Chapter One: Good Impressions

Asgore woke to the sound of pounding on his door.

"Yo! Lover-goat! Time to wake up!" Asgore sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm up, I'm up!" He shouted, leaning his head on his hand. He started to fall back asleep.

"DREEMURR!" Came another shout from the other side of his bedroom door. Asgore snapped awake and leapt out of bed.

"Sorry!" He shouted and rushed to dress himself nicely. He pulled on his deep blue cloak and clicked the sky-blue shoulder pads together. He quickly brushed his golden hair and buckled his belt.

When he opened his door, Gerson was waiting impatiently, his silver hair tied in a pony-tail. He was wearing a tan explorer's outfit and had a magnifying glass in his belt.

"You coulda taken longer," he said. Asgore sighed.

"I really don't feel ready for this," he said. Gerson reached up and grabbed the clip of his shoulder pads, pulling his face close. "You better start feeling ready! We need to be there in half an hour!" Asgore shrugged. "Lead the way," he said.

It wasn't a long time until they reached a small hill with a peaceful looking cottage on the top of it. Puffs of smoke occasionally popped out of the chimney. Before they travelled up the path to the cottage, Gerson stopped Asgore.

"Listen, Asgore, this is no harder than taking your first steps. Just walk up there, introduce yourself, I'll screw off and you guys have a good time. Simple as that." Asgore nodded and took a deep breath, trying to drain the adrenaline that had built up inside him. "You ready?" Gerson asked. Asgore sighed. "No. But let's go anyway."

The two travelled up the dirt path, Asgore having half a mind to turn around and go back. When they reached the porch of the cottage, Gerson gestured to the wooden door. "You do the honors," he said.

Asgore breathed deeply again and knocked quickly on the door. They waited for about a minute before it opened. A beautiful Monster (one of Asgore's species) stepped out, wearing a plain bright purple robe. She smiled and Asgore almost stumbled.

"Hello," she said. Gerson nudged Asgore and he cleared his throat. "Uh, hello," he said, remembering to show respect, kneeling to kiss the woman's hand.

"You must be King Asgore Dreemurr," she assumed. Asgore nodded. "And you are Toriel?" She bowed slightly. "At your service," she said. Gerson extended his hand, and Toriel shook it. "Gerson," he said, "King's guide." Toriel smiled again. "It's a pleasure. I'm afraid there's nothing I'm terribly proud of," she said. Gerson smiled and shrugged. "Well, I think I'll leave you two alone. Got some business to take care of. Have fun."

With that Gerson left Asgore and Toriel standing at the porch of the little cottage. The two stood in awkward silence. It seemed like hours before Asgore cleared his throat. "Uh, shall we… take a walk?" He asked in a desperate attempt to clear the silence. Toriel looked at him for a few seconds, silent. "Toriel?" Asgore asked again. Toriel seemed to snap out of a trance she was in for that small bit. "I'm sorry," she said quickly, seemingly panicking a bit, "take a walk? That sounds like fun."

Asgore nodded and the two started down the path, again in an agonizing silence, glancing at each other probably too often. Eventually, Toriel spoke again. "I'm very sorry about your parents. The whole kingdom's been saying you've been locked in your castle for days." Asgore shrugged.

"Not quite. Of course, I am still taken completely aback. Their ship was supposed to be… titanic. Indestructible. But there it went, being destroyed by a single ocean storm. I've been greatly mourning not just my mother and father, but the innocent men and women and… and children that died on that ship. Nobody deserves that kind of death."

Toriel nodded and they walked on for a bit more, silent for respect of the dead, as was the tradition of Monsters. Eventually, Toriel spoke again. "I would think you would be angry that the people who built the ship had made such a silly mistake that cost your parents' lives and countless others." Asgore shook his head and sighed. "We're only mortals, Toriel. We're not invincible to mistakes."

Toriel nodded and a slight smile crossed her face. "You seem like a very understanding king, Your Majesty," she said. Asgore seemed to wince at the title. "Please," he said, "just call me Asgore. I know that I am a king, but I don't like to be considered one. I like to think I live among you and other Monsters. I resent the idea of one individual being more powerful than thousands of others."

Toriel nodded. "And that's probably just one of the many reasons the citizens love you," she said. Asgore looked at her in surprise. "Do they?" He asked. Toriel looked back at him as though he was mad. "Of course! They say you're always out and about, waving and saying hello to people, Humans and Monsters alike. That you always help those who need it, that your treasury is almost empty because of how much you've given."

Asgore shrugged. "Well, I didn't quite know that waving, saying hello and giving money to my citizens and the Humans made them 'love me' as you say." Toriel laughed. "Well, I'm just telling you what they all say."

Asgore smiled a bit. "Well, it is good to know that what I'm doing my people seem to enjoy. I want to do everything I can for them. I want them to live the best lives they can."

Toriel smiled back. "Well, by God, they're living good ones so far," she said.

They carried on like this for what seemed like ages, travelling through Asgore's kingdom, talking about whatever came to mind. Suddenly they heard a shout.

"Fell!"

Asgore stopped dead in his tracks for a minute. "Fell?" Toriel asked him. He started sprinting in the direction of the shout until he saw the Monster who had given it.

In front of the Monster, however, was a real monster.

It looked exactly like a Froggit, except its skin was a bloody shade of red. Its claws extended at least ten inches from its hands and feet, which were stretched out and thin; the skin seemed to hang loosely off its bones. Its teeth were long and sharp, making it impossible for the beast to close its mouth, and the eyes in its deformed head were black and cold.

But this was a Fell; obviously a Fell. A beast terrifying enough to make even an entire army hesitate to attack.

Asgore drew out his trident, which he kept in his belt under his cloak at all times, and jumped forward, bashing the Fell on the head with the handle. The Monster ran off, Toriel stepping aside to let him pass, her mouth still agape. The Fell looked at Asgore, its cold, dead eyes fixed upon him, rubbing its head with its stretched-out hand. Asgore mimicked it, crouching down and opening his mouth, dropping his trident so he could perfectly mirror the Fell's movements. It crawled a bit to its left; Asgore did the same. The Fell hissed; Asgore hissed back. All of a sudden it jumped forward, its mouth wide open, its teeth ready to pierce Asgore's neck, but Asgore threw his fist into the side of the Fell's head. Asgore nodded his head toward the forest which it had come from. It nodded back and crawled away, yelping in fear.

Asgore stood, sheathed his trident and walked back to Toriel, who was staring at him wide eyed. "You have to know these things when you're king," he said, shrugging. Toriel nodded and suddenly fell forward. Asgore caught her; she had simply dropped out of the sudden fear she had experienced. Asgore looked up at the sun; it was nearly five o'clock.

He picked Toriel up and carried her back to her cottage on her hill. He lay her down on a chair on the porch and waited with her. It wasn't more than a few minutes before she woke up again. "Are you alright?" Asgore asked uncertainly. "Am I dead?" Toriel asked. Asgore sighed and slightly smiled. "Not just yet," he joked. She looked around for a moment.

"How did we get back here? Weren't we just…?" Asgore nodded. "Well, I think you passed out, so I took you back here. Why don't you make yourself a cup of tea? It'll help you feel better." Toriel nodded and stood. She stumbled, and Asgore caught her. "Do you need help?" He asked. Toriel shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Thank you, though. And thank you for today." Asgore nodded and smiled.

Toriel turned to enter her house. Suddenly she turned and turned Asgore's head, kissing him quickly on his cheek and quickly entering her home. Asgore stared at the door for a minute, then blinked and walked alone back to his castle, cautious of any more Fell.

When he arrived back at his castle. When he entered, Gerson was waiting for him. "So, how did it go?" He asked instantly. Asgore smiled. "Perfect," he said. Gerson smiled back in a devious way as they walked down the hall. "Did anything… special happen between the two of you?" Asgore shrugged. "Well, let's see… before she left, she kissed me," he said. Gerson's eyes widened. "You're kiddin'! Where?" Asgore pointed to the spot where Toriel had kissed him. Gerson snapped his fingers. "I was hoping it would be better than on the cheek."