"Really I'm fine-"

"Absolutely not! There will be no buts, we're going tonight!"

"I-"

"Clover, I'm going to make up for the past few days, you-I can't even think of anything to say! I didn't even realize you were feeling so awful... I... I'm just... I really don't even know what to say here. You can spend the night over at The Wild East, and I'll be there to pick you up after work. You deserve it, alright!?"

"...Okay."

"Wait-wait, no, are you just going along with this because it's what I want you to do?"

"...M-maybe...?"

"Urghhh-Clover... I, I apologize. I just want you to feel better and... I know you love it over there. But you don't need to go if you don't want to... Do you want to stay the night? It's no problem for me to take you, it really isn't."

"...M'kay, I'd..." Clover paused for a moment as he stared into Martlet's worried eyes. "I'd love to."

...

tap tap tap

"Hello?"

Martlet knocked on the doors a few more times. It was pretty late... Maybe Ceroba was asleep...?

"...Hello?"

The doors very slowly creaked open, Ceroba stared bewildered at the pair at her door. "What are you doing over so... Late?"

"Heh... You said feel free to come over any time... Right?"

"Yes but... I didn't think you'd come... Immediately. Is something wrong?"

"You... Could say that. Would it be alright if Clover spent the night here...?"

"P-pardon?"

"Clover, are you alright with me explaining?"

Clover tilted his head up at Martlet somewhat confused. Why did they need to ask permission for something like that?

"Yeah, sure."

"Hold on, why don't you two come inside first? I'm sure it's cold out..."

"Oh, thank you." Martlet nodded and stepped inside beckoning for Clover to follow after her.

"Now, what were you here for? Did something happen, or?"

"You could say that... Clover..." Martlet put an emphasis on her next spoken word. "I, messed up, and Clover thought it was his fault. I figured I'd make it up to them by taking them over to see their friends... But I guess I didn't really think it all the way through. You weren't expecting guests were you...?"

"Hmm... No. But I suppose I could accommodate." Ceroba smiled after a moment.

"Great! Thank you so much, really. I'll be here to pick Clover up at around seven. Oh and, right, Clover recovered a lot of their memories a few days ago... They know they're human, among other things. So no need to tiptoe around them or anything. Really though, thanks Ceroba!"

Martlet patted Clover on the head as she slipped back out of the door, just before closing it she waved and said her final piece. "Be good Clover, see you tomorrow!"

"...I don't suppose you've had dinner?"

"No ma'am." Clover admitted.

"Call me Mrs. Ketsukane. Oh, and we have leftovers. I made dinner about an hour ago."

"Oh, thank you kindly Mrs. Ketsukane."

"Mom? Who was at the door?" Clover heard a distant voice call out. He figured they were probably in the kitchen given they weren't too far away...

"A friend of mine sweetie! There's somebody I'd like to introduce you to!" Ceroba yelled right back before once again turning her attention to Clover.

"I'm sure you wouldn't mind keeping my daughter company for now? They've had to stay in the house for a while now."

"O'course not, why's that though?"

"Oh... Well..."

"Mom? Oh, uh-who is that?"

"Kanako, this is Clover, they..." Ceroba paused thoughtfully. "They're my friends child. Why don't you two get to know each other? I'll finish the dishes myself."

"Mom there's barely anything left, why don't we just finish it off together-"

"Kanako, it's fine. Besides, I'm sure you and Clover..." That pause was a lot more suspicious as far as Clover was concerned. She seemed to be searching for the right words. "Have a lot... In common."

"But... Fine, fine, alright." Kanako made a pouty face, which to Clover looked kind of cute. Imagine somebody giving you puppy dog eyes while at the same time puffing out their cheeks. Except they're an anthropomorphic fox so they look all fuzzy.

"I'll let you two know when the dishes are done, then Clover can have some of the left overs. Unless you're hungry now?" Ceroba gave her best smile to the kid, but he only shook his head.

"No Mrs. Ketsukane, I'm fine. I had a big lunch."

Ceroba nodded, all the while still wearing that smile that felt very forced to Clover. "You two have fun."

"Hmmmm." Kanako was very suddenly up in Clover's face. She must've slipped into Clover's personal bubble while he wasn't paying attention.

"Scuse you." Clover took a step back.

"Hey, where do I know you from? It feels like I've met you before..."

"I think we saw each other for a bit a few days ago? You seemed pretty out of it though."

"...Really? You just... Sort of feel more familiar than that. Are you sure we haven't met before then...?"

"Pretty certain." Clover deadpanned.

"Ah well, guess I was just happy to see something that finally felt familiar." Kanako sighed as she took a few steps back. "Well, mom's giving me no room to negotiate, so wanna come up to my room?" She smiled and whirled around, taking step after slow step towards the hallway.

"Sure, why not?"

"Great! Last one up the stairs is a rotten egg!"

"Pardon?"

She had already started running, laughing cheerily the whole way.

"...W-wait up!"

...

Deja vu... Clover had been here before multiple times now, who woulda thunk it?

"That wasn't fair..."

"Aw lighten up... What was your name again?"

"You just heard it two minutes ago!"

"I'm sorry! I just... I wasn't really paying attention. Tell you what, answer that question and another one... And you're NOT a rotten egg, good deal right?"

Clover sighed and readjusted his hat. "Clover, m'names Clover."

"Okay, thank you! Now, Clover, sorry about forgetting your name and everything, but uhm... Wanna be friends? I haven't really gotten to go anywhere ever since I woke up and well... Things get a little boring when you're cooped up inside all day long."

"...Woke up?"

"Yeah, mom says that we did something really dumb and I... Fell down...? I mean, I'm up, somehow, but she's not really all that convinced that I'm actually alright. I'm probably not to be fair... Wait a minute! You didn't answer the question!" She (half) faked a gasp and pointed an accusatory digit at Clover.

"Hm? About bein your friend?"

"Yeah!"

Clover thought about it for a moment. "I don't really think you want to be my friend to be honest, I've been told I can be pretty difficult to get along with before."

He... Hadn't been told that in the Underground, but he knew he'd been told that pretty frequently up on the surface. It was actually one of the few things he clearly remembered from up on the surface after he'd gotten a pretty good portion of his memories back. Which was unfortunate, there were probably better things to remember than knowing you were generally hated.

"W... Wha...? So you... Don't wanna be friends...?"

"Mmm, that's not what I said." Clover hastily corrected the assumption.

"Well then what do you mean...?"

"Just, for your sake, you might not want to be friends with me...?" Oh god what do I mean?

"I..." Clover blinked a few times. "Nevermind, I apologize. I don't quite know what came over me there. I'd love to be friends."

"Oh-uh, okay!" Kanako smiled a little nervously. "Then, as an official friend of yours, I declare you no longer a rotten egg!"

Clover smirked and reached for his hat. "Thanks, partner." And he tipped it in conjunction with his words.

"So, now that we're friends, can you tell me about stuff outside of The Dunes? I don't... Really remember much about it."

"...Pardon?" Clover felt a little uneasy with what Kanako had just said.

"Could you tell me about other stuff in the Underground?"

"No, no, that last bit."

"...I don't remember much?"

"Mhm, whaddya mean by that?" Clover tilted his head with concern, this very suddenly sounded rather upsetting.

"I uh... It's difficult for me to remember things that happened before my accident. I mean, I can get a vague idea of stuff I've seen before but... It's always... Blurry, you know?"

Had she asked that question to, literally anybody else within miles, the truthful answer would've been "no". Luckily for Kanako, she asked the one singular monster who could currently relate.

"...Oh dear, well if that ain't the darnedest coincidence."

"...Huh?"

"Funny story... I myself had a pretty bad accident bout a week back from now. And... Wouldn't ya know it? I lost my memory too."

Clover almost couldn't believe that coincidences like this existed in the world. Two kids, who both had serious accidents, developing amnesia from their respective accidents...

"Seriously?" Kanako's gaze shifted to something bordering on disbelief, yet also sort of adjacent to... Relief...?

"No, I'm just joking with ya-of course!" Clover lightly punched Kanako in the arm, it was of course in good humor, so it did absolutely no damage.

Kanako rubbed at her arm for a bit before... Smiling? Huh, not the reaction Clover would've expected. That led Clover to question why he'd made a joke in the first place if he thought it would only upset her but... It was sort of just a spur of the moment thing.

"Honestly? I'm not sure if this is mean but, it's sort of nice to know I'm not the only monster having a problem like this. But that does leave me with another question... Have you managed to remember anything...?"

Clover nodded, he didn't take any offense. He'd done his best to avoid thinking about it in the first few days of his being an amnesiac, but he couldn't deny that it sucked pretty bad. Having another person around who was going through the same thing would've probably made it a bit easier to deal with.

"Mhm, it's been slow progress but I've been remembering stuff every day. I'm sure you'll have no issue remembering stuff."

Kanako sighed and flopped over onto her bed. "Thanks, I guess. It's just tough you know?"

"Yeah, I get it." Clover shrugged casually. He really did get it, even if he hadn't been quite so... Down about it.

"Well... Could you still tell me about the Underground?"

"Don't see why not? Though I'll have to warn you, my own experience is pretty limited. You know, I only have some of my own memories back and all." Clover kind of sort of lied, because at this point he did remember all his time spent in the Underground, he just hadn't seen a lot of it. Well, he remembered what exactly he did in the Underground, just not exactly why he did it...

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"Oh, right, since you have amnesia, maybe you met me before and didn't realize it? So that's why you felt so familiar?"

"Mmm, maybe... Maybe. Well, how about I get to telling you about the Underground? I know all about Snowdin and Waterfall, guarantee it on a cowboy's honor."

...

Clover would say he was in fact, quite good at articulating for his age. For a ten year old child, he was pretty good at describing stuff. In fact, he was pretty sure he was a lot better at stuff in general when compared to most ten year old children. He had to wonder if his life up on the surface was all bad if he was this good at so much stuff, maybe it wasn't quite as awful as he initially thought? Regardless of that, he wouldn't really know for sure until he remembered it. Regardless, regardless of all of that, these skills served him quite well in his current task.

"I don't think even a perfect sunrise up on the surface could even begin to compare to the natural beauty of Waterfall. It's such a wonderfully beautiful place that I don't think much at all could even hope to contest it. The atmosphere blends together with the ambiance in a perfect mix of serenity. I doubt there's many a place on this entire planet that could even hope to contest Waterfall in any meaningful way."

"Wow Clover, you make it sound like a really nice place. Maybe when my mom is a bit less uptight and lets me out, you could show me around the place yourself?"

"I'd love to Kanako, any excuse to take a trip through Waterfall is good for me. Well, unless it conflicted with m'duties."

"Your... Duties?" Kanako tilted her head at Clover.

"Yeah, y'know, sometimes the world needs its heroes. A cowboy's gotta do what a cowboy's gotta do."

Kanako snrrked at Clover's words, she then proceeded to try and hold back a much more... Vibrant laugh.

"You know, you laugh now, but I'm just saying when shit hits the fan, I'll be there to clean it up."

"Right, right, how old even are you Clover?" Kanako managed to stuff the overpowering urge to laugh down, for the moment.

"Ten, I'm a respectable ten years old." Clover smiled evenly.

She just stared. Kanako didn't even feel like laughing at that, she just... Hadn't expected that answer at all.

"I... Huh. I guess I at least expected you to be a bit older than me with the way you talk."

"Really now? How old even are you?" Clover tilted his head at his friend.

"I'm... Uh... Eleven...? Yeah, I'm eleven." Kanako hesitated at first, but when she said it the second time it was with much more feeling. Though she did add more onto that a few moments later.

"Although... Not for... Long? I think? Yeah, my birthday was a few weeks before... Before..." Whereas Kanako had been lying down this whole time side by side with Clover, she now sat up in the makings of a cold sweat. "N-nevermind... Just... My birthday was a few weeks ago."

"Is everything alright?" Clover sat up in tandem with Kanako, slightly leaning to the side to get a good look into her eyes. "You look pale, and you're a monster with fur."

"Y-yeah, I'm fine... I'm fine... Uh-Clover, when's your birthday?" She tried to switch the subject.

"Mine? Mmm, haven't really thought about it. Gimme a sec." Clover crossed his legs and gave it a sec. He hadn't really ever given much thought to his birthdays, neither had anybody else in his life to be fair, so could you really blame him? They were just sort of passing events, a not very important day he kept a haphazard track of. So, the question took him a bit more than a "sec".

"Clover?"

"Cl-"

"Ah, got it, my next birthday is... In a few weeks I think?"

"Oh, so you're almost eleven? Guess I'm not that much older than you then."

"Yeah... I think it's on the uh, twenty first?"

Kanako nodded thoughtfully. "Well, that's interesting. But would you mind telling me some more about Waterfall?"

"Sure, why not? I hear it's a pretty popular spot f-"

"Clover! Your dinner is ready!"

"Ah, never mind then. I haven't eaten for awhile now-do you mind?" Clover was on his way to walk out of the door, only to turn when he felt a pull at his shirt.

"Take me with yoooooouuuu~" Kanako joked with a wide smile on her face as she laid out half way off the bed, little did she know Clover was not the monster to make that joke with.

"If you say so." He said with a far more... Malicious smile.

"Wait, wha? C-CLOVER!"

...

"What in the world are you two doing?" Ceroba stared incredulously at the pair of children. One of whom was being held over the others shoulder.

"She said, and I quote "take me with yoooooouuuu~", I'm just doing what she asked of me."

"I'm just surprised he can actually... Carry me around like this." Kanako admitted with a healthy dose of shock in her voice.

"Well... Good to see you two are getting along but... Clover, would you please put Kanako down?" Ceroba continued her stare down.

"Well, sure thing Mrs. Ketsukane." Clover obliged, and as gently as he could, he set Kanako down.

The first thing she did to repay him? Kanako lightly, very, very lightly, elbowed Clover.

"You jerk."

Though, she very, very clearly, was not serious given she was struggling to hold in yet another laugh of epic proportions.

"Dinner is on the table, after that, we can talk sleeping arrangements? Kanako, would you mind giving me a moment of your time? I'm sure your new friend is perfectly willing to wait a little."

Clover nodded in affirmation. Kanako seemed a bit hesitant, but she nodded as well.

"Wonderful. Clover, I wish you a pleasant dinner."

"Thank you Mrs. Ketsukane."

...

Clover hadn't even attempted to eavesdrop, that would be rather rude. Cowboys were always appreciative of their hosts, it wouldn't do to be snooping around without permission. For the record, dinner was apparently some form of... Clover wanted to say Casserole? It wasn't like anything that he recalled tasting before, but it wasn't bad either. He'd have to ask for the recipe later if Ceroba was willing to share.

After all was eaten and done, the group once again reconvened. This time to talk sleeping.

"I suppose I wouldn't mind if you were to sleep in my room, but I'm not sure if you would be comfortable with such an arrangement given I wouldn't be leaving either. So I suppose you have two options here, you may either take the couch here downstairs, or you may choose to sleep in my room." Ceroba finished off her long winded explanation with the only part that mattered, so the previous bits were simply ignored.

"...Couldn't he also sleep in my room?" Kanako innocently added on a moment later.

"I... I suppose so, if you're fine with it." Ceroba mused. "Well, at the end of the day it is your choice Clover."

Truth be told, Clover didn't particularly fancy the couch. He didn't have anything against Ceroba, but he didn't really know much about her either. And given she was almost always fake... In some way or another, Clover felt more inclined towards his newly presented third option. Kanako had, as far as he could tell, been far more genuine in her actions. Plus there was that mutual understanding of each other's sense of humor, that was something that did not often click for Clover as far as he was aware.

"If you're fine with it Kanako, I'd prefer to sleep with you?"

"Sure! I mean, I just offered didn't I?"

"Oh, I thought you meant..." Ceroba started, but immediately trailed off. "Nevermind, I suppose it does not matter. Well, if that is settled, I suppose you two should be off to bed. It is rather late."

"Awww, do we have to...?" Kanako tried her best to will her mother into submission via her well trained puppy dog eyes, but she was met with a wall of figurative stone.

"Yes."

"Well, not much combating that, hm?" Clover smirked a bit in stark contrast to Kanako's pouty face, but he didn't let either face linger.

"Come on, off to bed, sooner you're up sooner you can do more things right?" Clover nodded his head in Kanako's direction, beckoning for her to follow him.

"Yeah, yeah. You're right, you're right."

"Sleep tight you two, try not to stay up too late!" Ceroba called up the stairs. She'd initially thought Kanako was offering up her room, not that she had meant to share it, but as long as they didn't end up staying up too late chatting she figured it would be fine.

...

Clover had grown somewhat accustomed to sleeping without his shirt on at this point, It ended up leaving his feathers ruffled in the mornings if he was wearing a shirt, and he didn't much like that. For some reason that hadn't been the norm for him in the past? It just felt more comfortable to not wear his shirt, was that because he was a monster now or was there some other complication when he was human? He couldn't really be sure. Regardless of that, they took off their shirt and slipped into bed.

The bed was large, so there was plenty of space for both of them. Given they were, you know, both small children. If all went well, Clover would've been able to fall asleep in a matter of minutes! The thing was... He didn't want to say leagues better than Martlet's own work, but hey! Credit due where credit's due! It was a... Pretty nice bed.

Of course, the one issue was a simple matter.

"Psst, Clover."

He knew he shouldn't respond, he really knew he shouldn't... Buuuuuut...

"Yes?"

"Are you actually tired?"

"Yes Kanako."

"You don't sound very tired."

"That's because cowboys are always ready to act at a moments notice."

"Are you sure that's not just because you aren't tired?"

"Kanako please."

"Aw c'mon Clover! I really felt like I was close to something when you were talking about Waterfall, are you sure you couldn't just... Do a little more talking...?"

"I really shouldn't..."

"Pleeeeeeeease?"

He knew she was doing puppy dog eyes without even looking at her, and tragically, despite not even looking at them, he was still done in by them.

"...Fine."

It was going to be a long night.