#I think either you or button could respond next? whether it's just Valor answering him or Asgore getting here with tea stuff

[scientistredacted]

❝IT'S ONE OF THE ONLY PLACES DOWN HERE THAT GETS SUNLIGHT,❞ Dr. Gaster says quietly, looking up at the many small gaps in the stone above them, and the sun streaming in through them. It's bittersweet, to get these tiny glimpses of the blue sky here, but still feel so far from really seeing it.

Any time it rains on the mountain, Asgore still gets him, because rain falling through and running in small streams across the stone into this room is the closest they can really get to real rain, and Asgore knows that it's his favorite.

It rains in waterfall too, but that's not the same.

❝AND HE'S LOVED GROWING FLOWERS SINCE WE WERE YOUNG. SO, YES, HE PUT A GARDEN IN HIS THRONE ROOM.❞

He looks sidelong at Valor, ❝WHO IS BELOS?❞

This was indeed the king's house.

At least, he assumed the imposing goat monster wearing the crown in front of them was the king. Even though he . . . didn't really seem to be wearing any other kind of regalia that signified his importance in the kingdom. That was . . . weird. Definitely throwing him off.

And the inside of the house was also identical to Toriel's in the ruins. Toriel who . . . was also a goat monster. And greatly enjoyed puns. And . . . hold on.

Was Toriel the queen?

Valor's thoughts were interrupted when the watering can dropped to the ground, and he winced, his ears flicking down. Still! That was a better reaction than most of the previous monsters he'd encountered. It seemed Dr. Gaster's reassurance that no one would attack him when accompanied by the royal scientist extended even to the king, the one who made the order to kill humans in the first place.

He looked to the skeleton for an example of what kind of respectful body language to use in front of the king, because the clash of his outfit and the crown was throwing him off and he needed to know how to act, but . . . there wasn't any. Not any that he could see that was different from anyone else at least. Then again, Dr. Gaster was the royal scientist. Perhaps interacting with him on a fairly regular basis meant they were more friendly with each other.

Or maybe, considering the fact that the king was offering tea and Dr. Gaster considered him one of the nicest people he'd ever met, maybe there . . . wasn't actually any required.

Still, just in case, he at least gave the imposing monster a bow of the head before following the skeleton to the garden.

"I see that . . ." he said, looking around the place. It was beautiful, honestly, especially compared to the drab grays of everywhere else. The sun shining down, lighting up the bright yellow flowers and their green leaves that dominated the place. "He put a garden in his throne room?" What an odd choice. It certainly made it far less intimidating than he'd ever imagined a throne room to be.

The throne room being a garden and the most colorful place in the city, the casual atmosphere, the offer of tea . . . "King Asgore is wildly different from Belos," Valor murmured.