#auphyne

Author's note (Not included in the final word count): A bit of this is based of my experience with a diagnosis (at 12), but most is made up.

[Undyne's POV.]

"Y-you want m-me t-to open it? Why?"

"Just do it," Undyne sighed, half-lying on the dining table. Alphys peeled open the envelope, pulling out the report and flipping through the first few pages of medical history and details of assorted questionnaires completed. Nothing there they didn't already know.

The only sounds in the room were the rustling of paper and Undyne stimming by scratching idly at the table with the sharp nails of her outstretched arm. It was cool against her clamped fin. She had given up on easing the growing tension consuming her whole body.

She also felt exhausted at the same time, having barely slept the previous night. Her eyepatch had been discarded and her makeup removed a while ago, exposing dark circles. If it were anyone else, they probably would've waited to do this at a better time.

But the uncertainty between the actual assessment and today had Undyne sick with stress whenever she wasn't kept distracted and kept her up for longer at night. She was prodrome for a migraine, no doubt caused by that.

[Alphys's POV.]

Clearing her throat, Alphys read a section from the paper, "A-alright, s-so the report s-says that 'According t-to the c-careful review of our psyciatric team, we b-believe that the p-patient meets the diagnostic criteria for ASD' w-which is j-just a fancy way o-of saying that y-you're autistic. They a-also want to do an ADHD assessment."

A somewhat lazy glance up from the table told Alphys that Undyne was half-listening to her at best. She wondered what Undyne was thinking about. Just because they were both neurodivergent didn't mean they could read each other's minds.

Was she relieved to have answers? Or was there another factor? Maybe she just needed time to fully process this due to her alexithymia.

[Undyne's POV.]

Undyne sighed and pressed her face harder into the table. In some ways, she felt lighter, a weight having been removed from her shoulders. In other ways, the information felt redundant. Alphys had already told her this.

God, what would Matina think? No doubt she would claim it didn't matter if she trained more...

...Why was one of her first thoughts about what her ex-boss would think?

Another strange feeling was emptiness. As if the stress had been physically siphoned out of her and left her hollow. And, despite feeling lighter, her body felt heavier, like the fatigue after a strenuous workout, the exhaustion from shitty sleep finally hitting her.

"L-let's read the suggestions." Moving her chair closer, Alphys ran her fingers through Undyne's hair.

"Can we do this later?" Undyne yawned, "Not running on much sleep here."

"Want me t-to put s-something on in the background while y-you rest?"