[IC] Undertale: Above the Ground

[Spooky Tanuki]

It was a warm summer evening. The sun had just begun to climb up to its peak, setting the sky a brilliant blush color, and the chirping of cicadas had rose to a loud buzz. Toriel was up and about in her cozy little college, dusting things here and straightening things there in the den. She hummed contentedly, pink-touched nose twitching as the mouth-watering scent of the pie she was baking drifted from the kitchen, and the base of her long ears perked the slightest. It shouldn't be too much longer, she thought with a soft smile, her eyes crinkling happily. She simply could not wait for Frisk to try this one; she'd looked up new recipes on what the child had called the 'internet' and found a rather exquisite-looking chocolate pie. She had been dying to make it for her beloved little human ever since. A childish giddiness arose in the Boss Monster's chest like tiny butterflies, and she couldn't resist giving her hips a little wiggle as she carried on cleaning.

[Spooky Tanuki]

Asgore sat in silence at his window, watching as the sun drifted higher and higher still. He took a small sip of his tea, feeling humbled by the sight of it all. There was so much more to the world than the underground they had been confined to for what felt like forever; he had almost forgotten that. He took another sip and admired the vibrant pink the sky had just become, blinking gently as a faint smile stole his expression. "How cute..." he murmured cheerfully. A piece of him couldn't help but wonder if Tori was looking at this gorgeous sky as well... Unable to help himself, Asgore allowed his soft gaze to shift to the little cottage sitting not too far away from his own. Loneliness gnawed at his belly when he remembered she would not have his company, but he quickly whisked it away with a wistful sigh and rose from his seat, gingerly setting the teacup down. "I wonder how my sunflowers are growing," he said aloud, somewhat absentmindedly, as he strode to the front yard to check on them, slipping his light pink apron on in the process.

[Lilygold]

Undyne pried her eyes open groggily, reluctant to wake up. Soft morning light filtered in through the blinds, and she sat up roughly. Careful not to wake Alphys, she slipped out of bed and went to go ready some breakfast. She rubbed the sleep from her eye as she walked. The fish warrior felt a new day's energy begin to come to her. She prepared some pancakes, more calmly than usual, and fiddled with her teal energy spears while she waited for them to cook. It was sort of mesmerizing to watch the luminous light reflect off assorted surfaces. Once the pancakes were finished, she readied a cup of coffee and headed back to the bedroom, tray of monster food in hand. Her cooking had improved greatly since moving to the surface, especially if she didn't set things on fire. Not that that wasn't immensely amusing. Undyne stood in front of the unopened door for a moment, waiting for the perfect opportunity. Suddenly, she burst into the room with a hearty "WAKE UP, NERD!" Grinning, she laid the tray on the lap of her amazing nerd science dinosaur. Down on one knee, she bowed, still grinning. "At your service."

[fourtimesnine]

A loud yell caused Alphys to startle awake with a small yelp, but she relaxed when she saw that it was Undyne being her usual strong self. Alphys wasn't a fan of waking up in general, but being woken up by your awesome fish girlfriend was the best. Especially if she brought you breakfast in bed. Alphys had been wary of Undyne's cooking at first, but her skill level had improved tremendously since that time when she and Frisk had set her house on fire. These pancakes didn't look pounded to dust or on fire at all.

Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Alphys said, "Wow, Undyne, you didn't h- have to. Not that I don't appreciate it! These are great! Um, thank you."

Alphys was blushing. Why did she have to get embarrassed so easily? Now Undyne was bowing gallantly on one knee, which was simultaneously silly and heartwarming.

"Come on, get up here and share these with me," Alphys huffed, patting the bed beside her.

[thanatosDefiant]

Frisk laid recumbent on their bed, a torn notebook in their hands. It was the same torn notebook that they had found underground what seemed like ages ago. A lot of the pages were torn and the thing was nearly incomprehensible because of its damaged state, save for a few specific pages. Frisk had had their curiosity piqued ever since they first found it in the underground. While it was still quite messed up, Frisk found the notebook useful for a variety of tasks. Writing down new snail facts they found on the internet, for example, was one of them. This was mainly for their mom, since they truthfully couldn't care less for the things. Fun fact: Snails have actually proven themselves to be quite the successful real estate vendors. Huh.

The aroma of the chocolate pie permeated their nostrils and their mouths instantly began to water. They looked at Flowey, whom they had put right next to their closet. It was a small room, but Frisk had no problem with this.

"Wanna come with?" They asked the flower, as concise as ever.

[booksmusicanime]

@thanatosDefiant
Flowey sent a look at them. "Fine." He snapped, looking angry. "Idiot...." He mumbled, just loud enough to be heard however.

Mana stepped out her front door onto her little home's porch. Her long hair was pulled up out of her face and a pair of sunglasses were over her eyes. She looked up at the sun, smiling slightly. "This is a good day for painting." She mumbled, grabbing her shoulder bag from it's place by her feet. She started to go down the steps but misplaced her foot and went tumbling down the wooden steps onto the hard concrete below. "Ow....No longer a good day."

[Lilygold]

@fourtimesnine
"If you insist, Alphy." Undyne clambered back onto the bed, but not under the covers. She was already awake, no need. "Actually, wait a second. If we're gonna share these, I'll go get another plate. Meanwhile, feel free to stuff yer face." The fish lady slipped back off the bed, again, and made the trip back to the kitchen. Grabbing another plate, she didn't hesitate to grab some syrup. Pancakes, regardless of personal opinion, are not pancakes unless drowned to ensure that they were fully dead before consumption. Undyne spent a little bit of an unnaturally long time on this, making sure Alphys had time to eat something. She needed food, even if she was busy with science stuff sometimes, and the warrior would ensure her dinosaur ate if it was the last thing she did. Finally, she made her way back into the room with plate and syrup drowning device. Undyne did not try to disguise her scrutiny of the plate as she came in, inspecting whether she had eaten some share of pancake freedom.

[fourtimesnine]

Alphys eyed the pancakes as Undyne left. On the one hand, she wanted to wait for Undyne so that they could share the pancakes together. On the other hand, Undyne had told her that she could eat. After a few moments of indecision, she decided to do as Undyne had said, and dug into her pancakes. The first bite was pure happiness - pancakes were way better than instant ramen and the other kinds of food she usually ate.

After an unusually long time, Undyne returned with another plate and a large bottle of syrup. She seemed to be staring at Alphys' plate. Uh oh. Should Alphys have eaten less? More?

@Lilygold

[AcetheKidd]

Kid[ monster kid] walked into grillby's bar, feeling rather bored and rather upset. There was no one who bothered to talk to him. He then saw the fire monster come over cover with a cup of juice, but it had a cover on it so it didn't spill on his self. "Here you go..cheer up kid. " Grillby said

Kid smiled. "Thanks..I'll try."

[Saarebas]

"How.... fascinating." The slim figure that was W.D. Gaster thought as he gazed upon the sun rise in pure awe. Gaster had spent what felt like an eternity scattered across space and time, alone with nothing to do but contemplate how the world continued on without him as if he never existed in the first place. But ever since the barrier had been broken it seemed that he had been returned, or at least in some form. Regardless of what he current state of being truly is Gaster planned on enjoying it as long as he could and the only way he could do that was to take in all the pleasantries he could. He let a small smile come to his skeletal face as he enjoyed the sun rise for a few more moments before slowly turning on his heels and beginning to walk off. "Now there are two people I must go visit."

[thanatosDefiant]

"Grumpy much?" Frisk walked over to the flower's pot and picked it up. They left through the door and walked to the source of the wonderful aroma.

"Smells nice. What're you cooking today, mom?" Frisk walked over to the table and set the flower down, sitting on a nearby seat as they did so. They had gotten very comfortable with the idea of calling Toriel "mom". Her personality didn't exactly make it a hard thing to get accustomed to, really. They were also working on their communication skills with mixed success. Maybe one day they'd be able to make a sentence at least 15 words long.

[Spooky Tanuki]

@booksmusicanime @thanatosDefiant

Toriel smiled down at her precious child, gently running clawed fingers through their hair. A bright blush stretched over her maw as she heard "mom" fall from their lips. It wasn't that she didn't like them referring to her as such; quite the opposite, really. But, every time they did, it just reminded her of how they had chosen her to be their caregiver - their "mother," if you will. She could not help but beam each time.

The Boss Monster glanced over at Flowey for a moment, offering him a kind expression. She did not for a second expect the golden flower to return it, but she refused to treat him as any less than Frisk. He was her child now, too, whether he liked it or not.

"Oh, I have found the most charming recipe for a pie, my children," Toriel chimed, turning and crouching to look into the oven. It was baking nicely, its edges browning and forming a tantalizing crust. The rich smell of chocolate flooded her senses, making her stomach rumble. In a sudden epiphany, Tori realized that she had not made a proper dinner for Frisk yet, and instead was making them dessert. Dread began coursing through her. In her excitement, she had neglected the human's nutrition! What kind of mother was she?

"A-Ah, but of course, this is not what's for dinner..." she stammered in an attempt to cover her mistake, embarrassed eyes flitting around the room. Spinning back to face the two children, she smiled, "Would you care to go to Grillby's for dinner and have the pie as dessert later?" It was more of a command than a suggestion, really. That was only set further in stone when she began to dust flour from her robe and look for a hat to wear.

[Spooky Tanuki]

@booksmusicanime

Asgore jumped at the sudden sound of a loud "THUD" from afar. His long ears wiggled at their base, and he rose from where he'd been bent over a newly budding sunflower. The former king set his blue whale watering can down carefully, pausing with a thoughtful grunt. His curiosity got the best of him, and he began walking in the direction of the sound, absently picking grass from his apron along the way. Eventually, he stumbled upon a rather peculiar scenario; it seemed a human was lying awkwardly on the ground.

The big Boss Monster flinched at the sight of her, then rushed to her side immediately when he realized that she was in pain. "O-Oh goodness..!" he exclaimed worriedly, bending down beside the girl. He looked her over for a moment, deciphering the best way to handle the situation. Humans' bodies were tiny and fragile in comparison to his, so he made sure he was very careful when he slid his large paws under her arms to lift her up. "A-Are you okay, child..?" he murmured. Suddenly realizing how easily he could scare her, what, with his broad shoulders, tall horns, clawed digits, and being a monster, Asgore stiffened. He shrunk into his flowery shirt a bit, not wanting to intimidate the poor girl, and allowed an awkward chuckle to rumble from his throat.

[booksmusicanime]

@Spooky Tanuki
Mana looked up at him from underneath some of her red bangs. Her sunglasses had fallen off to reveal her wide, curious blue eye and green eye. She didn't even seem fazed by his appearance. "I'm good sir! Thank you for being concerned though!" She said giving a bright and cheeky grin, ignoring the pain coming from her scrapped up hands, knees, and elbows. No blood was visible yet, but due to wearing a short sleeve shirt her scars were visible. "I'm Mana, what's your name?" She asked, still smiling brightly. She was just a tiny thing but she had a lot of energy in her, that was quiet noticeable.

Flowey crossed his leaves in a mannerism that could only show he wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone, not like he ever was, but he just looked more grumpy than usual. Though he did keep himself from making a snarky comment at Toriel, he wasn't in the biggest mood to have someone chastise him for being rude and mean.

[Lilygold]

Undyne stared down the plate of pancakes. Once thoroughly inspected, she made her judgement. The fish lady just grinned wordlessly, hopping energetically back onto the mattress. She set the syrup bottle down onto the tray, put the plate onto her own lap, and divided up the remaining pancakes equally. Undyne nudged the syrup to Alphy first for courtesy. "How's the grub?" she inquired in a relaxed tone while cutting pieces of pancake.

@fourtimesnine

[fourtimesnine]

Alphys relaxed when she say Undyne's smile. She was still new to the whole relationship thing, and she tended to get anxious very easily. Nonetheless, Alphys was improving over time, and for the moment Undyne had enough confidence for the both of them.

"Thanks," Alphys said as she drizzled syrup on her pancakes. "Your food is, um...it's really good!" She passed the syrup to Undyne.

The pancakes were fluffy and sweet, the bed warm and soft. It was so nice to be able to experience simple joys like breakfast in bed with your awesome fish lady. Everything was so peaceful now. Alphys could access the human internet all she wanted, and had indeed caught up on all the new seasons of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie that hadn't turned up in the Waterfall garbage. She also had a new job - after being fired from the position of royal scientist, she found a job at another lab almost immediately. Her hours were pretty flexible, so she could still spend time with her friends whenever she wanted.

"Did you have any plans for today?" Alphys inquired as she finished off the last of her pancakes. If Undyne had something to do that day, Alphys didn't want to keep her from it.

@Lilygold

[Spooky Tanuki]

@booksmusicanime

Asgore breathed a sigh of relief when the girl stated her well being. However, he couldn't help but notice all the scratches she had received from the fall, and worry began seeping back into him. He almost hadn't caught what she went on to say but managed to snap back to their conversation just in time. A soft smile tugged at his lips. Despite her painful incident and his foreign appearance, she seemed to be a rather cheery human.

"Ah, Mana, you say?" he echoed, doing his best to put her name to memory. "My name is Asgore. I am from the Underground," the monster explained, using a hand to gesture his words. His smile faltered, memories of the past threatening to overtake him, but he allowed them to pass as he looked down at the smiling human. He couldn't help but wonder how different he would be if he could borrow some of her strength.

Suddenly shaking his head, Asgore murmured, "But, this is neither the place nor the time to be chatting..." He ran his claws through his golden beard, giving Mana an almost fatherly gaze. "If you would like, I have some things at home that I can patch you up with? We could continue our conversation over a cup of tea..." The warmest of smiles stole his maw, and he tilted his head invitingly. "What do you say, Mana?"

[Lilygold]

@fourtimesnine

Undyne casually observed Alphys as she put a little syrup on her pancakes and ate. She picked up the syrup bottle and drowned her own pancakes thoroughly. She stopped before it leaked, but ended up with a rather large amount of maple-flavored goodness just the right size for her. As the dinosaur complimented her cooking, she ate a piece and replied with her mouth full, "Aw, thanks Alphy." After having a bit, she did follow it up with, "Wow, these are pretty good," before proceeding to devour the rest of the fully soaked mess.

Undyne loved her little dinosaur scientist. Ever since they'd moved in together in the surface, Alphys had seemed so much happier. They indulged in many anime-watching sessions, and Alphys kept Undyne from wrecking the place too fully. They'd had a good laugh about some things before though. As long as the apartment didn't burn down like her last house, the fish lady was content with Alphy's happiness.

She was still part of the 'Royal Guard', so to speak. Undyne occasionally had to go protect the ambassador, Frisk, on diplomatic meetings. Otherwise, she worked part-time for a moving company. It was good practice for her not to smash things. Whenever she did want to smash things, she'd go visit Sans and Papyrus. She still enjoyed making a good plate of INTENSE SPAGHETTI, after all.

As she started eating her last few bites of pancake, she heard Alphys ask her what her plans were for the day. In response, she stabbed a piece of soaked pancake from her plate and stuffed it into Alphys' mouth as she was closing it. "Eh... I don't have much planned. You know me, I'm not a scheduling person. Now that I think about it, I might go grocery shopping, but that's about it."

[booksmusicanime]

@Spooky Tanuki
Mana's eyes lite up brightly when Asgore mentioned he was from the Underground. A bunch of questions jumped to her mind but she bit them back when she caught his smile falter. She gave a even brighter smile at his offer. "That would be nice Mr. Asgore." She said, her eyes were slightly squinted from her smile but she still looked happy and hyper. She quickly bent to the ground and scooped up her broken sunglasses, not really bothered about her different colored eyes being seen.

[thanatosDefiant]

@Spooky tanuki
@Booksmusicanime

"Hear that? You're my brother now." A tiny smirk appeared on Frisk's face as Toriel called Flowey one of her children. Whether he liked it or not, the flower was part of their family now. Shame that he couldn't eat pie, they could have all shared a dinner as a family. Wait...COULD he eat pie? If Sans was able to drink ketchup despite being a skeleton, why wouldn't a flower be able to eat food as well. Frisk squinted their eyes as they stared at Flowey in deep thought. This was definitely a mystery worthy of their time.

Frisk immediately opened their mouth to protest holding off the pie for dessert, but closed it as they considered it. The pie was undoubtedly going to be delicious, as Toriel's often were, but going to Grillby's would give them an opportunity to meet Sans. Maybe even Papyrus, if they were lucky. Either way, he didn't really want to argue with Toriel. She was just one of those people you couldn't help but want to appease.

"Hmm..." Frisk nodded their head. "Mm-hmm. I really wanna see Sans again, too. I wonder if he has more hot dogs...?" Sans' hot dogs were always great. So were his hot cats, for that matter. Frisk wondered if he would ever consider branching out to more hot animals. Hot kangaroos, maybe? Or better yet, hot whales? Neither sounded particularly appetizing, but they knew Sans would be able to pull either one off pretty well.