"Wow, you weren't kidding about how close the two of you were as kids". Asriel chuckled.

"What happened next?" asked Frisk.

"Well, after that, the two of us carried on with our day as normal, but what happened next-" started Asgore.

"Will be continued tomorrow." Said Gaster, who had appeared in the doorway with dark circles under his eye sockets. The family turned, and saw Gaster grimacing angrily at them.

"Gaster! How long have you been there?" asked Toriel.

"Long enough to hear you talking about… her." Growled Gaster. "You agreed you wouldn't talk about Ebrima, sire, and I would appreciate it if you wouldn't continue to talk about her."

"Who was she, Gaster?" asked Frisk.

"Just a friend who… n-nothing more." Sighed Gaster.

"Gaster, I know you're hiding something." Said Asriel. "I don't need Frisk's ability to tell me that much. She was more than a friend, wasn't she?"

Gaster stared blankly at them, turned and started down the hall.

"Get back to bed. All of you. We'll talk in the morning." Said Gaster. Frisk started after him, but as she reached the doorway, he had disappeared into the shadows.

"I'll get it out of him, sooner or later. Maybe Sans will know something. If he doesn't know anything, then we have a problem." She grunted, moving back towards the bed.

"Why's that, dear?" asked Toriel.

"Lying to friends and extended family is one thing, but lying to your own son is another matter entirely. Sans knows everything, so why wouldn't he know about Ebrima, too?" said Frisk. Just then, from the doorway, there came a loud yawn.

"Hey, hon…? Any reason you're out of bed…?" asked Sans, rubbing his eyes.

"Oh, honeybones! Hey! Um… I have a bit of a question for you, but I want to ask it in the morning." Said Frisk, jumping off the bed and guiding Sans back towards their bedroom.

"Why not ask now?" asked Sans.

"Because you're not at a hundred percent, and I want you to be fully awake for this one." Replied Frisk. Sans groaned and yawned again.

"Fine… But don't expect me to answer any questions until after my coffee." Groaned Sans, stretching and cracking his spine.

"That sounded good." Smiled Frisk.

"It felt good." Laughed Sans. "Let's get back to bed. It's awfully cold without you in it."

"Aw… Sans, it's good to have you back." Frisk said, wrapping her arm around Sans and kissing him on top of the skull. Asriel stared after them, and then turned back to his parents.

"Mom, Dad…? I want to know more." He said.

"You'll hear more about it tomorrow, dear. For now, try and get some rest." Said Toriel.

"No, I want to hear more about how you met Mom. I'm fine on sleep. Flowey's been merciful for the last couple of weeks." Said Asriel, a sheepish grin spreading across his face.

"Well… what do you think, Tori? Should we tell him tonight?" Asgore asked.

"I don't know. Preferably not, due to the fact that we have so many of the monsters from Paradise still living in the castle, and I need to be up early to cook breakf-"

"Chillby and I have it covered, Mom. You deserve a break after all you've been doing this week."

"Well… Oh… fine. Go ahead, but I'm still going to bed. You two can stay up as late as you want." Sighed Toriel, flopping back onto her pillow. Asgore chuckled lightly, and pat his wife on the head.

"G'night, dear." He smiled, turning back to Asriel.

"Well, how did you guys meet?" asked Asriel, crossing his legs on the bed.

"Oh… let's see… It was maybe a year later. Our shenanigans as children caused one of our caretakers to have an emotional breakdown, and consequentially, she resigned." Said Asgore. "My father had sent out an advertisement in the town, and one of the applicants had a child who was just about our age, maybe a little older. Anyway, on the day of the interview, our father asked us to stay upstairs, and try to stay quiet. But we had other plans brewing."


Aberon was bouncing a ball up against the wall of our bedroom, while I read a book. Aberon groaned, and stopped bouncing the ball. I looked up from my book, and sighed.

"Lemme guess… You're bored, too." I said.

"Ugh… Yes…! Why can't we ever do anything involving new servants! We should have a say, right?!" grunted Aberon.

"Yeah, but the last one quit because of us!" I said.

"Not my fault she didn't know how to play detective!" said Aberon defensively.

"You murdered a squirrel and put a tiny fedora on him!" I cried. "What's worse is that you brought him inside!"

"Hey! I did not murder it! It was dead of old age! Seriously, there were so many grey hairs on him, he might as well have been our father!" shouted Aberon.

"He's not that old! And you scared that girl half to death!" I shouted back.

"Doesn't matter now. She's gone, and the woman downstairs is likely to be even worse. Did you see her? She was huge! She had a mole with hair on it! Hair, Asgore! Hair!" said Aberon in disgust.

"Never judge a book by its cover, Aberon." I said. "I just wish there was something we could… do…" As I spoke, I spotted two wooden swords and shields sticking out of our toy chest. Aberon followed my gaze, and raised his eyebrows.

"No." he said.

"Yes." I said.

"You know what happened last time we had a duel? I broke three of your fingers." Said Aberon, moving towards the toy chest and picking up the swords hesitantly.

"And? I think you're just a big, fat, furry chicken!" I goaded him.

"Say… what, now?" asked Aberon, as I started imitating a chicken.

"Bok-bok-bakaaawwwwwk!" I crowed, flapping my arms. Just then, Aberon tossed one of the swords at me, and I caught it.

"Arm yourself, you knave." He said flatly.

"Do you quarrel? For I am gifted in the ways of swordplay." I replied with a laugh.

"Please. You couldn't wield a butter knife." Aberon smarted, lunging towards me.


"Now… Miss Iris Galingale… If I may be so bold as to ask… are you really sure that you can handle two growing boys, given your… forgive me for saying… stature?" asked Jorin. The monster sitting across from him, a huge blob of a goat with tiny horns, laughed heartily, her voice resembling that of a croaking Belarussian frog.

"I can keep this little one under control. But two? I did not bring daughter along for no reason." Said Iris, patting the head of the small child next to her, drinking a glass of blueberry juice. The cup shook in her hands, and the girl in question flinched at her mother's heavy hands.

"Mother! Be careful! I almost spilled my juice." Said the girl. "And I have a name, mom! It's…"

"Sorry, dear. I forget my weight, sometimes!" smiled Iris. Above them, the sound of glass breaking could be heard. Jorin's head sank into his hands.

"Oh… no… not this again. I thought I took those away." Said Jorin.

"What was noise?" asked Iris.

"The boys. They found their toy swords again." Sighed Jorin. "Again, I ask, are you sure…?"

"Forgive impudence, sire, but your boys need discipline, and I am more than capable of providing it. You will not believe what my daughter has done in past." Said Iris.

"Mother, please. I'm at least trying to change." Said the girl, as the sound of rapid footsteps descended the stairs. "The pranks at school were just pranks!"

"What about the boy you scorched?" asked Iris.

"Hey, that one slapped me on the butt! He had it coming." Snapped the girl uncomfortably. "He broke my number one rule."

"Speaking of, there's… one other thing… they… don't respect rules… well, the younger one does, but his brother-" started Jorin, before the door to the room crashed open, and Asgore tumbled in, followed shortly by Aberon.

"Fight me like a man, you coward!" shouted Aberon, swiping at Asgore with his sword. Asgore deflected it, but in the process of doing so, knocked the cup of blueberry juice in the girl's hands into the air. The cup flipped, and doused the girl in blueberry juice. Her new white dress that she had worn for the interview was now dyed a deep purple around the neckline. Asgore and Aberon turned and saw the look on the girl's face. She was livid.

"Oh, no…" said Asgore.

"Crap…" said Aberon.

"Your Majesty, permission to start job, effective immediately?" asked Iris.

"Permission granted. Boys? Meet your new nannies." Smiled Jorin.

"Oh…" sighed Asgore in fear.

"I'm out! Bye!" cried Aberon.

"Aberon! Wait…!" called Asgore, before Iris materialize in front of the doorway blocking his exit.

"You no leave until you apologize." Growled Iris.

"D-Don't punish him, M-Miss Iris! It was my fault! It was my idea to start the duel, and I was the one who knocked the cup. For the first time in a long time, I was the one who broke the rules, not him! Let him go." Apologized Asgore. Iris glared down at Asgore with a cold expression, but reluctantly let Aberon pass. Aberon ran up the stairs, leaving Asgore to the new nannies. He turned to the girl, and grabbed a towel from one of the nearby drawers.

"I'm so sorry, ma'am. I know that's going to stain… H-Here… l-let me go grab one of my shirts, maybe they'll fit you." Offered Asgore, wiping down the girl's head. The girl glared at him while he did this, and scoffed.

"Next time, be more observant of what the hell you're doing…!" she grunted.

"Hm… It was all I could to keep from getting smacked in the head." Smiled Asgore.

"Are you guys always like that? He looked like he really wanted to hurt you." Said the girl.

"Not always, but… I called him a chicken, so it was kind of justified. And to be honest, our relationship's always been rocky since last year." Explained Asgore.

"What happened?" asked the girl.

"I got a better fortune than him from KuBaba." Said Asgore.

"I can see why. You're at least considerate… and honest… and you know when to apologize." Said the girl. "And to be fair, white isn't my best color. I prefer either purple or black."

"Well… Purple does look good on you." Laughed Asgore sheepishly, before noticing her ruby-red eyes, and how they sparkled in the sunlight shining through the window. He stared for a few seconds without even realizing it. The girl smiled.

"What are you looking at, prince…?" asked the girl. This snapped Asgore back to reality.

"N-Nothing. Sorry, I blank from time to t-time." Lied Asgore nervously.

"It's alright. I get that look from boys all the time. It was the eyes that did it, wasn't it?" grinned the girl.

"Y-yeah…" sighed Asgore in defeat; he'd been read like an open book.

"I don't think we were properly introduced." Said the girl, extending her hand. It was small and slender, and Asgore took it in his hand.

"Oh, right! I-I'm Asgore. Wh-What's your name?" he asked.

"Toriel Galingale, at your service, my lord." Said the girl.

"Please, don't be so formal. I'm just like you. I may be a prince, but I'm still just a kid." Said Asgore.

"Well, if you treat your subjects like you treat me, then you'll make it to the throne." Smiled Toriel.

"I'm a second-born. Second-borns never make it to the throne." Said Asgore.

"Age doesn't make a king. It's the king's duty to his countrymen and his country, and how well he fulfills the role that makes for a just ruler." Said Toriel.

Asgore stared down at Toriel in the present day, as she continued her quiet sleep-chirbling and smiled.


"I stared at her… for… I don't know how long. For the first time in my life, someone understood me." he said.

"But I don't get it! If you two hit it off like that at such a young age, why did she choose him?" asked Asriel.

"That… is something I will tell you tomorrow. It's late." Sighed Asgore.

"Alright… uh… good night, dad." Said Asriel.

"Good night, son." Said Asgore, as Asriel returned to his room. Asgore laid in bed, lost in thought.

"I never should have let him have his way." He sighed, before closing his eyes.