UnderHappened

7 - Humans and Monsters

Finn is falling.

It's not like last time. Last time, there was a couple seconds and then a thud. This time, it's forever.

Finn panics, reaching around themself for anything that might stop their fall, but they find nothing - they're trapped in an abyss, a dark, black, empty abyss, and there's nothing in it except for themself and the far-off shouts of their parents.

Mom!  they try to scream, but nothing comes out, they can't move their tongue, so they force their eyes open and jerk back into the real world.

They blink, finding themself in a completely unfamiliar space.

They're sitting up under the covers in an extremely comfortable bed, complete with sheets and a pillow and a thick red quilt. The bed is in what appears to be a child's bedroom - there's drawings hung up on the walls, and a toy chest, and a child-sized wardrobe and bookshelves with more toys on them, and a little lamp on a little stool. The lamp is off - it's completely dark inside the room, but there's a sliver of yellow light peeking through underneath the bedroom's solitary closed door, and Finn can make out every object pretty clearly. They turn and look behind them: there's a floor lamp behind the bed, and a couple of really big stuffed animals stuck on the floor in between the bed and the wall.

It's strange. This room reminds Finn so much of their own room back at home, but different. They get the same feeling looking at the sliver of light underneath the door as they do looking at it back home - a feeling of comfort, security, coziness - somebody's still awake on the other side of that door, and it might be somebody who cares about Finn.

They look back down at the stuffed animals and are amused to find the dummy stuffed in among them. Its face is back to its original stitched face, and it appears to be... sleeping? Do dummies sleep?

Finn suddenly remembers everything that happened before, and they quickly glance down at their arms to find that their sweater has been replaced with a new one. They hesitantly shove back their sleeves to look at the damage, but there's no pain, and the wounds appear to be gone - completely healed. They stare at the smooth, untouched skin in awe, before shoving their sleeves back down and carefully crawling out of bed. They have a new pair of pants, too, but no socks, and their bare feet collide smoothly with the soft texture of the floor rug.

They make the bed to the best of their ability - no use leaving it all messed up - then climb around to rescue the dummy, pulling it gently out from in between two giant teddy bears. 

Are you okay?! the voice in their head asks immediately.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Finn whispers, not wanting to disturb the dark. "I'm sorry for throwing you."

What... the dummy begins, confused, then remembers. What?! You saved my life. Again. You don't need to apologize for that.

Finn isn't sure about that - throwing people seems awfully rude to them, but they let it be. 

They wander over to the door and hover their hand over the doorknob, then hesitate, thinking.

It's okay, the dummy assures them. Toriel didn't mean to burn you, it was an accident. She healed you and cleaned you up and brought you here.

"That was nice of her," Finn remarks. They still hesitate, however. "Did... did you talk to her, at all? About me? What I've been doing?"

The dummy is silent for a moment.

No, it admits. I was too scared to talk. Speaking up for you in front of a bunch of stupid tiny monsters is one thing, but Toriel... I just kind of clammed up. She knows me as just being a normal dummy, and I...