Buttercups
It's only when Papyrus’ alarm goes off that you finally roll over and close your eyes. Sure, it maybe seems foolish to still pretend you're sleeping, even if Papyrus probably knows you aren't, but it's just habit at this point.
“SANS?” He asks quietly. “ARE YOU UP?”
You reply sleepily, “i'm pretty sure the whole house’ll be up soon if ya don't turn that off.”
“OH!” He says suddenly, reaching over to turn the alarm clock off. “SORRY…”
“it's ok.”
“WELL, SINCE YOU’RE UP…” He pauses, looking indecisive for a moment, “DO YOU WANT TO COME DOWNSTAIRS TO HELP MAKE BREAKFAST?”
Judging by the lack of violent noises emiting from Undyne’s room, you assume she’s sleeping in instead of helping with breakfast, so you agree. It'll give you something to do besides just laying here, if anything.
“sure.” You say, with as much enthusiasm as you can manage at this early in the morning.
“REALLY? WOWIE! COME ON SANS!”
He picks you up and starts to sprint downstairs. If he's this excited about cooking with you, you should be sure to do it more often.
Papyrus navigates the house in darkness, only turning the light of the kitchen on when you both reach it.
“I WAS GOING TO MAKE PANCAKES TODAY,” He says, putting you down, “SO I WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF THERE WAS A SEVERE LACK OF FOOD PUNS. PREFERABLY ZERO.”
“c’mon Paps!” You say exaggeratedly, “you're bacon my heart here.” You finish, winking at him.
“I AM JUST GOING TO PRETEND I DIDN’T HEAR THAT.” Papyrus says, turning to face the counter so you can't see the small smile forming on his face.
“okay, okay, fine. i'll try to keep the puns to a minimum.”
He starts to shuffle through the cabinets, presumably looking for ingredients. “I THOUGHT TORIEL MIGHT HAVE ONLY BEEN EXAGGERATING WHEN DHE SAID WE ONLY HAD PASTA SUPPLIES… SHE WASN’T.
“was she really eggxagerating?”
“YES SANS I JUST SAID- WAIT A MINUTE… WAS THAT A PUN?” He groans, “SERIOUSLY? SIGH, WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH YOU?”
“i don't know…” You say in a softer, smaller tone, creating a more somber mood.
Papyrus, noticing this, tries to pull you out of your thoughts. “WELL, I GUESS WE’LL JUST HAVE TO HAVE CEREAL. HOLD ON A MOMENT THOUGH…” He scoots over to the fridge and peers inside. “AH, WE DO HAVE FRUIT! YOU MIND GRABBING THE CEREAL AND BOWLS? I’M GOING TO PREPARE SOME DELICIOUS FRUIT TO GO WITH THE NOT SO DELICIOUS CEREAL!”
“sure thing Paps.” You say as you head over to the cabinets to do as he said.
Your height was never something that used to bother you, (besides when you were a lot younger) but now, it's just another thing that messed up with you. It's another thing you hate about yourself. Your weak, deformed body, that's nowhere near as perfect as Papyrus’ strong, normal looking stature. You don't really think about it as much as other… things… but when it becomes a problem, like being too short to even do one of the simplest tasks, you can't help but hate it.
Noticing your dilemma, Papyrus grabs a stack of seven bowls for you, causing you to look downwards in shame at being unable to do something so simple. Or at least, something that would be so simple if you didn't have the messed up body you have.
“OH, I’M SORRY! I FORGOT YOU COULDN’T REACH THAT! THIS IS WHY YOU NEED TO DRINK MORE MILK!” He scolds gently, and you give a weak chuckle, always amazed at Papyrus’ capability to turn your mind away from negative thoughts.
Papyrus starts to hum a cheery tune, grabbing a knife and and cutting board to start preparing the fruit. You grab the cereal from a lower cabinet, and start the mundane task of pouring it into the seven bowls Papyrus took down for you.
It's relatively short work, and you find yourself done before Papyrus has even made a dent in the strawberries he started to cut up.
Now, you normally wouldn't offer to do work, you are lazy after all, but you figure you could at least ask to help out. Papyrus definitely deserves something for dealing with you.
“hey, um… need some help?”
“OH! REALLY?” He eyes you suspiciously, finding any hint of joking in your face. Finding none however, he continues. “REALLY, LAZYBONES?” He says jokingly, “IF YOU WANT TO YOU…” He trails off though, eyes glancing over the knife in his hands.
You notice this subtle change in focus, and automatically feel guilty. Papyrus, seeing your change in expression however, makes an offering. “HOW ABOUT I SHOW YOU HOW TO DO IT? I DOUBT YOU’VE NEVER EVEN DONE ANYTHING CLOSE TO COOKING BEFORE, SO I, MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS, WILL GIVE YOU THE BEST OF LESSONS!”
Giving him a small smile, Papyrus gestures to a seat at the table, allowing you to sit down. You comply, realizing for what seems like the millionth time how cool Papyrus is.
You spend the rest of the time before everyone comes downstairs cutting strawberries with Papyrus’ help. He guides your hands at first, showing you the proper cutting technique, (it's painfully clear he learned this from Toriel and not Undyne) but eventually lets you do it on your own, carefully observing you of course.
And yes, you do feel extremely awkward at first, having to be watched while cutting fruit so you don't purposely harm yourself, but it's not that bad. At least Papyrus makes it seem not that bad. He always makes you feel better about everything. Like the opposite of you. But you're trying.
Eventually everyone comes down, showing as much surprise as they can handle in the morning about seeing you in the kitchen. But you soon all settle into a comfortable breakfast.
Of course, it's not as good as it would have been had there been proper ingredients for Papyrus to cook with, or at least what Papyrus said anyway, but it's good. It's not as tense as it once was. And as you look out the kitchen window, you notice the rain has stopped now, and the sun is almost completely risen, casting an orangey glow across the whole room.
It's really beautiful, you think. The surface is really amazing. You've been here before of course, but you never got to truly revel in the vastness and elegance it really offers. You were always waiting for the next RESET that always came, and is sure to come this time too, but it's like a new experience. You feel as this time you can finally enjoy it, having a chance for it not to be RESET. And even if it is, (which it probably will, and you'll be devastated) you'll get to know this side of the surface you never knew. The side you never knew because the world RESET before you could honestly experience it.
It seems everyone else is having similar thoughts, if not about RESETS, but the beautifulness of the surface, as you notice everyone's gaze towards the window.
“This has to be the most beautiful day yet.” Asgore states, and everyone agrees by nodding their head.
The transfixion on the sunrise soon ends as the sun reaches its full potential in the sky, halting the brilliant display of oranges and reds, and now holding just a bright yellow. Everyone cleans up their bowls by putting them in the sink, and Asgore offers to do the dishes, but Papyrus insists that he'll do them as soon as he gets back from shopping with Toriel.
“Oh, that reminds me!” Toriel says, “Frisk, let us go upstairs and get ready! Papyrus, I will meet you back downstairs when you are ready?”
“OF COURSE MISS TORIEL!” Papyrus excitedly exclaims before almost sprinting out of the room.
Toriel giggles before heading upstairs herself, taking Frisk along with her.
“Alph! We gotta get ready!” Undyne whines. “We have reservations and the place is far away!” She pauses before speaking again. “UGH, you're taking too long. I'm going upstairs!”
“W-wait!” Alphys replies before quickly following her girlfriend upstairs.
“I guess that just leaves you and me.” Asgore says, chuckling slightly in his deep roar of a voice. “Did you want to do anything today?”
“what?” You ask confused.
“I was planning on working in the garden outside I had setup. You don't have to help if you don't want, but I would greatly appreciate the company.”
“sure.” You say, but then mumble under your breath, “it's not like i have a choice anyway.”
“What was that?” He questions.
“nothing.” You reply, trying to seem as nonchalant about the whole situation as possible.
“Sans,” Asgore starts kindly, “I understand you are upset about this whole thing, but it really is no trouble. As I said, I do appreciate the company.”
You have no response to that, choosing to sit in a stony silence mulling over your thoughts. Today started good, didn't it? Well as “good” as you can get. But then your life came along, reminding you of how messed up you really are, dampening your mood once again.
“Afterwards, would you like to have a cup of tea with me? The gardening shouldn't take too long.”
“sure.” You reply once again.
You both move to the living room to watch tv for a bit before the others leave. Asgore asks you to pick the channel, seeing as his hands are too big for the buttons, and you comply, picking the news channel.
Now, you haven't been paying attention to anything newswise, whether it be actual news or just weather. It just didn't seem important to you since the first time up here. Why get involved? Why get invested? It's all going to be taken away.
But, you figure, it is sort of interesting. Humans do things so much differently from the underground. They have so many channels, so many different types of shows. The only entertainment underground was Mettaton’s cheesy shows. And those only really got interesting when the human came. All in all, humans have a much wider range to choose from. But choosing the news channel really shows you how big their world is.
Of course, when you turn the tv on, they're ending a segment about monsters, which is to be expected honestly. It was a completely unexpected thing for the monsters to show up, and of course there's controversy. In so many people, there are bound to be different opinions. Even the underground was divided on matters sometimes. But humans, you learned, choose to go about it in a… different way. Violence, wars, killing. You heard from Frisk that there's barely ever a time nobody's at war. Humans tend to be… not great acting towards people that look different than themselves. They've improved, but they're still not the best at it. But another thing Frisk told you is that humans will fight for what they think is right. And sometimes they're peaceful in this fighting. And if you have people on your side, the monsters won't go down without a fight.
But that's really all behind you now. As you've heard in the small tidbits of conversation had at the table, monster-human relations are going smoothly. Frisk and Asgore don't have to go out and have meetings as often as they did when you first got here.
Toriel makes her way down the stairs along with Frisk now, dressed in a long purple sundress to accommodate for the sunny weather. Frisk is wearing a striped t-shirt, the same colors as the one they wore underground.
“Is Papyrus down here yet?” Toriel asks.
“surprisingly, no.” You say, also noticing the absence of Papyrus. “he's probably picking out the best outfit to wear.”
“Okay-” Toriel is interrupted as Papyrus makes his way downstairs.
“I AM HERE! SO SORRY, I DID NOT MEAN TO KEEP YOU WAITING.”
“It was no trouble at all, we just got down here.”
‘Yeah, we just finished getting ready.’ Frisk signs.
“OKAY THEN! ARE WE HEADIN OUT NOW?”
“Sure, if you're ready?”
“YES OF COURSE! SANS,” Papyrus says turning to you, “YOU'RE GOING TO BE OKAY?”
“course Paps.” You say, not really trusting your statement that much, but wanting to offer Papyrus some reassurance.
“Okay, see you later then.” Toriel starts, walking out the door.
Frisk makes a grabbing motion, signaling Papyrus to pick them up and put them on his shoulders.
“YOU WANT TO GO UP? NYEH HEH HEH! OF COURSE!”
He lifts Frisk, gently placing them on his shoulders before saying a last goodbye and ducking while walking out the door.
“Did those weenies leave yet?!” Comes a shout from Undyne, who's coming down the stairs carrying a furiously blushing Alphys.
You're about to respond, but chose not to, allowing Asgore to take your place. “Yes, i'm afraid they just left.
“Too bad! I wanted to tell Papyrus to make sure to get extra ingredients for our cooking lessons!” She says while walking over to the window and peering out. “OH! Our taxi’s here! Bye then!”
“B-bye Asgore! Bye Sans!”
“have fun on your date Alph.” You say, winking at her.
Her blush, if even possible, increases, and you give a small smirk as they walk out the door. They really are a cute couple.
“Ah, so you want to head outside?” Asgore asks, and you look down at his outfit. “Oh, should we change? I'm still wearing my pajamas aren't I.”
“i mean if you're fine with it, i'm fine with it.” You say, honestly not caring whether or not the old king wears his fluffy pink and yellow pajamas outside or not.
“Hmm. I guess so. I think I just have to water and feed the plants, I do not believe there are any weeds. So it should be fine.”
He leads the way to the back door, opening it for you and allowing you to step outside.
“i...uh…”
“Oh! I'm sorry, I almost forgot, you have not seen the garden yet, have you?” You nod so he continues, “It's just on the side of the house.”
Asgore takes the lead again, heading round the corner to where the garden is at. Coming across the garden, you notice a small shed he walks into quickly and comes out with a watering can. The “garden”, you realize, is more a collection of buttercups than anything else.
“They're really beautiful, aren't they?” Asgore says, catching you looking at the flowers.
“yeah.” You say truthfully.
The flowers really are beautiful, like all others you have encountered on the surface, but these ones really seem to shine. Maybe it's the great gardening skills of Asgore, but these flowers just seem so well taken care of, so carefully planted and displayed.
Asgore starts talking again as he carefully weeds his way through the flowers to water them. “These were Chara’s favorite.” He says sadly, “They didn't know the proper name for them, so I told them they were called buttercups, but they still insisted on calling them golden flowers.” He pauses, reminiscing in the memory. “It's almost tragically beautiful that these same flowers were the ones that… that they used to… sacrifice themselves.”
You don't say anything, afraid your comment would ruin Asgore's feeling of nostalgia. “You know… They weren't the happiest of children. They never said why, but Toriel and I had an inkling. They didn't lead a happy life on the surface.”
He finishes watering the flowers and puts the can back in the shed. “Of course you probably hate them though, for what they did.”
“what?”
“You said that Chara was the one who arose from Frisk’s Determination, right? Or did I mishear you?”
“oh, yeah.”
“I just can't believe they would have done that.” He says somberly, “I knew they were troubled but… that. They wanted to save all the monsters… Why would they…?”
He looks to you for an explanation you can't really give. However you try your best. “they… didn't know what happened, i think. they were confused. how would you feel if you suddenly woke up, but you had died years ago? then Frisk started killing everyone they once knew as family?” Your eyes go dark at the recount of the memories, but you blink and regain your eye lights. “well let’s just say they didn't channel their anger in the healthiest way.” And neither did you, you want to say, but decide against it. “they're changed. they're not really the child you had known. experiences like that… can change a person.” You would state the obvious about you being affected like that as well, but you figure it goes without saying.
“Well, if it's any consolation, i’m sorry again that you had to go through that.”
“thanks.” You say simply, without real meaning because you don't really deserve his apologies.
“I'm about done here, you want to head back inside for a cup of tea?” Asgore says cheerily, trying to brighten the mood.
“sure.” You start as you both head back inside.
Heading into the kitchen, Asgore heads towards a small tea kettle and a wooden box full of tea bags. “I would ask what you want,” He says kindly, “But i'm afraid I only have one type.” He demonstrates this by holding up one of the tea bags. “Chara always loved the tea, Asriel not so much, growing up with his father making it and all.” He sighs. “I'm sorry I keep bringing up memories like this, I just can't help thinking about them all the time. There are so many reminders of them all around us, and it is painful and beautiful at the same time.”
“i really don't mind. it's nice you care so much.”
And it is. The way Asgore talks so fondly of his children, even if they turned out so very wrong in the end, still warms your metaphorical heart.
“Ah, i’m afraid that's not always the case…” He trails off sadly, pouring water into the kettle and turning the stove on. “Well, I think you know my reaction to the humans that killed both my children.” He pulls over a chair and sits across from you at the table. “Toriel left me as you know. I was devastated. But apparently not enough to stop what I was doing.” He sadly looks in the distance, no doubt thinking about the past. “We all make mistakes. You do, I especially do, but we learn from them. I don't want to even try to compare what I have been through to you, you have been through much, much worse. But I dare say I understand how you're feeling. Not exactly, but enough to have an idea of what you're going through.” He looks back at you, “I killed six innocent children. And who knows how many times I had killed Frisk. And I know Toriel hates me for that. And she may never forgive me. But I was not in the right mindset underground. I took the responsibility of king too seriously, focusing all of my energy into my work to try and forget the horrible acts I was committing. Thankfully however, Undyne was there to console me most of the time, making sure I did not retreat too far into the dark recesses of my mind and forget who I once was. Undyne was there for me when I needed help. I was still mourning the loss of my children, the loss of my wife. For all I knew, Toriel ran away and died. Then, when I saw her when Frisk came, I was ecstatic! Imagine how I felt when she straight-out rejected me. Even now, she hates me for what I did. I know i'm rambling here about my problems, but there is a point i'm trying to make.” He gets up as the tea kettle whistles, grabbing two cups and carefully pouring tea into both. “You're past may come back to haunt you. But you can get over it. With support from people and motivation, you can get over whatever your troubles are. And we all are here for you.”
He hands you the cup of tea and you offer a small thank you. “Of course, I don't understand exactly what you're going through, but I just wanted to offer my two cents.”
“thank you, again.” You say sincerely.
You take a small sip of the tea, and to your surprise it's pleasantly warm, not burning hot like Undyne loves to make it.
Asgore's little speech made sense in a way, you think. He's been through some rough points as well, maybe even made enough mistakes to counter your own. But the advice he offered was sort of simple and reassuring. Obviously Asgore hot over his problems easier than you, not turning to self-harm and even an attempt at suicide, so that's a low blow.
Asgore had lost two children, then his wife, yet still didn't turn to the methods you chose to use. He's lost so much more than you, but is still about able to get over everything. Well, not everything, but it's still a lot more than you've managed. And you feel kinda guilty about that.
But it's also a sort of inspiration. If he did it, maybe you can too. It's a slim chance, seeing as you've already resorted to some of the lowest measures. But it's a small hope, and you take hold of it, no matter the size.
So you sit and drink tea, something you don't usually enjoy, but now appreciate the full aspect of it. It's relaxing. You hear the birds singing outside, you now notice a glimpse of the golden petals of Asgore's garden in the window. It's nice. It's not perfect, but it's nice, and that's really all you can hope for.
The silence between you two is calm, and is only interrupted when Asgore sets down his cup with a clink against the table. “Are you done as well?” He asks politely.
“gimme a second.” You say before draining the rest of the cup in one last sip. “here.”
He takes your cup with his and puts them in the sink, presumably for Papyrus to clean later.
“uh, thanks.” You say, feeling like Asgore deserves some kind of actual response to his kind words before. “for, umm, this. it was nice.”
Catching the meaning behind the words Asgore replies. “You want to do this again sometime? It would be a pleasure, honestly. It was nice to have someone to talk to.”
Your conversation is shortly interrupted by the sound of a door being slammed open.
“WE’RE HOME! AND WITH INGREDIENTS!” Papyrus says while walking into the kitchen where you and Asgore are sitting.
Toriel and Frisk come in soon after. “Well that definitely was… one of the more passionate shopping experiences I had.”
“The humans didn't give you any trouble?” Asgore asks.
“Surprisingly, no. It seems they are getting adjusted faster than we could have hoped!”
‘Going shopping with Papyrus is the best!’ Frisk signs excitedly. ‘We need to do this more often! Sans, you should come next time.’
The look on their face makes it clear you won't be getting out of this one, but you still like to tease them a bit. “eh, maybe…”
‘Please?” Frisk signs while giving you puppy eyes. ‘They had a lot of ketchup…”
“well in that case…” You say jokingly.
“DID YOU AND ASGORE HAVE A GOOD TIME WHEN WE WERE GONE? I KNOW EVERYTHING IS BORING WITHOUT MY PRESENCE, BUT DID YOU HAVE FUN?”
“yeah, i had a good time. watered some flowers. drank some tea. probably did the most physical activity i've ever done in a while.”
“SANS!” Papyrus groans, but it seems like he's relieved nothing went wrong.
And you are too. It's been awhile since you've had an “okay” day, and this seems to break the streak. Everyone's in a good mood, even you. Sure, it might go away soon when left to your own thoughts, but you take the moment as it is.
One step at a time.