The ABC's of Mr. Erratum

Deltarune

"Susie" Gradient whispered, a horrified look on his face. "What have you done?" He asked, his voice rising in pitch.

Susie, who up until this point, had been roaring and running around the living room, stared helplessly down at the mess they had created. "What have I done? This isn't just my fault!" She denied, staring down at the very much shattered vase in the corner of the room. 

Kris reached down to it and hesitantly picked up the ruined flowers in between the pieces of broken shards. They didn't seem mad, but then again, they never really seemed anything.

Gradient did notice a little worry though. He was pretty sure it was their mother's favourite vase.

"What are we gonna do?" She hissed, looking at the vase so deep in thought that her face started to twist in pain. Susie was never one for thinking too much. Kris placed the bent flowers on the table beside them, giving her a shrug. 

The door behind them opened, making all three of them freeze in fear. Luckily, their fears of Toriel appearing from the door didn't happen, however, who came out of the door could be considered close. 

Chara stared at them, their face looking at them with incredulous amusement. "What did you lot do?" They questioned, crossing their arms with a smirk on their face. Kris turned to look at Chara and gave them a begging look. Chara snorted, "oh, I'm so gonna tell mum" They responded with at Kris' stare, making them glare at the older. 

Susie scratched the back of her head in a way Gradient knew she only did when nervous. "Ah, c'mon, can't we talk about this?" Susie begged with Kris, which seemed to make Chara's amusement only grow.

Gradient went to beg with them, afraid of what his father would say if he found out but found himself interrupted by another presence entering the room. Asriel popped his head through the door, "What's going on in here-?" He started, his eyes immediately landing on the broken vase, "Oh yikes. Which one of you did that?" He asked, walking fully into the room.

As if she was a scapegoat, both Gradient and Kris instantly pointed at Susie, causing her to gawk at them, "Hey!" She exclaimed angrily at them, before bashfully turning towards Asriel and Chara, "It wasn't just me" She grumbled out, unhappy. 

Gradient, with a tone that only came from fear of Toriel and the amount of self preservation Gradient had, replied with, "Yes it was! I wasn't even near it" He looked over to Chara and Asriel as he said this, nervous. Kris, perhaps even more afraid of their mother's wrath than Gradient, eagerly nodded, both of them abandoning friendship in an instant.

Susie gave them both a betrayed look. Gradient almost felt bad, but her poorly concealed amusement and indignation kept Gradient from feeling too bad. Kris picked up the roses left on the table, holding them close before walking over to Asriel and shoving them at him.

Asriel let out a low chuckle. "ah, we don't want these to wilt, do we?" He agreed with Kris' silent words, taking them from Kris and handling them with a care that only came from being the son of a gardener. Chara scoffed, crossing their arms, "forget about the flowers" they argued, in a way that also only came from being the child of a gardener, "What about that vase?" Chara questioned, eyeing the shattered porcelain. 

Asriel shrugged lightly, "well, I guess we have to tell mum, don't we?" He replied in what, looking back on it, was a very obvious teasing tone. All three of them blanched, "Azzy!" Gradient cried out, at the same time as Susie exclaimed, "C'mon man-" She began, before being abruptly cut off by both Asriel and Chara's snickers. 

Both of them flushed at their exclamation. After a moment of silence, Gradient asked, hopefully, "...So you aren't going to tell Ms. Toriel?" He clarified, wide eyes staring up at the goat monster. Asriel nodded, clearly grinning at the thought of being a 'cool older brother', while Chara just snickered again, but nodded along with their brother anyway. "Don't worry about it kid" He responded, before glancing down at the vase.

"However, if we don't fix that, mum will know anyway, won't she?" Asriel noted, causing everyone in the room to stare at the broken vase in distaste. 

"We have gorilla glue in the kitchen" Chara piped up, their words making everyone stare at them in surprise. Gradient huffed, "You have gorilla glue?" He repeated, making them scoff. "Do you want help or not?" They asked in turn, making Gradient go silent.

And so, they got to work. Chara went off to get the glue (Gorilla glue- honestly) and Asriel started picking up the pieces on his own as apparently, they were too young to be shoving their hands in the shards. 

They started to put it back together quickly, strongly aware of the little amount of time they had before Toriel returned home. Tears were shed (not only by Gradient- promise), and there was at least three different mental breakdowns before they finished (All by Gradient, unfortunately). 

His third, and final breakdown, happened when they couldn't fit the last piece in to its correct hole. "We may have a problem" Asriel muttered, looking at the shard in confusion.

Chara scoffed, it's tone harsher, making it obvious they were tense. "Oh really? astute observation there, brother" They snarked, biting the nail of their thumb. Kris grabbed the shard from Asriel, and tried to put it in themself, their attempts failing. 

Susie huffed, "What are you doing Kris? It's a completely different shape" She grumbled out, tapping her foot on the floor in a fast pace. Hearing her words, Kris paused, before rotating the shard, and continuing.

With every time it failed, Kris tried to put it in with more force. Eventually, Asriel grabbed Kris with his lanky arms, lifting them away from the vase. They didn't struggle, but let out a huff of defeat. Placing Kris back on the ground, Asriel said, "You're gonna break it if you continue like that" He informed his youngest sibling, taking the shard out of their hand.

Susie glared at the uncooperative vase. "What are we going to do?" She questioned, staring at the vase angrily. Chara rolled their eyes, "What are you gonna do, you mean" They corrected, making Kris look up to them, upset.

Chara scoffed again, "Don't give me that look, Kris" They snapped. Kris continued to give Chara a look that Gradient could only describe as being some weird mutation of puppy eyes. "You lot are the ones who broke it! I'm not getting under the bus for you!" They argued. Kris continued to stare.

Asriel sighed, "Come on, don't argue" He ordered them, his voice tired in a way that only an older brother with more than one sibling could be. He stared at the vase for a moment, then, in a brilliant, IQ enhancing move, Asriel twisted the vase around, hiding the hole so it was facing the wall.

Gradient gaped at him, "You're amazing" He complimented, making Chara roll their eyes. "C'mon, really? She'll notice eventually" They informed them, making Asriel shrug. "What else are we suppose to do then, genius?" He bit back, grinning when Chara stayed silent. 

Then, Chara went to say something, but was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. They looked at each other, their argument instantly forgotten. Kris rushed over to place the flowers back in the vase, and just as they fell in, the door opened.

"Hello Children" A unaware Ms. Toriel greeted, smiling at them.