Chapter Text
Life can get boring sometimes.
One thing's for sure though. ‘Sleeping’ upside down on the couch is not a viable way to amend this fact.
Unfortunately, when it comes to establishing officially bad ideas, I like to try before I buy.
As the savvy consumer in this situation, I gave an experimental wriggle.
Pure.
Agony.
A soft groan slipped past my lips. The smallest admission of stupidity ever made.
Evidently. I am not yet ready for the more extreme forms of couch sitting.
"Fool," I whispered, glaring hazily at the upturned world. "You should have known better than to pick a fight with the couch."
In domestic disputes, the furniture always wins.
A lesson I now had to relearn the hard way.
I groaned again, louder and more despairingly as the full implications of my situation dawned on me.
It was one thing to get yourself into trouble. It was another, way less whimsical thing to get yourself out of it.
Dizzy from the amount of blood that had been confiscated from my toes, I considered the pros and cons of just giving up now.
...And ultimately decided that eternity really is just an excessive amount of time to spend stationary.
Using a combination of mad arm flailing and lip biting, I was eventually able to wrestle my legs from where they had hooked over the back of the couch.
Semi-liberated, I rolled over onto my stomach. Sliding to the floor and turtle crawling my way across the soft, grey rug.
Nobody escapes the couch with their dignity intact. Nobody.
My trailing feet hit the floor with a dull thud, signifying that all contact with the couch had been lost.
I deemed the mission... Not a success. But over.
"Good job me," I said. "Take a well-earned break."
All that lounging around nearly killed me.
Hence I remained collapsed, taking a moment to breathe in the carpet scent and come to terms with my existence.
Ready for another day, Ava?
The steady click of the ceiling fan above...inspired little to no enthusiasm.
Yeah.
Sure.
Why not.
In no particular rush to enjoy life, I spend a few more minutes procrastinating. Watching the light from my television play across the dark living room.
Maybe today will be the day I stop watching.
…
..
.
My gaze inevitably found its way to the television screen.
As it always does.
Channel one.
Undertale.
I stared at the screen, awed by the complexities of the multiverse.
Can't believe Alphys is eating instant noodles for breakfast.
Again.
Rolling onto my back, I devoted the entirety of my attention to the shy scientist’s morning ritual. That the image was presented in colour meant I was witnessing live events.
From the true timeline.
REALITY.
Eyes sliding closed, I breathed a sigh of relief.
It was the only thing to be heard, as the television was still muted from before I ‘dozed off.’
A bleak reminder of what had led to the ungracious couch-flopping scandal in the first place.
Previously in the life of Ava. The Gods of entertainment had decided that what the people really wanted from their free media is a genocide marathon.
Every single channel, playing black-and-white reruns of the worst possible timelines.
And if there's one thing I hate.
It's reruns.
…Still.
It would be rude to look away from all the death and despair that technically never happened.
Courtesy is why I'd spent an unknown amount of time flicking through the scenes of horror. Repeating the flat repetition of ‘seen it’ over and over until I was finally able to justify stopping.
Everyone has to sleep, right?
Sure, I rarely bother with the pretense, but it couldn’t hurt to practice.
Unless you’re stupid enough to Practice upside down on your couch.
Then you will know pain.
Grumbling, I rolled onto my feet. Wobbling a little while searching for the remote.
My television, while all-seeing, isn’t the most reliable news source. Mostly because it had a mind of its own.
I could flick between the forty-two channels freely, each one correlating to a universe, but whether a channel would show me a current scene from reality or something random from the unrealised possibilities was...
Well, you’d go insane sooner than learn how to control it.
Finally locating the most powerful object to ever run on batteries, I flipped through the channels.
Just... you know, in case something had gone horribly wrong in the multiverse. In which case I would need to bust out the emergency snacks and tissues.
So I could at least look affected.
Thankfully for my bleeding heart, this multiverse was a relatively peaceful place. Small but stable. Very exclusive and definitive.
The community was pretty friendly too.
Even after half of the universes discovered interdimensional travel and started interacting with each other, the drama was limited to only the occasional 'end of the world' scares.
Overall, a redeemable slice of existence.
Well worth the obsessive amount of effort I put into watching it. Keeping up with the latest news. Diving deep into the lore.
And out of pure habit, I clicked through the familiar scenes and faces one by one. Absent-mindedly greeting each universe while I reassured myself that everything was fine.
Good morning Undertale... Usual.
Good morning Underfell... No change.
Good morning Underswap...Same.
Good morning Swapfe- Eww, didn't need to see that... But since I'm already watchi- No, better give them some privacy...in three... Two... One.
And so on and so forth.
Some channels only had black-and-white to offer today, but it's whatever.
Besides appeasing my neurotic need to know, what I watched was of little consequence. Reality or possibility. Current or past. Pacifist or genocide.
I wouldn’t do anything more than watch.
Maybe speculate a little, but even that was rarely worth the effort.
"Understanding it won't help, " I continued through the channels. "It’s not what it seems. Souls determine everything. The origin is Undertale. Don’t think about it."
Don't progress.
It's too bad that watching stuff on the TV doesn't actually make you an expert on the subject. Otherwise, I’d be demanding some sort of qualification to hang on my wall.
I’d certainly put in the hours, studying my universal neighbours since the moment I spawned into existence.
Like a creep.
Who has no life.
I should probably just get a hobby.
...A respectful hobby.
At the very least, I should cut back on the time I spend invading the privacy of every other occupant in the multiverse.
At least then I’ll be able to say I tried.
To no o-
I caught myself a second too late, eyes narrowing at the image of Swap Sans on the screen.
I’d gone full circle without realising.
Sans was currently cooking breakfast, chatting animatedly with his brother. Who slouched at the table, relaxed and sneaking honey every time Sans’ back was turned.
It was peaceful.
A running theme in the multiverse, as almost every universe had long come to some kind of conclusion.
The events of the Underground were in the past, and though not every ending was kind, everyone was certainly at a point where they had a second chance.
To not be screwed over by me.
Resisting the urge to flick through all the channels again, I turned off the television.
Seeing myself in the reflection of the dead screen motivated me to get properly dressed and start my day.
Which was bound to be both fulfilling and productive.
Tossing the remote aside, I shuffled over to the part of the open living space designated as the kitchen.
Passing the untouched appliances, I leant over the table to tug open the blinds.
White light burst into the room, sharp and painfully artificial.
Constant.
My best guess was that the light came from the streetlamps lining the road outside. Even if the light didn’t always act like it.
Once my eyes adjusted, I set off to retrieve the various articles of clothing I had left strewn across the floor.
Some things are just easier to watch, the less you wear.
My hat was the closest, therefore the first contender for reapplication. Scooping it from the floor, I popped the bucket hat on with perhaps more enthusiasm than strictly necessary.
The large accessory was pretty much a safety hazard with how much of my vision it dominated.
But I like to think I'm stubborn enough to pull it off.
Tugging at the rim, I used the bright red material to centre myself in the here and now.
The here and now being very far away from everyone else.
For a good reason.
I was determined to not interfere. Even if that meant the only thing connecting me to the rest of existence was a sixty-five-inch high definition flat-screen TV.
But if the universe really wanted to make me feel better, I'd feel waaaay more connected to my fellow existees if I had a seventy inch...
No? Not going to randomly spawn me a bigger Television? Fine...See if I care...
...Could I at least get Pay TV?
A streaming service?
Fine. A Tamagotchi, and that's my final offer...
...It's like I'm talking to the wall here.
Sighing, I abandoned all efforts to bargain with the universe. Collecting one of my purple flip-flops on the way to the door.
Like the victim of a brutal crime, my raincoat lay crumpled in the doorway.
Only after intense training, had my eyes grown accustomed to the raincoat’s fluorescent yellow. Which clashed with... Well, every conceivable thing.
A relatable feeling.
Bravely defying the laws of fashion, I pulled the coat over my grey sweater. The coat being…we’ll say a few sizes too large.
Hanging shapelessly with its many buttons, straps and pockets. Covering the monochrome of my sweater and generic black pants as well as can be expected.
Now dressed in what could only be loosely termed as appropriate attire, all that was left to do was to track down the missing left flip-flop.
One half-hearted scan of the room later, I gave up. Opting to face the wilderness, single-shoed.
I look sexy with a limp.
Laying a hand on the doorknob, I took a deep breath. Held it.
Then swung the door open with as much enthusiasm as I could muster!
Forcing myself not to cringe at how the sound seemed to echo .
The street beyond was empty of life.
... If you didn't count grass, of course.
The grass here was ironically green.
Before the silence had a chance to make me feel uncomfortable, I started humming. Cheerfully, if not melodiously, as I descended the few steps at a hop.
Because breaking my back on the couch just wasn't dramatic enough.
All things considered, my universe was pretty nice.
A quaint little street, full of empty buildings. The sky, permanently black. No weather to speak of... not even a breeze really. The stilled air was crisp, pushing uncomfortably cold.
We even had a convenience store, located just down the street from my house. Practically next door.
Everything I could ever want, right at my fingertips. No consequences... except the guilt... that came with having everything I could ever want!
Still humming, I strolled into the small shop in search of sustenance.
Like sleeping, eating was a choice. Made most often out of boredom.
Still, it couldn’t hurt to practice. In the name of breakfast, I plucked an ice cream from the freezer. Selected for its smooth texture and pleasant temperature.
Having good taste is something I'm still working on.
With the first meal of the day acquired, I made my way out of the shop. Grabbing a newspaper and tucking it under arm as I swung open the door.
And was greeted, once again, with silence.
Unwrapping the ice cream, I made my way down the street.
It was as I was doing this... that an interdimensional portal opened in the middle of the sidewalk.
Coming to an abrupt stop, I paused to study the swirling gateway of light before me.
There was no denying it.
This...
Just reeks of desperation.
"Heavy-handed," I said, rolling my eyes at the universe before sidestepping the portal altogether. "Unoriginal and my suspension of disbelief has never been so dropped. I give this inciting incident two out of ten. Mostly out of pity."
And that's the end of that adventure.
I continued my travels, abandoning the gateway fated to lead me into the unknown without a second glance.
Not today.
Stuffing my free hand into a pocket, I brought the ice cream to my mouth. Humming into the ice-creamy goodness.
Part of me was disappointed.
That the universe wasn't even trying to be subtle anymore.
More and more lately, it would try to provoke or entice me. Paying little mind to the laws of basic reality as it tried to force me into some sort of continuation.
But I refused.
By the time I finished my ice cream, I'd arrived at my destination.
Nothing fancy, just the park at the end of the street and/or universe.
Walking through it, you'll eventually reach the point where the lush green lawn, for lack of a better word, ends.
Shattering off from existence.
Which is my favourite place to balance precariously, peering over the edge.
At the entirety of everything.
While the sky here was infinitely black, the void below was full of pseudo-stars.
Universes nestled together in a mimicry of galaxies and dust. Here and there, a spectacular burst of colour. True realities outshining the pale possibilities.
This is what the multiverse looks like from the outside.
Down is in, and up is out.
My own, tiny little universe, no bigger than a neighbourhood. Clinging to the edge of the multiverse.
After dumping what remained of my breakfast into the park bin, I sat myself in my usual spot. Legs swinging off into nothingness.
"The space that doesn’t exist between worlds is the Void," I recited under my breath, mostly to break the silence. “It's not that interesting. Don’t think about it.”
Pulling out the procured newspaper, I started separating the individual sheets and folding them into paper planes.
A challenge, given the paper's flimsy nature, but one I was far too willing to subject myself to.
Anything to keep myself preoccupied.
Completing the paper plane, I gave it a criticising look before shrugging.
And propelling it out into the Void.
I couldn’t read it anyway.