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[The feed begins. Satoru carefully centers himself in the frame before sitting back. He's outside in the grass next to the lake, with the device propped up against a tree.]

I think I have the gist of things. [He read the pamphlet, which was pretty helpful as a crash course.] But there are still some things I'm confused about.

[His frustration is apparent in a brief pause that follows that admission, however.]

Asking questions won't change the situation, but...can someone explain the part about time not moving?

[Because that is relevant to his interests.]

[Kayo seems a little more unsure. She’s standing just behind Satoru and trying not to draw much attention to herself. Making any kind of announcement to a wide group of people is uncomfortable, and it’s easier to just let him take the lead, if he wants to.]

...Isn’t that impossible?

[She’s quiet, but also not very impressed by the supposed magicalness of the world around them. Life isn’t a storybook and people don’t get whisked away to worlds where time doesn’t exist. It sounds kind of stupid to believe something like that just because someone put it in a professional-looking pamphlet.]

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[He thinks over their conversation so far and what he read and shakes his head a little.]

Isn't it mostly them coming over here, then?

[Why did they tell him not to cross over if it only goes one way?]

[A nod.]

Mostly. You switch sides when they do.

[...but not always.]

Then why tell me not to try going over there? Or...

[That wasn't quite what they said. They said not to look for a way over.]

There's another way to do it, isn't there?

[...oops.]

[Frisk's shoulders hunch, the slit of their eye disappearing beneath their lids. Averting their gaze. Avoiding his.]

Not usually.

[He leans forward like he can get over into their range of vision again. A maneuver like that works better in person.]

But sometimes?

[They've learned, through a vast selection of experiences of every sort, that in many cases, it is not always wise to speak. In most cases, in fact. The Surface taught them the same lesson the Underground did, that Wonderland has in varying degrees. They've learned when it is safest to say nothing at all.]

[Such as now.]

[The child shrugs, and does not reply.]

[Satoru frowns. They're certainly reticent and he can't really blame them for that. He's not frustrated with them, but with the situation. But...]

You don't have to tell me, as long as you can promise not knowing won't hurt anyone.

[Not like he can enforce a promise like that. And what's he even going to do if they just refuse to promise him that at all? The adult in him is pointing those things out even as he's speaking.]

[They shake their head. They can't promise that. They can't promise much of anything - not when their promises have just gotten people hurt.]

I don't know.

Can you tell me why you won't tell me?

[If there's a decent reason, he can respect that.]

[It's too painful? It's a reminder of what they don't want to accept? Because they don't want anyone else to go the same route they attempted?]

[It's hard to say.]

I made a mistake of asking.

...Alright.

[Satoru's not sure what that means and is getting a bit tired of trying to pursue it. So he nods. He can ask around later and see if anyone else knows and is willing to tell him.]

What's your name? I'm Fujinuma Satoru.

[He opens his mouth to introduce Kayo, but stops himself. She can do that herself--she probably doesn't want him doing stuff like that for her.]

[He drops it, at long last. It's like releasing a breath they didn't realize they were even holding, though the only palpable sign of their relief is the slight easing to the slope of their shoulders.]

...Frisk.

Have you been here a long time?

[A shrug. Comparatively, not really. But from plenty of others' perspectives...]

Over a year.

[Sounds like a long time to Satoru.]

Do you miss home?

[~~Yes.~~]

...no.

[They shouldn't miss it. Not really. Not when everyone else is better off here.]

[Satoru thinks the hesitation is telling, but doesn't say anything. His own feelings are mixed. There's something incredibly important he needs to do at home, but he knows that for Kayo, almost anywhere is an improvement from where she was. He's glad he's here with her, though, just in case.

That makes the next question pretty obvious.]

Are you here alone?

No.

I guess I never really have been.

[Not in the technical sense, anyhow. Sans has always been here, but...]

[They're not thinking about Sans right now.]

[He's not sure if they mean that there are people from home with them or that they've made strong connections here in Wonderland. Either way, it must be a good thing, he thinks.

He opens his mouth to ask if they're happy, but stops. They aren't, he's sure, just based on their conversation. They remind him, a little bit, of Kayo the first time he really talked to her after arriving in 1988.

He's silent a second, then nods to himself.]

Thank you.

[You're welcome sounds too presumptuous. So they simply nod, the corners of their lips quirking, only slightly, in a semblance of a smile.]

You get used to it.

[He shouldn't have to - no one should - but that's simply the way things are here.]

I'm not sure if I should say "I hope so" or "I don't want to."

[...]

[They can't blame him for that.]

You shouldn't have to.

But there's really no choice for now.

[He sighs and sounds older when he says what he says next.]

That's just how life is. It's full of doing things you don't want to but that you have to.

Yeah.

[That's...pretty accurate, given their own experience of the place. You don't want to do most of what you do, but you do it anyway. You can't do it, and because you can't - you have to.]

It is.

[Satoru is quiet for a moment, thinking about whether or not he should really say what he wants to. But with a breath, he decides to go ahead and say it.]

Kayo and I are here now. If you need someone to stick with, remember us.

[He offers that with a small, kind of gentle smile.]

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