* Welcome To Our Special Hell .

* Yeah like… uh…. anything else…! I don’t-

* I don’t think I like peaches that much, pal.

He was going to follow Corrupted up the stairs, but then doubled back down them to go for yet another item. It seemed a little more important to him to keep then the others. Just in case.

*Can’t forget this.

Happy picked up the gun that he had been ignoring up to this point. The question of whether or not he knows how to use it is a different story but he’s holding it somewhat confidently.

* If uh… it’s not peachy….

* We’ll just make sure things ARE using this!

*Yeah…

[ Could Not Blame Him for That. ]

[ He would Stop as Happy Suddenly went to Retrieve an Item, Turning and Watching Mid-Step. His Eyes would Widen Slightly as He Acknowledged the Gun. Happy Appeared to Know How to Handle it, but… ]

*Hmm… I Suppose so!

[ A Presumably Human-Made Item to Use Against Others. It should Work... ]

*...So Long as it’s Not Empty… and has Enough for Multiples of Anything We Might Encounter.

*And if its Not Enough, I have Magic to Fall Back on...

*...If it has Any Effect, That is.

May your needs be met, may the LIFE you've clawed for yourself be one of DELIGHT and S A T I S F A C T I O N . . .

'Tis certainly your DUE.

-- @besmirched

*Aw, Golly, You're Flattering me Bes!

*Which is really Quite Surprising, Actually...! Aside from being a Face I haven't Seen in Quite Some Time!

*But Thank You...!

*In Spite of the Uncertainties, I Hope the Same. After All... it Seems to have Worked out Thus Far.

You think I wouldn't take the time out of my RETIREMENT to offer PRAISE where PRAISE is d u e ~ ? Said retirement is going BEAUTIFULLY, thank you for the well-wishing.

Ever from the shadows did crippled blooms of black and white watch and listen. Most all had been left in the hands of those capable enough to circumnavigate them; yet had he not devoted himself to attempting to be better?

Though he loathed his own host -- others who bore his genealogy had ever been regarded as individuals. As ever, his syllables were slow, orated, stressed with growls that had once been the threatening malice of a hound, but now? Could be construed as the purrs of a delighted individual.

I always WAS one for s u r p r i s e encounters, no? For WELL and for ILL, to appear, say my p e a c e , and depart. To be HERE when you WISH for me... is that not the fate of all WORDS on PAGES?

With a gentle, curt, professional flourish, did Besmirch give a quarter bow to the prince-arisen.

*Ah, Well, I didn’t Plan the Cape and Stuff… but it does Suit me Well, Thank You. Glad That Someone Shares Similar Taste.

*But… I Suppose That’s True, Our Interactions have Always been Fleeting. I Guess I’m just Surprised You would Come out of Retirement to be so Overtly Complimentary.

*Though… You are Familiar with Such Changes. It would Only be Right for You to Compliment Someone else’s, Huh?

*And Besides, if it was Something Expected, it would be Very Unlike You.

*I’m Glad You Continue to Surprise me After All This Time, Though. It is Nice to Know You’re Living Peacefully.

*Surprises Keep it Lively, Anyway! I'm Always Awaiting the Next.

* No you’re fine…! This … I get it. I was the one who made it not fun in the first place….

* And was the one to “follow my heart” in the weirdest way possible…. and actually following through on that….

For once.

* …. We should get out of here. Right, pal.

He grabbed the whole platter of cookies after Corrupted took his cookie.

*Heh, Suppose so.

[ Very Pleased with This Arrangement, He would Start Making His Way up the Steps, being Sure to Stay Close to Happy and Munching All the While. ]

*And I Mean... I wouldn't Say it was... Entirely Not Fun...?

*...Well, Okay, I was on Edge the Entire Time but...

*It was a Good Thing. We Now get to Hold Hands... Hold Each Other. You, Yourself, get to do so Much More Than Before because We Took a Detour. So, I Say it was Worth it.

*And Besides, We get to have More Fun Now Since That Part is Done...

*...Even if a little Cautiously Which... Well. We May have had to Anyway.

*I'm Sure Once We get to Waterfall, Things Will be as Peachy as ever.

* ……….

A sigh escaped him. He didn’t want to address that line of thought, but it was a good question. It was also a good point about the Snowdin house too.

* I honestly don’t know for sure.

* I preferred the ignorance of not thinking about either of them at all…. and you know… the preservation theory, pal.

He took another cookie and bit through it pretty quickly. It was a good cookie, but he was also kind of doing it out of nervousness. He was going to go eat yet another when he curled his hand into a gentle fist and to his chest, pulling it away from the treats.

* …. Yeah…. I really also don’t like the idea of sticking around if one of them finds me running around in this body if either one or BOTH have just been hiding out here….

* Like yes its me and it’s MY body…

* But also…. I don’t….

* I don’t think they’d consider that to be true anymore.

*......

*Well, should Either of Them Decide to... Show up and Try Anything...

*...I Believe I'd be Able to Fend Them off. Or Distract Them.

[ He would Turn His Head to Look to the Right Wall for a Moment in Thought Before Facing Happy and the Cookie Bowl Again, Rubbing the Back of His Neck. ]

*...Geez, Sorry to Keep Bringing Issues into Our Date, Dear, I Know We're Supposed to be... having Fun and Stuff... I just Don't Want to be Caught Entirely Off-Guard in Case Something does Arise Sooner Than Thought...

*Maybe We should just... Eat a Few More of These and Leave a little Quicker Than We Originally Thought to.

* ….. I dunno, I sorta expected these to be sorta mold or something… Especially considering nobody’s been here for ages….

….

A thought about someone still being here besides him… kinda terrifies him…

* I’m… also not sure how the magic to preserve things works. It wasn’t my wheelhouse…

* If it’s just freezing time literally or if it’s just an entirely different concept away from ice magic.

*Maybe it could be a Step Away from Ice Magic... I'm Not Sure myself...

[ As Corrupted Eats the Cookies, He Begins to Think. It was Extremely Strange. Though, After Eating Two and Picking up a Third, He would Speak in a Lowered Voice. ]

*...You Know, That One House in Snowdin... had Fresh Food too... Fresh Pastries...

*...

*...I Think Somebody's been Keeping Themself Busy...

[ He would Step Back from the Cookie Pedestal to Look up the Stairway, into the Dark Hall, as if He were Expecting to See Somebody Looking Back. ]

*...The Blast did Seem to have Stopped at the Ruin's Door.

[ He would Take a Bite of the Fresh Cookie. ]

*...

* Yeah it better be or I’m going to actually have my first breakdown in this form, pal-! I swear it!

He was half joking. Keyword on half.

* We…. we could probably still walk here for a few but once we get to Snowdin we take a shortcut.

*Besides, I wonder if these cookies are still safe to eat…

He doesn’t even wait for an answer he just goes up to the bowl of cookies that was on the display stand and takes a bite.

*If You Breakdown, I'll Breakdown, so Hopefully.

[ He wasn't Joking at All. ]

*Sounds like a Fair Plan to meeeee........

[ He Trailed off as Happy Pondered and Very Quickly Subsequently Ate One. ]

*...Honestly, I was Kind of Avoiding Eating Them in Case the Key was Somehow in One of Them or Something else... but...

*...Still Kind of Makes You Wonder if Time is really Frozen Here or... if......

*Actually, I'm Not going Further on That, I just Want One Now.

[ He is Taking and Eating One... Perhaps even Two. It is Free Cookies. It does Not Matter How They are Fresh. ]

Happy laughs nervously… knowing his own timeline far to well at this point… he can’t count on things being peaceful. Especially with the track record of this date.

* ……. Well fuck, pal. I guess we will.

* Though let’s still take our time getting to where ever the problem is… and maybe get somewhere relatively safe… (or even out of here we can just leave…)

Not forever though. He knows he can’t run forever.

* …. We can take a walk through here…? It’s actually one of the most empties places as far as I….

* ………

*We can Definitely Take it Slow and Find Somewhere Safe...

[ Corrupted was About to Agree with the Plan to Walk Around the Tomb, Since it had, Indeed, been One of least Offending Places so Far... but Happy Seemed to get a New Idea. ]

*Oh, Sure! I'm down for Waterfall. Surely it should be Calm over There by Now...

*And... even if Not... Well...

* …. I felt like it… was better for them to be stuck there but now I’m not even sure if that was a good thing… and… what’s left of a lot monsters is still shambling around so….

* I did a very botched form of “protecting” everyone if it could even be called that at this point….

* And …. I… don’t know if they’re even still around…

* There was the time I hallucinated them because of an anon but I don’t….

* I don’t think they could be awake… I don’t think… if they’re even still here.

*A Botched Form is Presumably Miles Better Than it All being Lost...!

*But Ah...

*…...

[ His Hold on Happy's Hands would Loosen... Then be Held More Firmly Than Before. ]

*Oh, Dear, You and I Both Know How Things Work Around Here...

*But... for Now...

*...Certainly... Not This Very Moment... and even if They were...

* We …. I….

* We had an argument….

* The original plan was to just take over the lab and make demands but Swan wanted everyone gone… and it got… worse with all the other “humans” running around….

* It stemmed down to what we all actually wanted from all this….

* They fully intended to kill everyone and everything… Pancake went full “obliterate all life and ourselves too”, pal and I… didn’t-

* I was called a traitor and all fought….

* and was pushed into doing it but as… self defense.

* It was stupid in the long run doing that to them seeing everything NOW…. but….

*I Meaaaaaan... I Dunno... You... Kinda Kept Everyone from getting Killed by getting Them Blasted into the Walls... I Think...? *So it wasn't... THAT Stupid... Maybe... *Not That it really Matters at This Point I Suppose...

*But... Maybe if That hadn't Happened... We wouldn't be Here Now...

*...Anyhow... I... me and Swan Briefly Talked and They had Mentioned Him as a Possible Issue I Think... "if He's even Awake Now."

*Aside from All the Other Horrors out There... so...

* ……………….

* ………………………………

Happy closed the book, and put it in his inventory… before walking over and holding Corrupted’s hands in his, very gently.

* I died…. and became… multiple flowers, Corrupted. I mean you can probably piece that together as much… but..

* When I fell down from sickness…. before I was… unable to speak- I was asked if I wanted to try an experiment. Something that could save my life if successful, and if not would at least give information to help for future reference.

* That’s …. that’s all I wanted to do at that point. I had driven myself to death just trying to SAVE everyone… Of course all I was going to say was

“Yes, pal! I’ll do anything to save the entire underground and maybe myself…”

* Pieces of me was removed…. and then I became one flower…

* Remade in the shape the King most liked, and was symbolic you know…? Echo flowers hold the voices of people and memories of people for a little while… Flowers, as they turned out, can hold a lot of things…like a conscious.

* It was supposed to be a temporary fix of letting me live until they could find a way of fully replacing or… fixing my body.

* I was fine with that… “Happy” with that even. I liked flowers and I wanted nothing more at that point to be a help. An asset to the team… a tool, pal. A key to making the world a better place.

* Of course that never fucking happened, though….

* One flower became multiple… more of me was taken. One was not enough to study- they had to make sure the process can be duplicated and a myriad of other excuses…..

*…..h-haha…. I became not only symbolic but mass marketable, pal! I was EVERYWHERE… and I very quickly found myself not knowing what was everywhere….

* Was that me? … Or was that one….? Or that ONE?

* Was I in the coffin still this whole time?

* WAS that me…?

* I was just another experiment at that point for a hopeless dying world doing things for the fuck of it…. and I ended up making friends with other experiments.

* “Pancake” and “Swan” were apart of the “Human Vessel” project…

* ….. I had some of a hand in the beginnings of that and… I felt like I owed them a lot for it. We couldn’t find our way out of this world… but we monsters found ways of pulling people INTO our world.

* As far as we knew, all humans were dead and it wasn’t like we had access to the broken world above… so we essentially “made” our own, stealing souls from … elsewhere.

* And it fucking went nowhere other than getting just as out of hand for years….

*So me, Pancake, Swan, and Pocki just ……..

[ Especially in being Backed Toward Such a Wall… ]

[ He would Stay Quiet as He Thought on All of it, Eyes Drifting from Happy's down to the Floor, Nodding Slightly. He Understood Well. But This wasn't the Full Story… a little More Happened. Not to Mention, the New "Human" Name Drop... ]

*...... I See... I... Probably would've Done Similarly...

*... Then... Why'd You... Stop?

* Ways to save everyone….. and I mean that literally, pal.

* It was kinda a weird middle ground I wanted have where we’d just… RESET the environment but keep everyone the same. Everyone would have their memories, nobody would have to uproot themselves entirely and we wouldn’t be…. ruining someone else’s happy ending.

* But I didn’t exactly have… you know… the power behind me to do that… but I was still trying to brute force it by any means necessary….

This isn’t much of a diary really, save for small entries about tv shows he’s recently watched or if he went out to go eat something with his colleagues. Just notes that keep going and seem more and more frustrated as he flips through them.

*...Yeah.

*...Yeah, That... Seems About Right...

[ Corrupted would Swallow as He Continued to Watch the Pages Flicker by, Eyes Glued to the Passing Codes, Notes, and All the Frustration Crammed into Each New One. A Lightbulb had Audibly Turned on in His Head, and Whatever it was Left Him Silent for a Long Moment Before Slowly He would Speak. ]

*…That Reminds me of Something really Funny.

[ Something else Seemed to Switch Inside Him and He would Shake His Head a little. ]

*No, Sorry, Not Now.

*What I Meant was…

*…I … I get What That Must have been like. I really do.

*…But… Things Will be Different This Time. You have the Power Now… to… Fix Things.

*...

*Sooooo... What Happened Next? You Became a Flower... and Swan was Made and...

[ He would Awkwardly Pause. ]

* I mean… yeah I guess… I could give them “credit” for this….. but…

* Eh- both ends were fucked up and fucked in their own different ways, pal.

He shakes his head and clears his through before reading the first page.

“10/10/20–… ”

* Damnit, pal! Can’t even read the full date here… Why are all the dates always like this…. !!!

[He rolls his eyes. Anyway.]

“If you are reading this I am either dead, or I dropped this somewhere on accident with the key and you should probably give it back. But in the case of "if you are reading this and I’m dead”…. burn it.

Otherwise, please return this to Hotland Lab #1 to Prince Asriel Dreemurr. Please and thank you.“

* Lovely. Off to a great start. I don’t remember writing this.

His handwriting here is… different than Happy’s is (or was) as a flower. It looks so… polite. And it wasn’t that Happy’s wasn’t neat enough it just had a different look to it.

*Figured as Much...

[ There is really No Telling How Much Misery Each Side Caused, but it was All the Same in the End. Aside from This Thought, Corrupted would Stifle a little Chuckle at the Missing Date. But Further Reading... ]

*...That Sounds really Healthy.

[ Though, it did Make Him Think for a Second. Some Things to be Thought on Later if its Contents did Not Provide the Answers. ]

[ He would Observe the Writing, the Difference being Striking in His Eyes. He would Tilt His Head a little at it. And Then a little More at the Glimpses of Different Equations and Statements. ]

* Oh…! Thanks, honey. He held the book in his hands and looked at it again with a small hint of hesitation before answering Corrupted some more.

*But uh…. They knew things were going to rot the moment they realized leaving the underground wasn’t going to be…. viable. So there was a lot of different camps as to what to do.

*There was never going to be just one unanimous decision, especially between the… leaders…

* There was a group focused more on keeping things running here indefinitely, and were also focused on the event of it all falling apart… so preservation.

*The Leaders Huh...

[ Not Touching That with a 10 Foot Pole. ]

*...Hm... Right, Swan had Said Something About That Last Part Before... Guess That Side was a bit More Productive Than the Preservationist... Not That its Much of a Surprise...

*...But it just Never Seems to End Well going That Way, Huh?

[ Thinking About This... Made His Head Hurt a little. ]

*Ah... Well... I should Give the Preservation Guys a little More Credit Since We have This Now.

[ He would Tap the Top of the Diary with a Finger. ]

*Suppose We should Take a Look at What's in it Now That We've got it Open.

* Oh that’s nothing really-!

He was hand waving it away as if it’s nothing important.

Happy goes to pick up his diary and fiddles with the lock on it. He’s still trying to get used to the idea of even having hands so he is actually struggling with the lock a bit.

* People really wanted to preserve things to at least give anyone that survived the collapse or happened to discover the underground a good idea on what people were like. I did too before I died I guess.

* I put a lot of stuff that belonged to me and other people up in a display… like a museum or something pal.

* At least that was what it was supposed to be in the beginning I think. Don’t really remember all the details as to why these specific items though.

* I think I used to REALLY like puzzles. Like the intricate kind. The kind of stuff that would leave you stumped for days…

* I… don’t know if I have patience for something like that anymore…

*…Ironically, I Used to be like That. Or, Well, I Guess I just Thought Puzzles were Generally a Waste of Time.

[ He would Step Closer to Happy and Place His Hand over Top the Hand That Held the Key. ]

*…But They’re One of the Few Things I have Patience for Now.

[ Acting as a Guide, He would Gently Manipulate Happy’s Hand into Steadily Moving the Key into Place and Turning the Lock. ]

*…I Mean, I Guess They’re Still Time Wasters… but… They Keep You Sharp When You’ve got Nothing Better to do.

*…

*But- You Guys Knew This Place was gonna go out?

* My stuff….?

He had a brief moment of forgetting what even the other room contained before he gasped and went “Ah.” His stuff!

* Oh my stuff…!

* I think I actually HAVE the key on me…

Sure enough he searches his person as they were walking back into the other room and finds a shiny little pink key … barely bloodied from being in the cloak he’s wearing for so long.

* Here we go!… Did we leave the book on the floor?

Happy was a little distracted from the the idea of leaving just yet knowing he had a bunch of stuff lying around JUST for him to rediscover… but on the topic of Snowdin he did briefly look away from the key to look at Corrupted and how uncomfortable he was about going back.

* It probably won’t be that much of a trouble to get through now that I’m…. ME….. now…

*…Ah, it’s just a little… Well…

*…

*Well, We’ll See How it is Once We get There. Don’t Worry About Making Any Shortcuts.

[ He would Shake His Head a little, Dismissing His Previous Thoughts. Looking to the Key, He’d Suppose He Made the Right Call on going to the Body First. No Time Wasted on Looking for a Key They wouldn’t Find. ]

*Anyway, I do Believe We Left the Book on the Ground Right in Front of the Archway… it should be the First Thing We See.

*…It really is a Miracle How Well You and Your Belongings were Preserved, Dear.

*Isn’t it Exciting?

*Maybe Now You could Tell me Why They Decided to put Something like a Puzzle Book on Display.

* AHaha- wow…! [sniff] Look at that….!

* ….. It’s nice to see you so cheery too, honey!

He leaned in a gave Corrupted a little nuzzle on the nose before he moved away from his face, a bit of the

…. draft…?

It’s a little chilly for Happy again. Not unbearably chilly but… He had full body shivered just then.

* ….. I almost forgot where we were. Not exactly a romantic date in a tomb, huh pal…?

* Man… where do I even begin…? Where do we even begin….

*Ah… Right…

[ Time to Rein it in and Remember You are Next to a Bloody Coffin. He would End up Looking Back to Where the Body was Before for a Long, Quiet Moment, Then Look Back to the Happy. ]

*…Well… We could Start by getting out of Here…

*…Your Stuff is Still in the Next Room… We could Look for the Key to Your Journal… See if There's Anything else You Might Want or Need from This Place... and Then…

[ He would Begin to Slowly Lead Them out of the Room from Whence They Came in from. ]

*…And Then… Ah… go Somewhere Random… I Guess…

*...Or at least, going Anywhere but Snowdin would be Preferable, I Think.

*Though I Figure We have to go Through Snowdin to get Anywhere Anyway...

[ His Nose would Crinkle a bit at the Idea. ]