..
Chapter 14 Big Leaps
Warnings?: Violent acts, Flowey gets attacked, don't worry it's nothing too big.
Summary: Thanks to his dad's support, Flowey is happily successful with his training, meets an awful man with a metal bat, and finally goes back to living a normal life, as normal as he can hope for anyway.
Inspiration Song: 'Epoch' by Savlonic (the original and The Living Tombstone's Remix)
'Everyone makes mistakes
I've had more than my share
But it's ok 'cause I'm gonna repair it
They say there are no retakes
But I just don't agree, no, this show
Is of my own making
Take it back to the start
I've had a change of heart
I know we can make it better than it ever was
I know we can make it better
I know we can make it better than it ever was
I know we can make it better'
...
Notes: I mentioned that I took some artistic liberties, one of them is that I made up Frisk's birthday, mostly because this fic is about Flowey's life growing up, which means things have to keep moving along, so it was time for an age up.
Unfortunately, for the people who believe in astrology and horoscopes, I didn't look to see if the date matched with their personality, I kind of wanted to because I think that stuff is very interesting, but the year was ending in this chapter, so I only had winter months to work with.
I also added Flowey's Lifeday date, which you will see in the next chapter (not his real birth date because it isn't exactly relevant anymore) and it's also in a winter month, mainly because I wanted to be cute and have it close to Frisk's birthday.
...
...
After getting some much needed rest and waking up the next day, he found himself feeling the… 'something' that Asgore had talked about, it was an odd feeling, it almost reminded him of the feeling that only using magic could give him back when he was normal, still, it wasn't the same, and his soul still wasn't any better.
Flowey took a break from training after that for a while, he was just too anxious to fight, afraid his anger would consume him again, deciding to focus more on his homework instead, using it as an excuse every time the subject came up.
Soon days passed which turned into weeks and it wasn't until after everyone got together and celebrated Frisk's fifteenth birthday (December 30th) and in addition to the News Years reminded Flowey why he had separated himself from them in the first place.
"Dad, I think we should train again," he said one morning during breakfast.
Asgore grinned, suddenly excited, "I'm so happy you said that, because I have noticed something recently that you should probably take a look at,"
"If it's a new dinner recipe, I'm not interested," Flowey said with all honest good humor.
Asgore paused to frown at the comment, shaking his head, then picked up his son, "I should just show you now,"
"Hey I was EATING!" the plant yelled, dropping his spoon in his cereal before being completely whisked away.
"Trust me son, you're going to want to see this,"
"What kind of tea did you drink this morning?" Flowey mumbled, somewhat concerned.
He carried him off to the backyard, he didn't miss the new large patches of bright green grass among the faded brown dead grass.
It was winter, so this left them with only one reasonable explanation. . .
"You did this Asriel! You put life in the ground!"
Flowey stared at the greenery in awe, it was beautiful, but he was also confused, he looked to his dad with a tight uncomfortable face.
"First of all, dad, please, never say that again… and second of all, how?"
Asgore grinned brightly "do you remember our fight we had awhile back? You were showing a great display of strength and emotion, and also a great display of gardening it seems, because I have been checking the spots, and it matches the very same places where you attacked me at, your pellets have growing power!"
Flowey looked back at the grass, now even more in awe, but as he did, he began to think, an idea forming, he wasn't sure if it would work, but he just had to find out.
"Could you let me out? I need to try something,"
Asgore nodded, crouched down and sat the flower pot on the grass, and proceeded to tip it just so that Flowey could climb out.
"What do you have in mind?"
Flowey began to root himself in, "if I'm right and it works, you'll see," and underneath the dirt, he reached out with his vines to the all of the green patches and focused on them, taking a steady breath, he remembered about what and who he was training his magic for, he reached out to his soul, he winced hard and grit his teeth together as a terrible, shredding pain ebbed and flowed throughout him.
He shut his eyes tightly and focused on that pain, because he knew what it pain was hiding- his feelings, because he had finally remembered something very important
And it was that it came to magic and monsters, emotions were always the key.
…
….
… !
As he thought back on his memories.
He began to remember and feel them as if he were reliving them in flashes.
.
.
.
"I wasn't even trying-I don't…I don't know what this means,"
His best friend grinned big, "I don't know either, but I know it's really, really good,"
…
"I know what I look like! Get that thing out of my face YOU IDIOT!" he yelled, not paying attention to all the sharp red spikes that appeared from his vine.
But Frisk stayed Determined, "no, you don't! You don't see what I see, you're more than a flower, I know you still feel alone and scared, and I understand why you're mad, but if you just look at your face right now and see how your acting-,"
…
"-You lurve me don't you?" Frisk finished, their smile becoming increasingly silly.
"SHUTTUP YOU! NO I DON'T! YOU KNOW I CAN'T!"
Frisk just grinned, giggling hoarsely as they went back to their phone, "Its okay, I love you too Flowey, thank you for watching over me,"
…
"You are right, I am not sure I will ever completely understand…and I want you to know that there is nothing wrong with feeling angry, you are always allowed to feel as you want, but I can see that the fires from your rage has burned inside you for… such a long time, to the point of feeling like a crumbling crisp of. . . nothing . . . but I have learned that even from the most terrible wild fires, from the ash can emerge new life, and perhaps. . . in times like these where you at rock bottom, stuck in the ash…there…there can be only one way left to go,"
…
"and Asriel, my son,… despite not having a soul, I have to tell you that you have done so well, and I can tell you try so, so hard… and I'm so happy, because Alphys brought you back to us, and even though you may never be who you once were…," she paused to wipe a tear away.
"I will always love you no matter what, and your father does as well, we all do, never forget that,"
…
"It isn't fair,"
"I know, and it's okay,"
"It…hurts,"
"I know,"
"No you don't,"
"Yes I do, don't you think it hurts me all the time to know what I did to you and all those other monsters? I blocked it out for a very long time, I kind of just…went numb, like I had no soul either, but it's okay,"
"Why do you keep saying that?"
She moved back to look at him, blinking away tears, her smile was back and strong, she pointed at the area where he had earlier, at his soul.
"Because if you have this, it means you're capable of love again, and that's my fav emotion, love always makes everything okay in the end,"
…
Frisk, was speechless and awestruck, they leaned forward, their hand reaching out but stopping midway in the air, suddenly, they looked as if they were about to cry.
"It's… beautiful Flowey, but… how? It looks painful," their voice was small.
His cheeks turned orange at the comment, Frisk thought his soul… looked…beautiful?
…
"I really am sorry, are you going to-,"
He cut them off, instantly straightening back up, voice clear "yeah, just go to bed, nerd,"
Frisk smiled weakly at him, a hint of worry still in their eyes, not entirely convinced by his act, but they could take a hint, so they began moving for the door "it's okay, I get it. You want your space. Good night Asriel,"
…
"What I'm trying to say is, is that humans don't live very long, we only get so much time to get to know them, a lesson we have learned before, but one I desperately want to remind you of," Asgore finished, his expression solemn, but sincere.
Flowey understood, but he was frustrated, "you want me to tell them before I lose the chance."
Asgore nodded, "but you are scared, aren't you?"
…
They laughed softly, it was like…music almost, and hearing it up close made him feel weak, familiar butterflies fluttering around, he winced as they turned back into bees.
"I know you can do it Asriel Flowey Dreemurr," they said, voice warm.
…
"I for one think you should go for it, I don't think things will go as bad as you think," Mettaton said, his tone a little more serious now.
"How do you know?" Flowey asked.
"I don't dear! I just think it's a better option than wasting both you and your BFF's precious time trying to figure out the Ifs, Ands, and Buts of it all,"
…
"You are allowed to hide from your fears, and… yes, you may be… painfully correct about all these things, but at the same time, you must keep strong! You must keep your hope! Forget what the humans call 'unethical', because you my son- are so much more than just a flower, inside you are Asriel Dreemurr! And you deserve much more than what you have been given!-,"
…
His dad looked up at him and… smiled warmly "like I said, it is okay."
.
.
.
And then, like that, he was back outside in the backyard with his father.
But he stayed there, panting heavy breathes as he continued to focus, hardly noticing the flood of tears that had poured down his cheeks and continued to do so as he concentrated.
For what seemed like ages, nothing happened, all there was, was what felt like endless pain, and very quickly he began to grow intensely upset, his patience waning, he wanted to scream.
But then
Suddenly, something…
Shifted…
Or…more like, grew, as he felt the pain ebb away, not all the way, but he felt it, like warm sunrays coming out during a heavy snowstorm, it was his hope and compassion, one would say it was barely enough, but he could have cared less, he was just so happy because the feelings were there, weren't going away and it wasn't getting worse.
While that went on, he opened his eyes and watched in heavy silence as all of the patches of grass he had been focusing on suddenly rise a noticeable few inches, and tiny little lavender colored wildflowers begun to bloom all around them.
It really was a beautiful sight, and the best part was that Flowey had created it.
Without hesitation, he focused at the center of his self and summoned out his soul, finding that it was still the same underdeveloped minuscule size, but it he instantly saw that there was a visual difference, it was still lumpy and misshapen, but now more recognizable as a heart shape, with considerably much less oozing.
A new batch of tears began rolling down his cheeks as he gazed at his soul, now tears of pure relief.
"It worked…," he breathed out.
He looked up at his dad, his smile widening, "IT WORKED!" he laughed.
Asgore laughed too, "I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT! You just needed that extra little push!" he wiped a few tears from his eyes.
"Usually I hate when you're right, but you're right!" he chuckled tearfully, then, with a warm smile, he looked to his dad's nearby leg, and crashed his face into it, wrapping his vines around it lightly, it was the best he could manage for a hug.
"Thanks dad," he sniffled.
Asgore smiled, wiping more tears away then leaning down to give his son a fatherly pat, "you must thank yourself too, training magic when you have as little as you do must have been a hard and confusing road, you did most of the work here,"
Flowey let go, staring brightly at his soul, taking a moment to appreciate it before summoning it back into his body.
He then looked over to the nearest patch, and tunneled over to it, studying it, "I'm so glad these don't look like me," he half joked, poking at the tiny flowers gently, half of them just buds.
Asgore shook his head, "they were already there before you got to them, and they must think its spring,"
"Whoops, guess…they'll just end up freezing over, sorry guys…," he then summoned a single pellet and studied it closely, "I had no idea these were capable of doing this, they've never done anything like it before,"
"It's all your magic training, this must be like…an, what is the word…an upgrade?"
"Yeah," he said, agreeing, then looked over at their small oak tree, and shot the pellet at it absentmindedly, he had to put it somewhere, and apparently his plant based attacks didn't harm other plants, so it was ok it seemed.
"I think it's doubling as a nature only HP move now, kind of useless, but cool, I guess," he said.
"Hm, maybe if you train more, a lot more, maybe you can control other plants to do your will and fight for you?" Asgore said thoughtfully.
Flowey shook his head, a mischievous smile playing on his face, "heh, why get other plants to do what I want when I'm the most powerful plant around?"
After taking a few more minutes to admire Flowey's work, they went back inside to finish their breakfast, by then the cereal was a soggy mush.
"I think you deserve something better than cereal after that, how about…french toast?"
"Uhh, heh, only if you let me help,"
Flowey felt like he was in some kind of a cheesy 90's sitcom, but he really could have cared less, because everything had worked out so perfectly and he couldn't remember the last time that he was this excited about anything.
And as he sat down to eat again with his dad again, his thoughts casually drifted back to Frisk, he was so anxious to see them again, and now that his magic was stronger and so was his soul, he could now-for the most part- handle his better emotions… so…
He thought about the smile Frisk would make when he got back, or how they'd probably run up to him and hug him, maybe even tighter than they did the last time they saw each other during Frisk's fifteenth birthday party.
A familiar pleasant warmness filled inside of him, pain joining it's side, but this time not drowning it out, he slowly stopped eating his french toast and stared at his plate, his mind off in dreamland.
Frisk would also probably try kissing him again, it was bound to happen at some point, Flowey couldn't stop the excited smile that grew on his face, unaware that he was even making it at all.
What if… he turned his head on 'accident'? What if he kissed th-
Butterflies shot out from his heart in an excited flurry, and in combination of that, the pain of the bees stinging away as they joined in, and Flowey's cheeks went bright orange, he winced and quickly put his breakfast down and he sank helplessly into his flower pot.
'Oh golly,' he thought.
"What's the matter son?"
Flowey sunk in lower in response 'oh golly gee fricking willikers,' he thought more.
Asgore looked closer, noticing his son's bright orange face, and then he realized, grinning like a doofus, "thinking about Magnola are we?"
Even lower the flower sunk into his pot, almost out of sight, but then without a warning finally looked up at his dad, eyes wide, completely exasperated.
"I DON'T THINK I'M READY!"
Asgore laughed, "no one is ready for love son!"
Flowey poked his head up, "you don't get it, I can feel the…the…emotions fully, but also the pain is still there too, and now I'm starting to feel really… siiiiiick," he shut his eyes.
"There there, my boy, it will be okay, you've been too use to your emptiness for far too long. Pain is tough, but you will find that love is tougher, I would know,"
"I'm going to stop talking about this now," Flowey grumbled, feeling that he was treading into 'awkward parenting talk' territory.
Asgore chuckled, "I know what will help, how about we train some more, later today? Perhaps it will help with your bubbling emotions,"
"'Bubbling' isn't really the word I would use to describe this… b-but…okay, you're probably right, let's train," ('exploding' was a much better description of what he was feeling.)
Asgore gave Flowey a hardy flower pot pat "that's my boy!"
Flowey whined louder than necessary, being jostled was the last thing he needed at the moment.
"DAD! Could you not?!"
Asgore laughed sympathetically, then slowly frowned, his face stern but sad "so, do you plan on going back to live with your mother and Frisk now that you've 'fixed' your soul?"
That was right, now that his magic was stronger and had strengthened his soul, he was no longer afraid of it breaking… he thought back to how he had felt, it was actually kind of a dumb fear
… No….it was a REALLY DUMB fear, but that's just how scared and irrational he had felt about the very idea of losing his soul and risking the chance of his nightmare becoming a reality.
The only thing he was really afraid of now was losing Frisk as a friend or ties with his parents, which he was sure would happen if he would to be ever stupid enough to actually confess his feelings.
He was also now really nervous about seeing them again, the idea of never going back to face the person who was giving him a metaphorical heart attack and just living with his easy going father sounding like a really great one at the moment, but…
Ugh, if only he didn't miss them so damn much.
Also…wasn't this what he had been training for, for well over two months? To be able to live happily with his best friend Frisk in peace without the fear of losing his soul again?
So many mixed emotions, it was confusing and tiring, but he wouldn't trade them for the world.
"Yeah, I have to,"
Flowey noticed the frown on his father's face steadily become droopier and he panicked, "BUT it's not like I'll never come back! Gee whiz dad,"
...
A few hours later…
It wouldn't be long until Asgore came back, then they could train for the last time before Flowey left, but for now… Flowey sat in the backyard, staring at his patches of green grass.
He couldn't wait to show Frisk and Toriel would he could do, they were going to be so proud.
And knowing Toriel, she would probably put his new power to good use and make him help with the garden, he rolled his eyes and shook his head, yeah, she definitely would.
Flowey tunneled over to the nearest green patch, and focused a root on it, holding his breath… and watched as it quickly and somehow slowly grew in inches, he didn't stop until the patch was nearly a foot taller than him.
He smiled at it, a small bit of relief washing over him at the fact that he was still capable of using his new power and that this morning hadn't been some sort of dream.
He tunneled into the mass of grass, then falling back into it, surrounded by the tall green thick of blades as if it were a forest, letting a rare feeling of peacefulness envelope him.
Soon, he became lost in thoughts, imagining that he was normal again, limbs, horns, white fur and everything, and that he was lying in a bed, perhaps a hammock, since he was outside.
As he stared at the crisp blue sky, and watched as the clouds glided by, he breathed all of it in, focusing hard on his imagination, he could almost feel the fabric underneath his back, or how the gentle breeze tickled his snout.
Since he was normal now he had a normal soul, it would mean that he had never had to get use to the pain every time he felt compassion, he was living a normal life.
Being in love with Frisk felt right, so that was normal too. But since he was a monster in love with a human, there were still a lot of things he worried about, some of them were still the same worries he had now.
Would Frisk ever love him back? He already knew they had a 'thing' for monsters so…
Yes, in his world, they would, and it would be so easy to do because here he was normal and not a weird tiny abomination of a flower, in his world he would be obviously acceptable to date, really acceptable, because he'd be handsome, and tall, no- really tall, and best of all, had an entire body, he'd be everything he should have been.
He'd be able to hug Frisk properly and be worthy enough to not be afraid to tell them how he felt.
And with their requited love they'd hold each other and kiss and then kiss some more, and be together for as long as they possibly could.
He imagined Frisk and him on the cover of a magazine, a brilliant, amazing, charming human and a mysterious, striking, impressive goat monster.
Together, holding hands against all odds.
Would Toriel and Asgore be okay with it? Wouldn't it be weird and awkward?
Yeah, maybe? Of course they would be too nervous to tell them for a while, but it could be thrilling to keep that kind of secret, they already shared so many deep secrets, both bad and good.
…Apparently they also kept a lot of secrets from each other too. . .
-THUNK!-
-THUNK!-
-THUNK!-
The noise insultingly ripped Flowey out of his dreamland, he straightened up and tunneled out of the patch, looking around "that came from the front yard…," he said to himself.
Without another second to waste, Flowey disappeared into the dirt, tunneling to the source of the racket, when he got there, he was met with the sight of an angry human man that appeared to be in his late thirties beating the tar out of Asgore's mailbox with a metal bat.
A strong, protective anger tore into Flowey, and without thinking, he tunneled over to the human, who didn't seem to notice him at first, he was too busy smacking into the badly dented mailbox, before he could take another whack, Flowey spoke up.
"Howdy!"
The man jumped, backing away as soon as he got a glimpse of Flowey, going from defensive to fierce in a matter of seconds, holding his bat readily, warily staring down at him "I never seen one of your type before,"
Flowey pretended he wasn't about to whip this guy straight into next year "you haven't? That's strange, I live here,"
The man looked at him, then at the mailbox, and then back at him, "are you and that big thing the ones who've been making all that noise in the backyard the past months?"
Flowey rolled his eyes, "yes sir, me and the King have been training our magic, it's what monsters do, it's part of our heritage, if it's so noisy, how about you buy some ear plugs? Or consider moving away? It's probably a better idea than destroying his property that you're going to pay for,"
The man raised the bat higher, looking well and ready to swing it in Flowey's direction.
"I'm not going to do anything weed! You two don't deserve to live here! None of you do! And you know what? I'll do it again too, seeing as you don't even respect your own property, yeah, I saw that broken TV!" the man hissed.
Flowey rolled his eyes, "let me guess, you think the King did that, don't you?" a hideous toothy grin cracked onto his face as the man suddenly frowned fearfully at the insinuation.
"That's right, I did that. The King actually would never even willingly hurt a fly,"
The man started to back away again, fear in his eyes, but Flowey grabbed onto his leg tightly.
"Where ya going sir? You're not scared, are you?" he teased and genuinely laughed in amusement when the man cursed loudly.
"I don't think any of you are scary, what I think is that all of you just need to go back to where you came from!" the human growled, his fists tightening around the bat.
"That sounds a lot like racism, which, is actually directly derived from fear, and you seem really scared to me, nothing but a scared LIAR," Flowey ridiculed, and apparently, his devious grin was probably too much for the man, because he accidentally dropped his bat which then rolled away from his reach, and when he tried to reach for it, Flowey tugged back just a little too tightly.
"LET ME GO! YOU LITTLE FREAK!" the man shouted and with his tied up leg, kicked it out, connecting his hard shoe straight into Flowey's face.
"Ugh!" Flowey grunted, grimacing from the pain, instinctively loosening his grip on the racist's leg slightly, he rubbed at his aching face with another vine, okay… perhaps he had been a little too… 'Flowey'.
He quickly considered the option about letting his new angry and terrified friend go, mostly because he didn't want to run the risk of getting kicked again and losing a tooth or… something even worse, but damn it, Flowey wasn't about to let this jerk free feeling justified, he just couldn't.
"Okay buddy," Flowey began slowly, "I might have acted like a creep just now, but that's no excuse for KICKING A KID IN THE FACE!"
The man looked shocked, going pale "you're a kid?! You mean like a child?
It was times like these that made Flowey really appreciate the power of lying, and having such a cute ageless face and voice.
"Duh! Once I tell my flower family what you've done, you're going to be in sssoooo much trouble,"
At that response, the man instantly tried to run away again, pulling his leg back, but Flowey held tight as the anger boiled inside of him, wrapping his roots around the mailbox so he wouldn't get uprooted and also definitely making sure he wouldn't get kicked again.
"Look…I'm…sorry, I promise if you let me go and don't tell the…the… King what I did- I won't ever bother him or you ever again, I won't even press any charges, I'll uh… I'll even give you candy, monsters like candy don't you?" the man said, his demeanor completely changed, still trying to pull away.
"Candy? SERIOUSLY? You kick me in the face and then try to make it up to me with CANDY AND LIES?"
Flowey took a moment to try to calm himself down so he could attempt to think properly and not hurt the man, but it was too hard, he was too mad, he felt his magic flow through him and he gladly let it.
"I can't believe I BROKE the barrier down just to have you and hundreds, maybe thousands of other humans treat my kind like this, and look at me NOW! Being bullied and patronized by some dumb, angry, lunatic with a bad haircut and a freaking metal bat, who actually thinks he's going to get away with destroying the King of the freaking Monster's property! Its complete insanity and-!"
Wait a minute…
Flowey silently realized he was now at eye level with the 5'7 foot man, his eyes flickered down to the ground to confirm that oh yes, he had just grown taller, he also noted the large red spikes that ran down his now elongated stem, his dark eyes flickered back to the man and pursed his lips, he had no idea what he had just done to himself, but it seemed to be working to his advantage as the man was now no longer trying to run away.
Actually the man seemed to be frozen in fear, Flowey wondered if he had gone too far, what if he had just somehow gotten his father in trouble?
"Look, sir? You're probably waiting for me to be the bigger person here and let you go so you can get away with this, and you probably might… knowing your type, but, whatever you think of us, I just hope you know that you're wrong, you're wrong about all the monsters."
The man's mouth twitched, "you're not a child are you?"
Flowey made a shrugging motion with a few vines, "I'm almost fifteen, but what does that have to do with anything you insipid moron? Anyways, I don't want the trouble, so, I am going to be the bigger person and I am going to let you go. I'm hoping you actually won't press any charges and leave us alone, because knowing the King…he probably won't press charges either, because guess what? He's a nice guy and hates the idea of sending anyone into a prison, much like the one your kind put him and his race in,"
He then, released the man's leg, and to Flowey's surprise, the man continued to stand there, he looked like he might say something, hopefully something logical, that was… until Asgore drove up.
And off the man ran, metal bat and all.
Asgore nearly fell out of the doorway trying to get out, but he quickly reached his son, looking exasperated, "Asriel! You- you- you're tall! Are you okay? I saw Mr. Otto's bat,"
The thought of telling his dad that he had been kicked in the face passed his mind, but…ugh, no, it would probably cause more trouble than he wanted right now.
"I'm fine, I'm fine, nothing really serious happened, I was just trying to…talk to him because he smashed up your mail box,"
Asgore raised a very suspicious eyebrow at his son, looking at him closer, looking as if he was on the possible verge of becoming very angry.
"Are you sure? Is that all that happened? You look a little roughed up,"
Flowey's own anger began to fade as he focused on his next lie, and as he did, he noticed himself slowly shrinking, his spikes disappearing, looks like this was a new power activated by…anger induced magic? Well, so much for that.
"I ran face first into a huge rock tunneling over, I was in a hurry- so you can calm down, he didn't do anything serious, I'm kind of surprised though, I was sort of being a creepy jerk…uh, but after that didn't work I tried to talk sense to him, he said he wouldn't 'press any charges', but I-,"
Asgore lowered his brows sternly "why would he press charges?"
"Well, at first it was because he was angry about the noise we make when training, but then…I uh… wouldn't let him leave, …like I said…I was being a creepy jerk,"
"But you didn't…hurt him did you?" Asgore said, looking quite conflicted.
"No, you know I know better than that now, I just wanted to scare him a little," Flowey said, his voice small as he was now.
Asgore nodded firmly "I know that is your go-to method, and you were angry, but perhaps you should begin a different approach to dealing with these types of situations, don't you think son?"
Flowey pursed his lips for a second before speaking, "yeah…I guess I do now, I suppose old habits die hard…," he wasn't sure how well he could take that advice, as a flower, being terrifying was his best defense, but he had to admit his dad was right… to a certain extent.
Asgore sighed and smiled firmly "they do indeed, but it is a very good thing he didn't hurt you, if he had, well, I would have to call upon the authorities,"
Flowey looked at the remnants of the mailbox, "but, what about this? Are you going to get him in trouble for this?"
Asgore paced a little, he shook his head, "hm, I probably should, this is not the first time he has done it, but, it does not matter much to me, I am just relieved you were not hurt,"
Flowey huffed in annoyance, despite what he had said to Mr. Otto, he had still hoped his dad would prove him wrong and retaliate…
"You wouldn't be this apathetic about your property if he had messed with the Underground. Shouldn't this-," he motioned to the decently large house, "-be just as important? We earned all of this, right?"
"You are absolutely correct, but…," Asgore sighed, "in my eyes it is just a house, and sure, we have earned it, it's…just… how can I put this? To me, it's just a meaningless material possession, this house is only a place for me to sleep and eat, if it burns- I will not cry, I will move on and just as easily find a new place to rest- now, my real home? It is with you, Frisk, our friends and of course, The Underground, and the way I see it, no one provoked that little man but his own petty hatred, so I'm not sure why I should bother acknowledging him and stooping to his level,"
Asgore crouched down to get to better eye level, he looked extremely proud "and I'm glad you didn't either, do you still want to train? It looks like you picked up another new skill, do you want to try it out again?"
Flowey smiled lightly "no, I'm not really in the mood to fight anymore, can we just have something to eat before we leave instead?" he was slightly overwhelmed over the events that just happened.
His dad smiled back sympathetically, "of course, and speaking of food, Papyrus actually gave me new pasta to try out, and you may…or may not like it,"
…
The pasta Flowey soon found out, was…flower shaped.
Of course it was flower shaped.
Still, he couldn't find it in himself to not appreciate a gift from Papyrus.
"So, what exactly did you say to Mr. Otto?" Asgore said after a few minutes of silent eating.
"Uhhh, well," Flowey chuckled nervously, "I may have insulted him, and then pretended to be a kid…to y'know, guilt trip him for… smashing the mail box, but that didn't last long, I guess he's not as dumb as he looks, I guess,"
Asgore couldn't stop himself from laughing, clasping a paw over his mouth, cracking up, "oh nohohoho son, you really shouldn't lie about your age like that, you mustn't- hohoho!"
"I told him-," Flowey morphed his face into younger horribly cuter version of his face, altering his voice to be ridiculously high, "once I tell my fwower famiwy what you've done, you're gowing to be in so much twouble'!"
Flowey smiled, watching happily as his dad tried to stop laughing, but only laughed harder.
Once he calmed down, he looked back at Flowey and then took a double take, then stood up, "hold on, let me go get something,"
Flowey cocked his head to the side in confused as his dad rushed off, then came back holding measuring tape.
He went still as his dad came up and pulled the yellow strip out, pulling up to the top of Flowey's head, not counting the petals.
"Son! You grew! You've gone up one foot and eight inches!" he snapped the tape close, Asgore was completely elated.
Flowey held back his excitement "really? You don't think it's still my new growth move? I did it on accident so it might still be in effect,"
Asgore shook his head, still smiling, "who knows son, but it isn't all that strange, you are a teenager after all, it's the time for growth spurts, mind the pun,"
Flowey still hesitated "…but don't some plants grow up to only certain heights?"
"Then it seems that you're not just 'some plant' after all! If you're lucky, you could grow to be even taller than this, how very exciting!" Asgore said proudly, and sat to continue eating, though still paying attention to his son.
Flowey wasn't sure why he was being so skeptical, Asgore wasn't wrong, plants grow, and maybe that magic training helped more than just his soul, he finally grinned.
"I guess you're right again, this is actually… really cool,"
...
Later as they drove to Toriel's, Flowey couldn't stop thinking about what it was going to be like once he got back and how exactly he was going to handle being around Frisk now that he could…well… FEEL.
"So your mother told me that Frisk has a boyfriend," Asgore spoke up.
"Mmm," Flowey mumbled, too deep in his thoughts to listen, he really hoped he wouldn't have another 'I love you' slip up, or saying anything stupid in general, hhnnggh!
"Seemed just yesterday you two were outside playing in the mud and having tea parties with me…in the mud, now it's all romance and 'drama', ah, to be young again,"
"Mmhm, that's great," Flowey said, now at least half listening, watching as the familiar houses zoomed by, they were getting closer, the butterflies and bees circling anxiously inside of him, he gave a shaky sigh, if he felt like this now, what was he going to be like around Frisk again? God, he knew he was just going to mess this up.
Asgore looked at his son at the corner of his eye worriedly "are you okay son? You seem…nervous,"
Flowey forcibly calmed his features "it's nothing, I just have a lot on my mind,"
"As per usual it seems," the goat monster quipped, then chuckled like he knew what was really going on, and for all Flowey knew, he probably did, and it aggravated Flowey, but he said nothing, he didn't have to anything he didn't want to do.
Before he knew it, they were walking to the front door, and to his surprise, Alphys answered.
"Oh! Mr. Dreemurr, Flowey! Hi! What are you doing here?"
"I live here. What's your excuse?" Flowey stated flatly.
Asgore ignored the comment and momentarily raised Flowey high in the air as if he were a trophy.
"We have finally succeeded in training his magic! So, I am returning him to his mother and Frisk,"
Alphys grinned looking to Flowey, she fidgeted with her glasses and stepped closer to get a better look at him "did it really work?" she said in an excited hushed tone.
Flowey crossed his vines and gave her a cheeky smile, "it took forever, but of course it did, did you have any doubt in me?"
Alphys laughed and backed up to let them in.
"It's not perfect though, it still hurts and all, but what I achieved is enough for me, anyway, where's mom and Frisk?" Flowey added, looking around quickly as they entered the house.
But then he noticed a small toddler on the floor, it looked back up at him and Asgore and squealed happily in response.
"And…what…is this thing doing here?" Flowey asked, grimacing in disgust.
"I have a better question, who's is that?" Asgore added with slight worry.
Alphys patted the top of the toddler's head gently, "this is the neighbor's super cute baby, Frisk accidentally started a mini daycare service! So far it's going pretty well, and I'm here for babystudying! For . . . science? Oh and Toriel is checking homework in her study,"
Then, in the far reaches of the house, Flowey heard the sound of a door bang open, then the tip tapping of quick feet running down a hallway and-
-Saw Frisk slide into the room, an elated smile on their face, which brightened when they locked eyes with Flowey.
"FLOWEY! You're back!" they proclaimed ecstatically, skipping around Alphys and the toddler and instantly taking Flowey from Asgore, but also with their other arm, wrapped it around Asgore in a sweet side hug, it was happily returned.
Flowey grinned, a pleasant happy warmth filled him, by its side was an annoying pinching ache, but he could care less, he was so glad to be back with Frisk again and was pleased to see that they were just as glad.
They looked back and forth at him and Asgore eagerly "so you did it? Did you fix your soul? Are you all better?"
"Hm, half and half, it's not perfect, but I'd still brag about it," Flowey said, noticing when Frisk's smile faded in disappointment.
Asgore had to butt in "there is more! He learned two attacks and-,"
"Shshshshh dad! I'll show them later, don't spoil it!" Flowey panicked, holding a vine to his own lips to signify silence.
Asgore chuckled, this one not as annoying as before, "of course son," there was a moment of awkward quiet before Asgore spoke up again, "right! I'll go get your things,"
Flowey looked down at the toddler who had crawled up to the two, and had grabbed onto Frisk's pants leg with a tiny fist, gurgling observantly at the fabric, Flowey frowned in annoyance and looked back to Frisk who was grinning and waving down at the drooling thing, attempting a conversation with it.
"Hi Annieeee, hiiii, you like my purple pants? It's a nice color isn't it?"
Annie squealed back enthusiastically.
'Thrilling.' Flowey thought, rolling his eyes, "so, you 'accidentally' started a daycare huh?" waving two vines in a quotation motion.
Frisk finally looked back at him, grinning sheepishly, "I thought it would help my image when I become ambassador?"
"Yeah, like being a baby lover is really going to help, most people love babies, it's not really going to make you stick out anymore than anyone else," he said.
"Wow, this is turning out to be a great reunion," Frisk mumbled sarcastically under their breath.
"You know Flowey, if Frisk does a good enough job with the daycare, and is popular enough with parents, people will remember them better and feel more connected to them, as well to your parents, so actually…it will help their image," Alphys interjected.
Flowey narrowed his eyes at Alphys "you make it sound like Frisk is going to be doing this full time,"
Frisk's sheepish grin came back, "I… think it's time we finally take a look at your rad poster!" they said, and began walking, the look on their face silently confirming his suspicion.
But he wouldn't budge from the subject that Frisk was clearly trying to run away from.
"You're really doing this full time? Meaning there will be loud, smelly, screaming babies over here all the time?" Flowey asked, his frown deepening.
Frisk let out a long sigh before they spoke, preparing themselves to disappoint Flowey further.
"Not all the time, but… maybe just enough that it might… really… start to annoy you?" Frisk said, now looking a bit guilty.
"I should have just stayed with dad if I knew you'd do something like this," Flowey grumbled.
Frisk looked at him, going quiet and staring at him hard, "…you don't mean that," saying it as a matter of factly, but also sounding pretty hurt.
Flowey broke eye contact, biting his bottom lip, he couldn't take that face or the sadness in their tone, making him realize how much of a big jerk he was being, hadn't he been anticipating coming back for ages? He guessed he had fantasized this too much and the daycare news had indeed greatly disappointed him, but that wasn't any excuse for his attitude.
"Yeah, you're right, I don't," he admitted lowly, trying to brush off his embarrassment and shame.
Frisk, who now stood in front of the door to his room, stopped moving to take a moment to smile softly at him, their eyes sparkling, effectively replenishing the mood between them and then looked off to finally open his door.
"And here it is!"
But before he saw any poster, he saw a five gallon sized rectangle shaped fish tank already filled with water, inside it was decorated with flashy colors and fake plants.
"Wh-,"
"Surprise! You didn't just get a poster, you got a pet fish too!" Frisk announced, walking closer to the tank to give Flowey a better view.
He was speechless, and also very confused "I…but…where's the fish?" Flowey wondered, looking closer, and when he did, a small red fish with dark blue stripes and a long elegant tail swam into view, it stared back at the human and the odd flower in confusion with a perma grumpy face.
"It's called a betta fish! But I'm sure you'll think of him as an alpha! Hehe, fish joke. Do you like him?" Frisk asked, patiently but excitedly waiting for Flowey's response.
He cracked a shy grin, the warmth returning, this actually was one of the coolest fish he could say he's ever seen, "yeah I-,"
-"Asriel!" he heard a very familiar and very happy voice suddenly say from behind them.
At that, Frisk turned around, to which of course revealing for them Toriel who stood at the doorway with her arms opened wide.
"Mom!" Flowey greeted back with a big grin.
Without another word, Frisk moved forward to give Toriel her son, instead to their surprise, Toriel pulled both of them into a hug with Flowey in the middle.
"Hey mom! Uff!" he said right as his mother further pulled him into the best hug she could muster, his face being harmlessly squished into her arm in the process.
"It is so very good to have you back!" she exclaimed, unable to resist gently swaying her children bit, then pulled him back, he was met with the same kind of proud smile that his dad couldn't seem get off his face.
"Your father has proclaimed to me of how your training went, I'm glad it has worked out well enough, he had told me you were coming back beforehand, but I could not resist surprising Frisk," Toriel said, a mischievous smile wrapped onto her face.
"Hee, hee, hee," Flowey snickered as Frisk rolled their eyes, but they smiled in shared amusement nonetheless.
...