Her Majesty

Chapter XXI - Selfless act

Undyne froze, her heart feeling like it stopped within her chest, and she was moments from passing out. She swallowed, thinking that she probably was just hearing what she wanted, and that what she heard was merely a sleepy sound from Alices, and she was overreacting to nothing.

So she stayed quiet.

Until she felt Alices's fingers curl around her thigh tighter, though she buried her face deeper into her own arm.

"Yes, Undyne," she repeated softly.

Undyne felt her heart start beating again, so hard she felt it everywhere. "Alice," she whispered, leaning down and placing a hand on the top of Alices's head.

Alices opened her eyes and looked up at her, and she said, "Listen, I... think I tricked you? When I said..."

Alices smiled up at her, sitting up and placing a hand over her mouth gently. Undyne's eye softened, and Alices said, "I know what you said. And I still say yes, Undyne."

She let her hand drop, and Undyne grabbed her right away, pulling her into her lap and holding her tight, burying her face into Alices's neck. Alices closed her eyes and rested her cheek against Undyne's head, reaching up and stroking her hair slowly.

"I want to be with you forever," Undyne whispered, her voice choked. "I know it's corny, and stupid, and sappy, but I don't f*****g care, Alice. Please... please..."

"Undyne," Alices replied gently. "Do you see me going anywhere? I'm on your lap, naked, and holding you, in a hotel owned by humans, on the surface." She giggled shyly. "I'm pretty sure I'm not going anywhere, unless you want me to--,"

Undyne had grabbed onto her tighter before she even finished that sentence, making her squeak but laugh again.

Then, to her surprise, she heard Undyne start crying.

"No," Alices whispered, dismayed, She held Undyne closer, kissing her cheek several times and stroking her hair away from her face. "N-no, I'm sorry, d-don't cry..."

"Alice," Undyne whispered, her voice choked. "I'm crying because I'm so happy, and I don't know how else to emote, okay?"

Alices nodded, still kissing her gently and petting her hair. "O-okay," she agreed.

"Th-the last thing I want," Undyne said softly, "is you going anywhere. Please, Alice. Stay. It won't be easy, I know I'm being selfish, but..."

"Shh," Alices answered kindly. "I know it, too, and I'm still here. I want to be here. With you. There's nowhere else I want to be."

Undyne inhaled sharply, her next breath a sob, and she clung onto Alices tighter, keeping her pressed right against her. Alices curled up closer and closed her eyes, loving the feel of this and hoping it would never end.

Or if it had to, at least come back again, later. And more than once.

"I need you," Undyne admitted. Alices shook her head, but Undyne nodded. "I do, Alice. I need you because you're supportive, and you're smart, and you... you calm me down when I want to be anything but calm... and... and I..." Undyne kissed Alices's shoulder. "I love you so much."

Alices closed her eyes again, letting those words seep into her at last. Before, she'd cynically wondered if Undyne said those words in the haze of passion.

Now... now she knew better. Much better.

"Undyne," she whispered. "I love you more than I can even prove."

Undyne raised her head, and their eyes met. Undyne's was teary, but its green colour glinted. "Try me," she replied, smiling a little.

Alices's eyes lit up, and she, too, smiled. She leaned close and kissed her, deeply, and Undyne took hold of her and returned it, moving to lie down on the bed - and bringing Alices with her.

After, they fell asleep for real, finally exhausted and unable to resist sleep any longer. They had barely caught their breath before they dropped off, Alices first, then Undyne, both curled up against each other like two cats sharing a sunbeam.

They only woke up once when Alices sleepily replied to Mettaton's text, before falling back asleep in Undyne's embrace.

When they woke up next, it was to both of their phones chiming at once, startling both awake. Undyne grabbed her phone and threw it, but Alices picked hers up and sat up, hunching over it while yawning.

"It's L-Laurel," Alices reported, her voice small. "This is our half-hour warning." She lowered the phone and sighed, rubbing her eyes. "How l-long has it been?"

Undyne rolled over and picked her phone up from the floor, then checked it. "Mm... Since we got here? Four hours."

Alices nodded, though inside, her felt her nerves start to kick in, and she started shaking a little. "I guess... I-I guess th-they kn-know, now?"

Undyne sat up and hugged her from behind, kissing her shoulder gently. "Yeah," she agreed.

"What do you think wi-will happen, Undyne?" Alices wondered, leaning back and closing her eyes. "And, uh, d-do you w-want me to call you... uh, Queen Undyne, in public?"

"No," Undyne snarled at once. "f**k that. You call me Undyne, or whatever pet names you want, but that formal s**t is not on that list."

"Pet names?" Alices echoed, raising an eyebrow. "Like sweetie? Or honey? Or cupcake?"

Undyne went scarlet. "Yeah," she muttered. "I... I like that s**t, coming from you. Stop looking at me like that!"

Alices was grinning. "What about cutiepie? Or honeysuckle? Sweetums?"

"Alice!" Undyne growled, burying her now-scarlet face into Alices's neck. "Stop it!" Which, admittedly, wasn't a no to any of those names.

"Alright. But only because we need to plan what we're going to do, next," Alices replied, turning around to face Undyne, who was looking away with a red face, still.

"We get married," Undyne replied, looking mischievous as she said it. She grabbed Alices's hand between hers and squeezed it.

Alices felt her heart stutter a little, at the same time her stomach flooded with butterflies. "Undyne," she murmured. "C-can we focus? I-I mean, yes, b-but first, we need to plan what t-to do with the humans, not just us."

She smiled, though, which made Undyne feel giddy.

"What were you thinking, then?" Undyne wondered, silently filing away the 'yes' Alices had just given her so casually at the same time.

"Well, we get showered and dressed, to start," Alices replied with a faint blush. "Then we invite Laurel in, so she knows we trust her. We-we do, right?"

Undyne nodded. "Yeah. I trust her, right now. She has yet to give me reason not to."

"Same," Alices agreed. "She trusted us with her husband. Did you realise that?"

Undyne nodded again. "Yep."

"I think it's safe to trust her for now. But when it comes to everyone else...?" Alices winced. "I'm scared, Undyne."

Undyne touched her cheek gently - then paused, thinking about that for a moment. She hadn't hesitated, hadn't even thought about it - she'd just touched her. And Alices closed her eyes for a moment, leaning into her palm.

Undyne swallowed, feeling like she was dreaming for a moment.

"I'm scared, too," Undyne admitted softly. "But then I think about how far we've already come, and I feel better."

Alices opened her eyes and nodded.

"So I know we can do this."

Alices smiled. "You-you're right," she agreed, reaching up and touching Undyne's hand. "Okay. S-so, I'll shower first, then y-you--,"

She'd started getting up, grabbing her clothes from the floor with a slight blush, but Undyne stopped her. She blinked, and Undyne grinned, which made her giggle a little.

"You-you can come, too," she concluded.

Undyne leapt to her feet, grabbed Alices's hand, and dragged her towards the bathroom, both laughing as they did.

The shower wasn't all that different than what they were used to, save that it pumped through the pipes much faster and warmed up quicker, too. Both were impressed.

Alices hesitated at first, but once Undyne jumped in, she leaned back to wait her turn - only to be grabbed and pulled in after. This, she didn't mind - especially since Undyne had excellent ideas on how to share a shower, most of which had cleaning come later.

By the time they were finished and dressed again, they were both giddy and hungry, too, so they spent their last few minutes eating some leftover pizza and talking about pretty much nothing, smiling the whole time.

Was this what Asgore meant when he suggested Alices? Undyne wondered, gazing at the doctor fondly. Did he know how she felt about me? Did he know how she'd immediately support me, and do it well?

When I see him again - not if, but when - he's getting a huge hug for this.

Alices looked up, noticing Undyne's look and immediately looking back down again, going red. She then looked up again shyly, noticing that Undyne's expression hadn't changed.

"Wh-why are you l-looking at me like that?" she wondered softly.

Undyne smiled wider. "Because," she replied.

Alices opened her mouth to add to that, but was interrupted by a knock at the door. Both stared at it, edging closer to each other on instinct, grabbing the other's hand tight.

Then Undyne said, in a clear, loud voice, "Who is it?"

"Laurel," was the reply.

"Okay, Alice," Undyne whispered, squeezing her hand. "Ready?"

Alices swallowed hard, her eyes glinting with both fear and anticipation.

But she sat up, smoothed out her clothes, and nodded.

Undyne kissed her cheek gently, then got up and went to the door.

The moment that door opened, their nest would vanish. They both knew this, and knew it would likely be a while until they could rebuild it. But they also knew that the time spent in that nest would last, and keep them strong, regardless.

And they would need that strength - sooner than they'd ever expected, too.