The air felt warm, which confused young Chara. They were underneath the ground, so there shouldn't be a Sun, but the air did not feel cool. It was moist and placed a comfortable temperature. He thought he might ask the Prince, but figured the other little boy probably wouldn't know either, although the main reason Chara kept his mouth shut was the sudden courage that drained him, suddenly prompting him to seal his lips. Asriel didn't seem to notice.
Both children looked around, Asriel trying to think of a fun game to play with his new friend, and Chara staring wide-eyed at the wide variety of colorful flowers and shrubs, many of which he had never seen before. The human's face lit up at the array.
"Mmm…we could play tag..?" Asriel was muttering, "Or hide-and-go-"
The goat child turned to the human and laughed, causing the brunette to jump up, red faced, and sputter in embarrassment.
"W-why are you laughing?! What'd I do?" Chara's face morphed into an annoyed pout as he crossed his arms, "What's so funny?"
It took a few moments, but the prince managed to compose himself enough to choke down the rest of his giggles. He smiled good naturedly at the new arrival.
"Nothing, I'm sorry. You just look so…amazed."
"These flowers are so pretty. I've never seen a lot of them before," Chara muttered at the ground, the blush tinting his cheeks again.
"I don't know the names of most of them, but I can show you some of the flowers that my parents say only grow in the Underground! If you want."
"How do flowers grow down here?"
Asriel blinked. "Why wouldn't they?"
"Don't plants need Sun to grow?"
The goat child shrugged, "These have been here since I was born, so I guess not."
Chara looked like he was going to ask something, but then changed his mind, instead saying, "Sure. We can look at the plants. Bet I can get to that purple one over there faster!"
Before the prince had time to react, the brunette had already taken off, laughing joyously. Asriel sputtered in indignation, then rushed to catch up to the younger boy. The smaller child was given too far a head start, however, and managed to reach the large, brightly colored flora first. Chara turned and laughed giddily.
"I win!" he announced proudly.
"Only because you cheated," Asriel reminded with a soft pout.
The human lightly punched the elder in the arm, his grin unfaltering, "Don't be a sore loser, Asriel! I won fair and square."
"Yeah, right…'fair'," the prince laughed with a role of his brown eyes.
In response, Chara stuck out his tongue good naturedly. His eyes drifted to the finish line.
"This is really pretty."
Asriel nodded. "My Daidi said it doesn't grow on the surface!..He didn't tell me why though. I guess it doesn't need sunlight," he looked at his friend, "You like flowers, too?"
Chara blushed and looked at his feet, "Well…my Dad says that I shouldn't 'cause it's too girly…but yeah, I kinda do." The child lifted his eyes to meet those of the monster, "They're pretty."
Asriel nodded, "Yeah! They are! I don't think liking flowers is girly. My Daidi loves flowers and he's a mighty King!" The child's head perked up as he thought of his father, "Oh yeah! You haven't met him! Let's go see hi-" He was about to grab the wrist of the other small one, but halted.
"What's wrong?"
"Mamai usually tells me to go play when she's talking with the grown-ups about something she doesn't want me to know," the boy shook his head for emphasis, "So we probably shouldn't leave until she comes to get us."
"Your Mom doesn't seem mean like my Dad is," the brunette thought aloud, then his face broke into a wide, mischievous grin, "We should go anyway! Uh…we probably won't get in trouble, right?"
"I…don't know. I don't think we should, Chara."
"Come on! It'll be like an adventure! We're basically grown up now anyway, right? My Dad always tells me I need to be an adult."
"But…"Asriel gave a thoughtful, and slightly concerned look, not sure if he should say this, "I thought you don't like your Dad?"
"I don't." Chara's expression deadpanned sadly, "But that doesn't mean he was wrong."
The monster child made no move to go. Chara grabbed his furry paw and pulled him in the direction of the castle, and soon allowed the occupant to lead as the two boys made a silent agreement.
After all, it was only bad if they got caught, right?