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"And here you can see, the wild human in a foreign habitat..."
Though safely protected by the wall, Asriel still flinched back as the monstrous figure prowled the golden oak floors on all fours: it's sharpened teeth bared and it's shaggy hair swaying with it's wobbling movements.
"—Just look at the damage done by this fantastic beast. The raw power coming from it's talons and fangs cannot be bested! Not even by—!"
"ASRIEL!"
The camera jolted violently in the air, capturing blurry images of claw marks etched into the floor before crashing to the ground. The screen cut to black.
Rolling her sleeves up tightly, Toriel growled, her nostrils flaring, "Could you please stop playing around with that camera and help me wrangle up your sibling?"
Timidly, Asriel nodded, scuttling behind her.
After winding up her arms, Toriel took her stance and squared her shoulders, eyes laser-focused, "Alright, Kris... it's just you and me."
The human snarled at their goat-mum, creeping back and forth against the walls.
"They're about to pounce. When they do, run over to the bathroom door and be prepared to shut it."
Asriel puffed out his chest and bravely nodded, "Hmm! I can do that."
Tutting, Toriel wagged her fingers, "Dear, I'm not asking if you can."
Paw out, fingers ready to catch, she grunted, "Ready?"
"Ready."
The beast lunged, their own after-image flashing through the air like lightning. Toriel braced herself and successfully caught them despite the slight push. She gripped the human's wrists tightly and pulled her head away, teeth just about scathing her face.
As Asriel flung the door open, Toriel took both of their wrists in one paw and hurled the child in the air.
"Batter up!"
Once they blipped past him, Asriel slammed the door shut. After locking the door, he pushed his weight against it to hold the door shut, as his human sibling bashed against the other side.
Toriel winced, "Come on, hang in there, Asriel!"
Slowly, she edged forward. With each step she took, the banging of the door got louder — more forceful. However, she knew there wasn't much need for worry. Kris would spend their energy quickly in this feral form, and it would only be a few minutes before they gave up to exhaustion. She only hoped Asriel could hold out.
The heavy pounding dwindling; Asriel's ears perked happily. He relaxed. "Hey, they've quietened down!"
No... This was way too early for Kris to give in!
Toriel rushed to the door, arm outward, but it was too late. The door burst open, sending Asriel flying and Kris crashing into her.
Though fallen, Toriel managed to catch Kris in a tight hug. As her child snarled, she sweetly smiled at their devilment. Sure, her child was kicking and biting her like a chew toy — but she could take it pretty well. Besides, Kris always got hurt and scratched up the most at the end of the day. These weekly duels (duals) weren't all that bad. Spontaneous: yes, but fun all the same.
Even if Kris glowered as she nursed their cuts, there was a certainty in Toriel that told her they'd both laugh about it as she did now in a couple years.
Still wrangling Kris, Toriel hauled herself back up and over to the bath. It was still somehow bubbling over and frothing, as though alive, but Toriel didn't really mind; a lovely strawberry scent was wafting upwards, one that came from the multitude of pink bath bombs thrown in by Asriel.
Now dunked in the bath, Kris'(s) abundant energy had dissipated into the warm waters. Though calmed, a grumpy expression remained as their little head bopped up and down. Toriel began massaging their scalp with soapy hands.
Toriel spoke, trying to spark some conversation with the tactiturn soul, "You're very catty, Kris. Do you know that?"
"..." No response. Not unusual.
"If you gave it a chance, I'm sure you and Catti would be great friends.", she chuckled at her small joke. Maybe she'd inquire Mr and Mrs Catteinheimer on how they got the girls in the bath, she thought. Maybe she'd let the cat family come over; maybe Kris and Catti would talk over their shared hatred of bath-times; maybe Kris would make a friend.
What wishful thinking that was. With a soft sigh, Toriel ignored such a thought, going on to fervently scrub Kris' arms with the sponge, doing her best to be gentle in the areas where they were bruised. She didn't fail to notice how their small hands clenched.
Toriel could sense the guilt hanging over their face. So, before Kris could say sorry, she spoke, "It's okay, my child."
The tips of the human's ears reddened, and their expression shifted, "...I didn't mean to hurt you.", they said softly.
Toriel smiled, "Kris, you don't pick a fight with someone without meaning to hurt them."
Kris' head drooped. They both knew she was right.
Kris was expecting a lecture. For Toriel to scold them, but they were always disapointed when she didn't. Why didn't she get angry at them? Well, she did; but any anger came off as playful and sportive.
Every time — whether Kris refused to eat, stayed up in their room all day, destroyed their room in a day, flush bath bombs down the toilet, scare Asriel constantly, occasionally go rabid — Toriel returned their unchecked and inordinate display of emotions with a facetious remark.
This time was no different.
Toriel laughed and shook Kris' hair. "There's no need to make such a face!", her voice softened, "If I may have a say, I believe that the problem is that you weren't thinking about me. You weren't thinking about who you would hurt or not at all. "
Kris' head sunk, ashamed, "..."
"I'm not trying to insult you, Kris, but when you're angry or sad, it's easy to forget that your actions matter to others. I will not get mad at you for that. Even if I do not understand your feelings, the way you act is... familiar to me."
She smiled at Kris once more. Even if people seemed happy, you could always see a glimmer of annoyance or irritation in their eyes, but in Toriel? No. It was weirdly absent.
Kris winced as the soap stung their cuts.
Toriel saw, somewhat saddened, "It stings, doesn't it?"
"..."
"Don't worry, I'll patch you up once you've been dried off."
Kris opened their eyes: curiosity glimmering in the crimson, "...Why are you so nice?"
Toriel contemplated. A rather odd question to ask.
She only laughed, "Does that upset you? Would you rather I be angry?"
"..."
Placing a paw on her hip, she sighed, "As long as you haven't killed anyone, I have no real reason to get angry at you, dear. To be honest, your little excursions are quite amusing!"
Really? Amusing...?
Toriel started humming to herself. The small human took a peek, watching as Toriel reached her hand to pull out the plug. As the melody escaped her lips, Kris could feel its warmth wrapping around them. They felt lighter. Toriel reached for a towel, and started to dry Kris, gently patting against the human's skin. As she did, Asriel came in quietly, placing a fresh set of clothes next to Toriel, who acknowledged with a smile. As he left, Asriel would glance at his sibling, a nervous smile forming as he realised Kris was staring back. Although, any smile was enough for Kris.
It was still absurd. All of that trouble and Kris was just... amusing to her. She couldn't be serious, right? Did Toriel really believe that the human was capable of killing?
Hopefully, it was a joke — because Kris would never kill family,
...or so they thought.