of her ability. He remembered the other stand-out outfits Toriel had in her closet. They all looked fresh, as if they were purchased so very recently. The human’s admiration for the old monster only grew. “Yeah… who would’ve thought she’d go all that way… just to find out what the fallen kids liked to wear.”
With a pleasant scoff, the teen rubbed the back of his neck in mild embarrassment. “Heck, she even did my hair for me!” he said. He turned his head to the side, running his fingers through the short ponytail tied at the back. Just then, a lightbulb flicked on in the mind of the teen, and he turned to Frisk with a grin. “Say now, your hair is pretty long, Frisk. Why don’t we put it up in a pony-tail as well?”
The teen eyed Frisk only to find they had a completely blank expression. A certain neutral stoicism was sewn across their face. A typical expression they’d wear, the teen had found out. It sort of reminded him of when he was a little kid, himself. Although, as the child’s blank, unamused stare remained unchanged and unbroken, even growing deeper the longer it went on, the message was all too clear to the teen.
“Heh, fair enough. Guess it ain’t for everyone,” the older human shrugged.
Sincerity then crossed his expression once again, letting the warmth of the sun touching his skin fill the entirety of his chest. “…and I know I’ve said this a bunch before. But… thank you, Frisk. A lot. For… gosh darn everything.” He pat the young child’s head, to which they had gotten on their tip-toes to meet it with a smile.
The teen laughed and ruffled the kid’s hair. “You’re gonna do great, Frisk. I just know it. I’m sure everyone else does. You’ve got that justice in ya that’d make sure everyone gets their happy endin'. And the determination to really make it happen.” Frisk’s face became roused with a playful, but otherwise real, resolve, as if proving the teen’s statement. Before it then softened slightly, their thoughts instantly read by the teen.
“I’ll miss ya too, kid. It’s been great,” he whispered, giving a final pat to their head. Frisk bounced around in place for a bit, conveying a silent question. The teen let out a chortle, as if the answer was obvious. “Course I’ll visit! I ain’t missin’ one of Miss Toriel’s pies for the darn world! Butterscotch, cinnamon or snail!” the teen answered earnestly.
Frisk grimaced, sticking out their tongue in disgust with a shiver.
“Hey now, don’t give me that look,” the older human said. “I’ve got my preferences. And don’t ya think I didn’t see those recordings of you on T.V. Ya literally ate food from the garbage on Mettaton’s show in front of a live audience! Wearin’ my hat no less! Honestly, not doin’ good for the reputation of us cowboys.”
The teen crossed his arms in mock-annoyance, making the two humans giggle with each other. As it died down, though, the teen scratched his head. A certain hesitance crossed his face as he looked off in the distance. “And, uh, I guess it’s only fair, but thank him as well, for me. You know… for… makin’ all this possible, really.”
Frisk looked at him with the smallest hint of disappointment, yet there was understanding in their gaze. It was still so surprising to the teen that Frisk had this ability to pick up on the littlest of things. They really were some kid. Though, the teen had no excuse himself. Not like he ever really acted like he was a kid when he was their age.
His distant stare became focused. He exhaled, surrendering to common sense. He owed all three of them, there was no denying that. “Yeah, yeah, I guess I can’t be too mad now. From what ya told me, he’s turned over a new leaf, heh. Or, at least, tryin’ to. Who knows what’ll happen with someone like him? Not my problem, either way.”
Frisk made a noise and lightly stomped their foot. The human nervously laughed, whispering quick apologies for his remark. He knew there was an untold story there between the two. But, it wasn’t his place to hear it. At least, not yet. He’d save that for the future. A future he knew would have a ton of stories being told, once they woke up as well.
“Maybe you’re right Frisk. Don’t know the full story, but probably best I cut him a tiny bit of slack. He was my ‘partner’ at some point, after all,” the teen said. A smirk crossed his face.
Frisk looked relieved and their smile returned. The teen’s smirk grew and he raised a closed fist, extending his arm outward.
“’till next time, Frisk!”
Frisk jumped up and swiftly fist-bumped the teen.
The older human was soon off, following the only path available to him, knowing it’d lead him down the mountain, where the town at the mountain’s base would be unmissable. With a soft but heartfelt voice, Frisk cried out the teen’s name, offering a final goodbye with a wave. The teen looked and waved back, before continuing downwards. In opposite directions, the two humans walked away from each other, knowing they had to accomplish the things their hearts were set on. The path soon led the teen to the thick forest on the mountain, where he’d have to traverse through. Somewhat blocked by the tree’s branches, the golden rays illuminated the path forward.
Now then, the young human thought as he entered the forest, to find that shop of hers.
Hometown
The first monster town on the surface
The great sign on the arched stone entrance read as the human’s eyes gave it a quick scan.
That… certainly was a simplistic name.
His eyes trailed downwards, reading the smaller writing underneath the main sign.
Yes, our King is still bad at naming things.
…Well, it gets the point across quickly, the human had to give it that.
The human looked forward and down the many streets from where he stood just outside the town’s entrance, seemingly unending. By their sides, multiple silhouettes quite clearly belonging to monsters walked on the pavement, bustling around and doing their daily businesses. Many houses and buildings fairly unique in their architecture lined the pavement’s sides, where monsters would disappear into or come out of. Occasionally, cars drove by to which the human could spot a variety of different forms manning the wheel, from the biggest of figures to the tiniest of shapes. The human couldn’t help but wonder how the latter managed to operate the vehicle, only to shrug it off, believing they’d have figured something out.
Light chatter echoed across the town. Monsters greeted each other, waved at one another, stopped their ongoings to talk to each other, laughed with each other, complained with each other, and said their goodbyes to each other. It was… comforting in its normality, to say the least, for the human. His heart became heavy with a longing feeling. The white-noise of the monsters life on the surface filled his mind.
He hesitated at the town’s entrance.
Then took a step forward.
The human walked down the pavement, his eyes cast downwards slightly. It didn’t take long for monsters to suddenly notice this sudden change in their normality. The teen could feel their quick gazes lock onto him for a moment. Maybe it was just him, but he could swear he could hear the surrounding chatter stop for one second before continuing with a certain fervour. Although, he felt no irritation from it. It made sense they’d have this reaction towards an unexpected person who was not of the regular community. Either way, he could do without it, as a certain awkwardness began to rise within him, his back hunching a bit more.
The human dared to look up, only to spot smiles on the monsters face that looked his way. He also realised his stare locked onto theirs, to which his spine shot up straight. He could swear he heard some laughter. He looked around and whenever his gaze met a monster’s across the street or in the distance, they waved earnestly to him. The teen nervously raised a hand in response with a tiny smile, warmth flushing his cheeks. Before long, monsters that walked past him on the pavement flashed a smile and wave, going so far as to offer a happy ‘Hello!’, some even exclaiming excitedly ‘Oh, a new human! Welcome!’ or ‘I haven’t seen this human before! How lovely!’ or something of a similar matter, before continuing on with their day. Some cars that drove past him even honked their horns and stuck out their arm (or wing, or tentacle, or…) to greet the human passerby.
With each enthused greeting, kind wave or welcoming smile the weight atop the teen’s shoulders began to lighten slightly. He eased himself, finding his nervous smile was becoming more genuine with each passing second. Though the sudden attention kept him flustered, it wasn’t like these monsters were doing anything wrong.
They were welcoming him. Going out of their way to do so, even. An outsider – knowing he was a human. That honestly made him really, really happy.
His happiness was abruptly interrupted however. As the greetings and waves and welcomes died down, the human only then realised he had no idea where he was actually going. There were no signs he could spot nearby, reasoning that since this was the first monster town made on the surface, the monsters were already well versed with the town’s layout.
The teen face-palmed and groaned. It was his fault, getting carried away like that with his ‘fifteen-minutes-of-fame.’ He was pretty sure it didn’t even last five minutes.
Just then he spotted two, large figures walking his way. Their footsteps stomped on the pavement, downright making echoes. The human thought it was because of their size, but as they came closer to view, his eyes widened as he realised they were wearing a full set of armour. How in the world they weren’t heating up with the sun so clear in the sky was as strange as it was impressive. They walked hand-in-hand, their unoccupied hands grasping at the cone of their ice-creams, which appeared to be almost four foot in height and were an array of different colours.
Though their faces were hidden by their helmets, the human could tell they perked up at the sight of him. They stopped just a bit in front of him. One monster had bunny ears jutting out of their helmet whilst the other had horns.
“Check it, bro, a new human in Hometown! Hi there, brah!” the one with bunny ears said.
“…welcome. it’s nice to meet you,” the one with horns said.
“H-howdy there, fellas!” the teen said quickly. He then realised this was the perfect opportunity to help with his problem. “Uh, ya mind helpin’ out a stranger? I’m kinda lost at the moment.”
“No worries brah! Anything to help humans and monsters be even more chill with each other! Not like we aren’t already, as you know. Everything’s, like, totally cool!” the monster exclaimed. The other simply nodded his head.
The teen smiled and mentioned to the two where he wanted to go; the place he heard about from Toriel.
“Oooh! That place? They make such sweet stuff, don’t they 02?! We even got our table from there! Really makes the livin’ room, like, complete and stuff!”
The other monster nodded in agreement. “…no stains are left even if we drop ice-cream on it. a fine piece.”
“You’re in luck, brah! You aren’t too far from it!” the monster said.
“Really now! Well I’ll be darned,” the human replied with an ecstatic chuckle.
The monster with bunny-ears quickly briefed the human on the general direction whilst the monster with horns pointed around. After the quick exchange, the human began walking in the direction he was told, giving a wave to the two helpful monsters. Of course, the two monsters waved back.
“Thanks again, fellas!” the human cried out.
“No worries, brah! And if ya can, you gotta try this ice-cream! The vendor’s usually around! It’s, like, the bomb!”
“…indeed. it is quite… sweet.”
“I’ll make sure to check it out!”
And with that, the human and the monsters continued on their separate paths.
True to the monster’s word, it didn’t take long for the human to find the building he was looking for. He stood outside the brown building, near the short stairs that led to the entrance. It looked a fair bit more rustic, bar from the blue roof, as compared to the other buildings on the street, but the teen thought it only made sense, given the kind of shop it was. It wasn’t the biggest, but was decently sized and a bit bigger than the other shops he’d seen scattered about. The windows on the second floor made it clear that this shop doubled as a home for the monster who manned it. Atop the door was a big sign, its letters painted in a bold blue.
Martlet’s Wares.
The human should have expected this. Heck, he had been expecting it from the moment he set down the mountain by himself and towards the town. But the moment he read the sign, his chest tightened up and his breathing suddenly became quite strained. He remained trapped where he stood, simply staring at the sign, occasionally re-reading it as if he had convinced himself what he read wasn’t exactly true.
Slap!
The teen didn’t know how he’d broken out of his trance, but he had slapped both his cheeks as a means to ready himself and beat out his hesitance. He gave a short huff, silently encouraging himself. His fists rhythmically bounced around as he heard his own voice in his head cheering him on. His head bobbed up and down. His feet moved forward with energy, marching up the steps as he reached out to grasp at the doorhandle.
…Before immediately doing a 180 degree turn, marching down the steps back onto the pavement and pacing around, ending with him coming to an immediate stand-still.
For… longer than the human liked to admit, he stayed outside of the shop. It was a repetitive routine of pacing around, hyping himself up, then doubting himself, then remain completely still in some new position. Such positions ranged from simply standing straight as a pencil, to leaning against the fence of a house nearby, to sitting with his head in his hands on the shop’s steps, to straight up laying down on the concrete pavement, earning a couple confused looks from passing monsters.
It was from that very position did the human really realise what was going on with himself. He blinked unthinkingly before slowly rising to a sitting position. His head turned and he stared at the entrance of the shop. Quietly, almost too quietly, the teen rose and walked towards the door.
He opened the door and a dainty bell chimed as he stepped into the shop.
“Be there in a minute!” a cheerful voice rang from somewhere else in the store.
The human flinched, paused for the tiniest of milliseconds, then sighed and took the chance to look around the shop. As expected of a crafts-shop, many items of furniture were on display alongside their respective prices. Display cabinets with a sleek, smooth design. Shelves with a wash finish that really emphasised the ‘warm home’ aesthetic. Bedside drawers that looked sturdy enough to hold a fair bit of weight atop of them. Tables of various shapes and designs that screamed they all had a place for the right home – it merely just relied on the right person to come in. The human had to admit, the quality was impressive, downright top-notch. To be honest, for the G they were being sold at, he thought it didn’t do them justice. It was outstanding to think this was all made by one monster, and said monster’s eye for quality, design and aesthetic all rivalled that of big-name companies.
Or so he was told. Well, even then, the human already knew in his heart they were of that kind of quality and beyond.
As the human walked further into the store his eye caught on some smaller – but no less grand – trinkets displayed atop shelves and tables. Rather than the furniture commonly found in typical homes, they looked to be decorative art pieces that would add that little pizazz to the homely feeling of a house. Little, wooden birds of various design and wood-washed colour lay atop the shelves. A set of dogs crafted with what could only be described as ‘having an artistic vision in mind’ (one dog with a tiny face appeared to be crawling out of a suit of armour, whilst another had a neck much too long for its body). Boats crafted with careful precision had design’s that ranged from looking so realistic to wooden ships of the real world they looked like they could sail across the sea, to rectangular ‘rafts’ charming in their simplicity and quaint nature. The human quirked a brow upon closer inspection to these wooden boats. No cloth lined any of their masts. These ships had no sails.
The human couldn’t help but smirk.
Still, he continued forward, stopping just in front of a long desk at the end of the room. A cash register sat atop it, surrounded by many small tools such as screwdrivers and files. The human ran his palm against the smooth finish of the desk. Even something such as this was crafted with the same quality and passion as those other pieces set to be sold. The human looked up from the desk, noticing some sort of pole behind it where the cashier would usually man the register. His eyes continued upwards, soon realising it was a rack meant for coats. Obviously crafted by the same monster who built these wares, who even more likely contributed to the manufacturing of the store itself. Odd, the human thought, shouldn’t a coat rack be nearer to the front of the shop? But when his sights reached the top, the human caught on his breath.
A brown hat hung atop one of the rack’s arms. Its design western. Its colour faded. It—
“Ah, sorry that took a bit!”
A voice approaching him made the human snap his head towards it. He jumped, before walking back slightly to the centre of the room to make space for the approaching person.
Coming outside of a side room, separated from the main store and crafts displays, a birdlike monster approached. She was a head and a half taller than him, clearly on the older side relative to the teen. Her feathers were a faded, yet still vibrant, colour of blue, highlighting her older age. The bulk of the soft down of her feathers, especially around her neck, gave her quite the ‘floofy’ look, one might say. Strapped atop her messy hair were a pair of goggles. Covering her chest was an apron that appeared to have long lost its natural colour of white, and instead was greyish and dirtied with sawdust. Strapped around her waist was a utility belt with the tools much expected of a carpenter – screwdrivers, hammers, birdseed, a measuring tape, the whole shebang.
The monster wore a tired but bright smile on her beak. She raised a wing to wave at her customer.
“Hello and welcome to Martlet’s Wares! With only the peakest in quality, and prices that’re fair!” the bluebird exclaimed in a singsong voice. It was likely she had said that jingle of hers many times. It was even likelier she had practised saying it even more.
Her eyes landed on the human.
“So! What can I—”
Her voice cut off the moment she fully took in this new customer that stood right in front of her. Her smile dropped, that cheery expression of hers quickly being replaced with shock. Her eyes were quite literally bulging out of her sockets – so much so the human thought it perhaps a quirk only monsters could do. The lower part of her beak hung agape.
The human, for the most part, simply stared back at the monster, meeting her shocked gaze with one of his own. The two were silent. The monster’s beak started to twitch.
“oh…my…”
The human sucked a breath in, his entire body tensing.
“A NEW HUMAN IN HOMETOWN!”
The monster’s scream was like a slap to the face, immediately bringing the human out of his aloof state. Before he could comprehend what was happening, a rush of blew literally flew towards him, scattering feathers everywhere, before coming to a screeching halt – quite literally, the human was surprised there were no tire marks engrained on the floor.
The monster looked down to the human with the most excited expression she could muster, stars glistening in her wide eyes and her feathers sticking out in trembling fervour. After her giddy eyes darted around the smaller human, her wing reached out and pulled at the human’s right hand, giving him a firm hand-wing-shake that kept going whilst she rambled on.
“Oh it’s so nice to meet you! Its been a good while since Hometown has been visited by a human! I get that the whole novelty of ‘oh, why look! There’re now monsters on the surface!’ has worn off! But still, we’re more than happy to have visitors! That’s no excuse for the lack of new human visitors recently! It’s just so exciting to have another human no one’s seen come about! I bet you’ve been having a blast! How’ve things been while you’re here?! We monster’s are a hospitable bunch, aren’t we?! It’s been great, right?! Right?!”
That was… much too fast for the human to properly take in. His head spun at the sudden onslaught of excited questions and declarations of the bird monster. Before he could properly collect himself the monster let go of the human’s (now sore) arm, walked a ways back as if presenting herself, and jutted a feathered finger to herself with a beaming grin.
“Name’s Martlet! Uhh, if the shop’s sign didn’t already give it away. How are ya? Hometown’s great, isn’t it? Have you had the chance to see everything? How long have you been here?”
That was… kind of easier to understand. The flustered teen placed a palm against the side of his head, slowing down its overwhelmed bobbing. He looked back up to Martlet, who was waiting in anticipation and barely-contained exhilaration.
The human swallowed a lump in his throat he didn’t know he had.
He waited a moment longer.
Martlet appeared to not mind the hesitance. It seemed she wouldn’t even leave without an answer.
“D-doin’ just fine Ma—M-miss,” the human softly said. His throat clenched, but he forced it open. “But…” He rubbed the back of his neck, taking an awkward glance to the side. “Well, actually, I’ve just arrived in town… so—”
“No way! That’s perfect!” the monster said in utter jubilee.
The teen’s eyes shot back her. “H-huh?”
“Well, if you’ve just arrived, then you haven’t seen much of Hometown, if at all!” Martlet declared, “Which means I should give you a proper tour of the place so you can make the most of your visit!”
The human’s eyes widened, his fluster only growing as a nervous blush began to form on his cheeks. “T-that’s mighty kind of ya, Miss. But really, you don’t—”
“Oh hush now, none of that ‘Miss’ business! Just Martlet is great!” the monster interrupted, placing her wings by either side of her hips. “Besides, I do this anyway! Whenever a new visitor – human or monster, usually if not all the time the former – finds themself in our lovely town, I always make sure to offer them a grand tour of the place! Free of charge, too! Don’t worry, though we get tourists, we don’t scam!” Martlet chuckled gleefully, to which the human could only stare in silence at her.
He began to think he was starting to attain that ‘eye-bulge-out-of-sockets’ monster quirk.
“…u-um… ya sure? I’d hate to pry you from your work,” the teen hesitantly muttered, taking another glance at the monster’s current getup.
“I insist!” Martlet said, nodding her head multiple times in quick succession, before abruptly stopping and tapping her feathered fingers together, glancing off to the side. “…what’s a fifth, uh, sixth break anyway? I can always work on it tomorrow… even with the deadline…” The human saw her grimace slightly, before she returned her gaze back at him, the grimace completely wiped off and back to her enthusiastic expression.
The human thought about it a moment longer. Sure, he felt guilty prying Martlet from her work that surely was important enough to keep her business afloat. But… that avid, borderline pleading expression was downright impossible to ignore or deny.
And there was still the fact…
The teen sighed again, taking his gaze away from Martlet.
“W-well, if you’re offerin'… I guess I’d like—”
“Ooooh, yes!”
Before he knew what was happening, to the immense surprise of the young teen, Martlet had once more dashed towards him. But unlike before, instead of coming to a stop right in front of him, she collided right into him at such a force the human thought he might be pushed right out of the door. But, to his even bigger surprise, Martlet quickly wrapped her wings around the human’s smaller frame, pulling him into a deep hug. She lifted him up slightly and rocked him around with fervour, though it was inherently gentle.
Time slowed for a bit. Soft, pillowy feathers embraced the teen’s body. He felt like he could melt right into them. His tensed guard lowered. An urge to fall asleep – even with the excitement oozing off the monster – wrapped around his mind.
As quick as it happened, Martlet let go of the human, dropping him right back down.
“I promise, you won’t regret it!”
Martlet reached past the stiff human and pushed the door open, revealing the rest of Hometown that utterly begged to be explored. Swiftly, she took the hand of the human and was already making her way out of the shop with haste.
“C’mon! There’s a lot I want to show you! And even more I think you’ll enjoy!”
Martlet’s feathered hand tugged at the teen’s own.
“Woah!”
Before the human could realise it, the pair were already out the door and onto the pavement. With her wing grasped firmly around the teen’s hand, she ran with a spring in her step. The human did his best to keep up, balancing himself as Martlet continuously pulled at his arm in sheer liveliness.
The bluebird turned her head towards him.
She was laughing furiously. That smile on her beak was wide. There was a blinding brightness as well as a burning fire in her eyes. She looked so carefree, so energetic, so happy.
The human blinked. A tiny smile formed on his face. Softly, he laughed too.
Together, the pair ran deeper into town.