Papyrus made his way over to King Asgore’s tent just as Undyne had asked him to do. He already guessed what he needed to talk to him about based on the monster race’s current situation regarding the humans. However, he still wasn’t entirely sure how to help precisely. He eventually reached the tent at the center of the temporary campsite, and he slowly opened the flap. “Your Majesty?” He spoke, his voice kept low not to startle anyone but also not to scare the injured sleeping skeleton in his arms either.

“Ah, Howdy Papyrus.” Asgore greeted the taller skeleton and beckoned him inside welcomingly. “Welcome. Please come inside. Would you like to have some tea with me?”

“Hello, Your Majesty.” Papyrus greeted and walked into the tent before gently closing the flap behind him. He placed his arm back onto Sans’ spine to ensure he wouldn’t fall off and stepped forward. “Sure, I Would Love To Have A Cup Of Tea, Although, That… Wasn’t What I Came In For,” Papyrus informed him. The tall skeleton monster moved to one of the chairs when Asgore motioned towards one and even pulled it out for Papyrus to sit down in, seeing as he had his brother with him.

Asgore got to work in warming some more water with his fire magic. Once it was ready after about a minute, he then added in the Golden Flower Teabag from some of his stashes before handing the mug over to Papyrus.

“Well then. How can I help you?” Asgore asked, smiling warmly at the taller Skeleton monster as he then got his own much full of tea and sat across the table from the two brothers in his seat. Papyrus, however, was not fooled by the king’s fake smile. And he could sense an underlying hint of immense sadness resonating from the powerful King. Years of living together with Sans had trained the younger brother to be perspective when one tries to hide their emotions, which was something of a bad habit that Sans had and used on Papyrus quite frequently.

“Um, I Just Came Here To Check On You. Undyne Was Pretty Worried As Well, And She Asked Me To Make Sure That You’re Alright.” Papyrus spoke honestly, and Asgore’s warm smile vanished immediately. “And Maybe To Help You Come Up With Some Solution For How To Deal With The Humans?”

“Oh… um, yes. Of course,” Asgore stated simply, his head hanging low for a moment as if he were thinking of what to say. “Well, there is no need to worry. I will have this entire situation under control before you know it. So, you can tell her that all will be fine. Okay?”

“Your Majesty… Forgive My Rudeness But, I Know, Or At Least, I Believe You Might Not Know How To Handle The Humans. And… I Think… Solving Things On Your Own… You Shouldn’t I- Uh, What I Meant To Say... Is If The Humans Are So Scared Of Us, Then Maybe… We Should Stay Here, For A Bit And Show Them That There Is Nothing To Fear? Let One Of The Humans, Whoever It Is, That’s Willing To Stay With Us Get To Know Us, The Way Frisk Gave Us All A Chance. Or Have Frisk Show Them Around Maybe?” Papyrus offered, gently rubbing Sans' spine, who laid limp over his shoulder.

“I-I Mean, If… If We Can’t Fight Back, And They Won’t Let Us Leave And Live In Peace Somewhere Else, Then Maybe, We Should Just Try And Earn Their Trust Instead. Let Them Take A Glimpse Into How We Live. And Show The Humans We Mean Them No Harm. And That We Will Not Give Them Any Reason To Be So Scared Of Us. At Least, That’s What I Think. It’s Worth A Try Anyways?”

Asgore thought about it for a moment. It certainly was worth a shot, although dangerous. He couldn’t know if the humans would even be willing to trust them at all, and he certainly couldn’t trust them. After all, they’ve done to them. After killing so many of their kind, not that the race of Monsters was plentiful even back then. The Human race still outnumbered the monsters hundreds of thousands to one even before the War between them both, which resulted in the Monsters being banished behind the barrier in the first place. And Asgore also knew all too painfully well that trying to fight the humans off, given the circumstances with the Surface Illness hanging over everyone’s heads as well, would be suicide.

Plus, if the King admitted it to himself. He was tired of fighting, and he certainly didn’t want to risk the lives of the handful of Monsters that were still with him. So many had died all too easily in the War between the Humans. It could hardly even be called a War and felt more like a massacre of his people. He just wanted to be left alone, as did the rest of their kind.

“What about your brother? He’s the most injured out of all of us. You do realize… letting a human inside. A human that we don’t know, it could put your brother at great risk if they were unwilling to listen, and-”

“I Am Well Aware Of That Risk.” Papyrus butts in, already somehow sensing what Asgore was going to say, “And… I Am Also Aware That I Doubt They’ll Even Allow Us To Run Forever If They’re Indeed Following Us, As Undyne Described. Which Is Why I Believe We Need To Be The Ones To Take The First Step In Trying To Understand One Another. Because I Believe Surely There Is At Least One Good Human Who’ll Give Us A Chance. Then They Could Tell The Others And… Maybe We Can Finally See Good Change Happen For Once.”

There was again that moment of hesitation as Asgore thought this out. Perhaps Papyrus had a point? They couldn’t run. They couldn’t fight it. I couldn’t choose to ignore it much longer... What was there left to lose at this point?

Asgore had already nearly lost his entire kingdom, his wife, his children… He trusted a human child once before and, although he still had no idea what had happened that same night when he had lost both of them, even he had to admit he had been happy once at least, living with that human child he and his wife had adopted into his family. He loved seeing his son playing with that human child, and if Asgore were, to be honest with himself, even he too missed Chara quite dearly. 

And he also couldn’t ignore that many other Monsters had lost things too. Things like family and friends due to the War or what occurred after, during the King’s fit of rage. Maybe it was time for a change...

It was worth a shot.

“Alright, Papyrus. I’ll take it up with Gerson, Toriel, and Undyne and see what they think about your suggestion. Thank you.”

Papyrus beamed, and his skeletal smile seemed to grow even more expansive, “THANK YOU, ASGORE! Er, I Mean, Thank You Asgore.” Papyrus said, bringing his voice down lower when he felt Sans give a gentle jolt though he was still sound asleep in his arms. “I Am Glad To Have Helped.”

“Thank you for coming by, Papyrus. Your help is most appreciated.” Asgore paused a moment, placing a furry hand to his beard as if in thought. “...How’s your brother doing?”

“Uh, He’s… He’s Still Hurting Real Bad Inside.” Papyrus informed, his smile disappearing, “His SOUL Does Seem To Look A Tiny Bit Better, However. But, He Still Freaks Out Badly Every Time That He Sees Flowey.” Papyrus took a glance at his brother and continued to rub at his back as a means of comforting both Sans along with himself. “Not That I Blame Sans For It At All, Human Frisk Told Us Everything That Had Happened And… I Can’t Even Imagine What That Must Have Been Like For My Brother. And… Those… Other… Scars…  On His SOUL… The Much Older Ones… I Want To Ask Sans About Them So Badly. Was This Not The First Time He’s Had His SOUL Tortured? They… Scare Me.”

Asgore nodded with superficial understanding. Knowing this was just as painful for Papyrus, and he too wanted to know about those other scars just as much as the younger brother did. “When he is well, we can question him about it. But not now, not when he’s still so weak and frail. Perhaps, when he’s a bit stronger, we can ask him, or when he feels ready to tell you about them himself?”

Papyrus gave the king a solemn nod. “If He Ever Feels Ready.”

Asgore gave Papyrus a questioning look and walked over to comfort the taller skeleton.

“It’s Just... You Know, I Love My Brother Very, Very Much. He Is My Only Family, And As Far As I’m Aware, He Is The Only One Who Raised Me To Be The Skeleton I Am Today. But I Know This Isn’t The Only Thing He’s Been Keeping From Me. And I Know That He Goes To Great Lengths To Lie And Cover Up Things He Doesn’t Wish For Me To See. Like, When He’s Hurt, Or Scared.”

“He’s Hurting So Much, King Asgore. More Than Just the External Wound To His SOUL, And The Physical Pain Of His Broken Bones. And, It’s Like, No Matter How Much I tell Him I Love Him, He Never Seems To Trust Me Enough To Open Up And Tell Me Why He’s Hurting And So, So Scared. It’s Like… He Thinks That My Love For Him Has Boundaries. But, It’s Also As If Like, What He Doesn’t Understand Is That, Even If He Did Something Wrong. Something… Horrible, I Would Still Find It Within Myself To Forgive Him And Love Him Anyways. I Just. I Don’t Want Him To Ever Go Through Anything Like This On His Own.”

Asgore stared down at Papyrus, unsure of what to say. He thought about his problems with Toriel and wondered if this was how she felt as well. “Perhaps… in due time. He’ll be ready. I’m sure he knows that you’ve seen his scars, and… he knows how much you care about him. But maybe he’s just scared. Scared, you’ll reject him just like my Tori has done for me, even though I can’t say I don’t deserve it.”

“Maybe. Though I Don’t Think You Deserve It. You Made Mistakes, I Think, But You Did It To Help Your People That You Rule Over. Just Like, I Believe That Even Toriel Made Mistakes Too, To Protect The Human Children You Wanted To Kill. But It Doesn’t Mean That Either Of You Are Bad, I Think. I Mean...Even When I Get Upset At My Brother, For Instance, Sometimes...It Just Becomes Easier, For that Moment I Forget A Little Easier That I Still Love Him When I Only Focus On How Angry I Am With Him. And, I Think That That’s What’s Happening As Well, For Toriel And You.”

“Thank you, Papyrus…  I… I hope you’re right. And I hope… maybe she’ll remember soon enough, I know that I have. My only wish now is to be a family again with her.” Asgore returned. “Erm, anyway, It’s getting late. You should get some rest. I’m sure you're tired from the long journey.”

Papyrus smiled, “Not really… I Don’t Usually Sleep That Often. But I Won’t Bother You Anymore, Your Majesty.”

“You were no trouble at all, Papyrus. Have a good day.”

Papyrus gave a slight nod, happy to have helped. He left the King’s tent feeling much better about not leaving Asgore to his own devices and the fact that it seemed as if Asgore appeared to like the idea that he had. The tall skeleton could only hope that things will get better from here on out, and the humans will consider that the monsters weren’t as scary as they think they are.

He started to walk, stopping only when he saw that the moon was already well up in the sky and the sunlight was dying down. He took in the sights of the first stars beginning to form in the night sky and that of the monsters sitting by the bonfire. The former Queen took Frisk over to her tent to bed, seeing she started to get tired from playing with her other monster children. Toriel gave a friendly wave, and Papyrus waved back. Gently he took Sans back to their tent, sharing with some other monsters from Snowdin.