Hindsight is 20/20, or so his mother had once said. Flowey never really understood the expression, not until now anyway... picking a fight with Undyne, what had he been THINKING?! Either that knock to the head had been harder than he'd thought, or there was a lot of pent-up anger somewhere... regardless of why he'd done it, he'd been an idiot. Thankfully Sans hadn't been watching... he'd considered reloading but some good did come of it; Undyne was much more open with him now. So in a way, perhaps it was the right thing to do?
Over the week following the gathering Flowey learned a lot about the town from its residents. For example, he'd learned that Snowdin didn't have a mayor. Most of the town's decision making was either spontaneous or communally agreed and whenever there was trouble, Undyne would step in to straighten it out. He'd also learnt more about the teens who tormented Gyftrot. A group of Icecap triplets made up the troublemakers of the gang, always trying to one up and stand out from each other in both schemes and fashion sense. With or without their involvement however, the deer monster had been attacked again, and there were rumors floating around that Snowdrake and his father had had another falling out at about the same time.
Papyrus ended up feeling so bad about the whole situation that he'd gathered together some locals to bring a tree into town, and decorate it the same way he'd seen in some of Sans' old human magazines. They put gifts underneath for everyone; Snowdrake, Gyftrot... there'd even been one for Flowey... a bone, from Papyrus. Thanks Papyrus. Unfortunately the deer monster didn't come into town often so someone needed to take its presents to it personally. It was the thought that counted, he supposed.
Oh Papyrus... so 'innocent and nice'. Undyne's words kept coming back to him and if there was one thing she was right about, it's that being nice gets you killed. The more training sessions he attended, the more he was losing faith in this plan... but the possibility was still worth hanging onto. He may just be approaching this the wrong way...
Flowey stared at the closed doors to Undyne's house and yawned; The two monsters had been in there much longer than usual. He didn't follow them in houses anymore, he didn't go inside anywhere on his own out of respect for peoples floor tiles. It was annoying and inconvenient, but not usually a big deal.
He looked out into the quiet area beyond Undyne's little nook. The thought occurred that despite spending all that time getting to know about Snowdin, he hadn't bothered to talk to the residents here besides minor interactions. Hmm... perhaps he was tunnel visioning himself by trying to focus on one person at a time? Getting to know everyone could make this a whole lot easier. Kinda like a puzzle, to solve it you needed all of the pieces... it would probably have been quicker too, come to think of it...
Oh well, if there was ever a next time he'd keep that in mind! A small yellow bird flew into the cavern and set down on the still pool of water, a moment later a second, smaller bird joined it. They chirped merrily and splashed water over each others backs, then they spotted Flowey. They stared across at him silent and unblinking... well, this was suddenly awkward. He smiled and raised a vine to give a friendly wave, but they fled the moment he lifted it from the ground. Great start...
Next door were a couple of bulbous and top-heavy houses, one in blue and the other an orange-brown. Light shone pink through the brown house's single front window so Flowey tried knocking on the door, but there was no response. Looks like no one was home. Another cave joined onto this one, inside a wooden fence formed some sort of enclosure. That feeling of familiarity was nagging at Flowey's mind again, he surfaced inside to get a better look. Huh, the pen was full of snails.
"hello... welcome to the blook family farm..."
Flowey almost jumped.
"oh... i'm sorry... i didn't mean to scare you..." A ghost floated beside him, their eyes wobbled as though teary.
"It's okay. I wasn't scared." Flowey wondered if he should make some reassuring gesture, but wasn't sure what. Besides, the ghost didn't even have hands...
Hang on a second... he knew this ghost! This was the same ghost that visited the ruins back when he'd, uh... been in a very bad place. He'd recognized it then too, and now, next to the snails he remembered why. He'd come here a in life. Not often, only once or twice with his mother while on shopping errands to collect snails. They were her favorite.
"are you here to buy snails...?"
He shook his head. "No, sorry. I'm... uh, new here and just wanted to see if anyone was around. It's nice to meet you...?"
"oh..." The ghost looked about awkwardly. "i saw you by the farm and thought you might..." They trailed off. "well, i guess i could invite you to join me in my house... if you wanted to, that is. I don't start work properly for another hour anyway... but it's fine if you don't want to come."
They faded and were gone before Flowey could make a response. He smiled to himself and headed back to the cave with the two deformed houses, this was a much better start! He stood in front of the second house and tried to knock but the door creaked open at his touch.
The space inside was small and rundown, the floorboards old and filled with gaps. In one corner the ghost - who was now wearing a set of headphones - seemed to be working on something at a computer, which looked just as old and beaten up as everything else here.
Flowey surfaced in a gap between two loose floorboards, then cleared his throat loudly.
"oh... i didn't think you would actually come." The ghost looked a little embarrassed. "well, make yourself at home, i was just... checking something on the internet..."
The internet? Papyrus had mentioned being popular on there a couple of times, though Flowey never paid much notice. Hmm, come to think of it, Chara used to mention the internet from time to time as something humans used on the surface. Though monsters had managed to get a few human computers functioning during his lifetime, they never had an 'internet' of their own back then.
"Can I see?" He asked eagerly. "I've never been on the internet before."
The ghost looked apprehensive, but floated out of the way. "it's not very interesting..." Flowey craned to get a closer look, the screen displayed a page split into several rows of text, each beside a little icon and name. "it's just a forum i like to share my music on sometimes..."
Oh this was interesting! "You make your own music? Can I hear some?"
"oh... sure." The ghost hovered back to the computer and opened a new window. A moment later a chilling, spooky ambiance filled the room. "do you like it?"
It wasn't to Flowey's taste, but he could think of someone who might enjoy it... hee hee hee. "It's great. Very... spooky."
"oh gee, thank you... i have a few other cds lying around. you can put them on if you want to..." He looked around at the CD cases scattered across the floor. As tempting an offer as that was, he decided not to take it. "are you hungry?" The ghost floated to a fridge in the corner of the room and pulled out two transparent sandwiches.
They presented one to Flowey. May as well... he thought and reached out with a vine which passed right through.
Oh.
The ghost took the sandwich away. "oh... maybe you need to leave your body to eat that... or have you already fused with it?"
Flowey frowned. "What?" That didn't make any sense...
"i never took a body so i didn't know... sorry."
Wait a minute... did they think...? "I'm not a ghost!" He snapped as a surge of indignation washed over him. He may have died, and he may now be stuck with an inanimate object as a body but... wait, was he a ghost?!
"oh... i'm sorry..."
An icy shiver ran through his stem, he shook it off. "It's okay." Monster ghosts probably didn't work like that anyway... he decided to change the subject. "Who runs the farm with you?"
The ghost turned away and put both sandwiches back in the fridge. "no one anymore, i'm the only employee..." They floated back to the computer. "my cousins used to, but they all took corporeal forms and moved away... i can't really blame them..."
"Oh... I guess this place doesn't get much business anymore, huh?"
"was it that easy to tell? we used to, but our main customer disappeared one day..."
Flowey had a feeling he knew who that was. Sooner or later he should try to get his mother out of the ruins. For now though, gathering information was more important. "Does anyone live next door?"
"not anymore..." A single, tiny tear escaped the ghost's eyes and they turned away again. They stared at their computer monitor for a moment, then switched it off and placed their headphones on the desk. "a show i like is about to start... would you... like to watch it with me?"
The last time Flowey had seen anything on a TV he'd been a different person. Like the internet, monsters back then didn't have television stations of their own and mostly watched human video tapes and monster-made home movies. He'd especially enjoyed human cartoons.
"Sure."
The ghost approached a battered old TV on the ground and twisted a dial, the picture flicked on with a hiss of static.
"-BEAUTIES AND GENTLEBEAUTIES, I HOPE YOU ALL HAD A WONDERFUL NIGHT! NOW IT IS TIME TO GET UP, AWAKE AND READY FOR ANOTHER GLORIOUS DAY WITH ME, YOUR HOST, METTATON!"
The picture wasn't very clear flickered intermittently between color and black and white. Mettaton was lounging on a comfy-looking coach opposite another monster who appeared considerably less relaxed. A large empty table covered much of the foreground while a mural of the New Home skyline hung on the wall behind. Flowey was vaguely aware of the ghost moving to sit beside him.
"I AM JOINED BY MY WONDERFUL GUEST, HOTS FLAMESGUY!"
"It's actually-"
"WHY DON'T YOU EXPLAIN FOR ALL THE MONSTERS AT HOME WHAT IT IS THAT YOU DO?"
There was a pause while the picture zoomed in on the little fire monster who's expression was hard to make out. "I maintain the elevators in Hotland. It's actually a-"
"FABULOUS! SO, FIRES, HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS INFRASTRUCTURE TO MONSTERKIND?"
"Well, without it we wouldn't be able to travel in Hotland at all. You see, we use a system of high-energy electromagnets that..."
Flowey yawned, he looked over at the ghost who was watching the screen transfixed, a little smile had formed across their face.
"FASCINATING, TRULY FASCINATING! SO WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF, FOR EXAMPLE, THE POWER WERE TO BE CUT WHILE SOMEONE WAS TRAVELING THROUGH THESE PIPES?"
"Uh... the magnets would fail and the cabin would be sent plummeting down the shaft, along with anyone inside..."
"HOW DRAMATIC! I'LL BE SURE TO LOOK INTO THESE FOR MY UPCOMING SHOW-"
"I really wouldn't advise using the elevator system like tha-"
"IT HAS BEEN A PLEASURE HAVING YOU ON THE SHOW TODAY! EVERYONE IN THE STUDIO AUDIENCE, PLEASE, GIVE A BIG HAND FOR MAGMA HOTSMAN!"
The picture zoomed in on the fire monster again who's eyes were now darting uncertainly between Mettaton and the camera, then it cut to a close up of Mettaton who was clapping mechanically.
"NOW IT IS THAT TIME IN THE SHOW WHEN WE ASK YOU ALL TO PREPARE YOUR FRYING PANS! THAT'S RIGHT, IT'S TIME FOR THE MORNING RECIPE! TODAY WE-"
A thunderous boom cut off the sound of the TV which filled with static as the old house shook, dislodging a storm of dust from the rafters. It sounded like it came from next door... oh no. He'd completely forgotten about Papyrus and Undyne!
Flowey rushed outside just in time to see glass flying everywhere as Papyrus lept through Undyne's front window and landing with surprising grace. Undyne followed soon after, her leap morphing into a roll which collided with Papyrus and sent them both collapsing into a heap. One big, hysterically laughing heap.
"What happened?!" What the heck had they been DOING in there? He'd not even been gone for all that long!... And he'd also forgotten to put down a SAVE point. Dammit!
"I heard an explosion, are you okay Undyne?!" Flowey turned, Gerson was running up from behind, though it looked like he was struggling. He reached the cave entrance and bent over panting. "These old bones aren't what they used to be..."
"We're fine don't worry!" Undyne got up and brushed off some dirt, her face was covered in something red and lumpy. "We just had an accident in the kitchen."
Gerson looked the house up and down, dark smoke was bellowing from the broken window. "Mighty big 'accident' there..."
"WE COOKED SPAGHETTI!" Papyrus sprang to his feet to stand beside Undyne. "BUT IT MIGHT BE A LITTLE OVERDONE..."
She smiled awkwardly and patted him on the back. "Maybe just a bit..."
Papyrus glanced over his shoulder. "YOUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE."
"That was completely reckless of you!" Gerson glared with one eye and put his hands on his hips, then strangely seemed to relax. "But also really impressive... I don't know why I expected anything else." He looked defeated.
Flowey was at a loss for words. On one hand he was annoyed they'd left him outside to wait without telling him they'd changed their plans. While on the other he was completely bewildered as to how anyone could blow up their kitchen while cooking spaghetti...
"hello? sorry to bother you... i just came to see if everyone was ok?... i'll leave if you want me to..." The ghost appeared beside him, partially obscured by the mouth of the cave.
"Everyone is fine, don't worry." Gerson turned to the ghost, but his eye stopped on Flowey. It hovered on him for a long time. "Hello...?"
Why did these meetings always have to be so awkward? "Howdy."
Thankfully Undyne seemed to notice. "He's a friend of ours." She said reassuringly.
"Oh..." Gerson turned away. "Well if he's with you then he can help in cleaning up this MESS!" He snapped and took another look at the scene before shaking his head. "I'm going to fetch Woshua."
He turned around and hobbled out of the cave, and out of sight. A silence fell, Papyrus, Undyne and Flowey busied themselves with picking up broken glass and after some shy awkwardness, the ghost joined too.
Flowey grabbed a few stray shards of glass in tendrils and dropped them in a steadily growing pile. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Hmm?" Undyne didn't look up from where she was kneeling.
He stopped what he was doing. "That you changed your plan. You left me waiting outside."
"Oh that." She smiled, looking a little embarrassed. "It was kind of a spontaneous thing..."
Papyrus approached with a handful of glass, oblivious to the many shards spilling from his gloves."WE WERE TALKING ABOUT SPAGHETTI, THEN UNDYE HAD THE BRILLIANT IDEA OF GIVING ME A COOKING LESSON!"
"Yeah and it was KICK-ASS!" She punched him in the shoulder, sending most of his handful flying. "... Up until the oven exploded."
He dropped off the remains with a guilty frown. "SORRY UNDYNE."
She shook her head and patted him on the shoulder again, lighter this time. "Hey it's not your fault, that old thing needed replacing anyway! I'll get a better oven for next time."
He looked at her and smiled, he clearly felt some guilt for the damage but he didn't express it. Flowey watched them in silence, did this mean that Undyne had given up on warrior training for Papyrus? Or were these cooking lessons just something extra? He shook his head, only time would tell... and learning to cook properly would probably do Papyrus some good...
"i need to leave now..." Everyone turned to face the voice. Flowey had forgotten the ghost was still here.
Undyne waved and smiled warmly. "Thanks for helping out!"
Papyrus did the same. "THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!"
"Thanks-" Flowey cut himself off. He just realized that he didn't know their name. It was something-blook, wasn't it? Spookyblook? Rapsterblook?... No, that wasn't it. Suddenly he really wished that he'd paid more attention in the past...
The ghost dropped several glass shards onto the pile and started fading away. "goodbye."
Then they were gone.
Flowey sighed with frustration. Well, it was too late to ask right now, he'd have to wait till later. Chara would have remembered...