Piano Lessons

Asgore is invited over to Toriel's House to give Frisk music lessons
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	Toriel stretched and sighed as she straightened her back. The oven was on, the freshly made pie slowly turning golden brown in the blistering heat. Her chest rose and fell with a heavy breath as she thought about the occasion-- Asgore was coming over to spend time with Frisk. Things were still tense between the old monarchs, the scars, despite being old, were far from fully healed. But, it was what Frisk wanted, and she couldn’t say no to her child, especially when she asked so nicely.

	Three knocks echoed from the foyer, waking Toriel from her thoughts. An ‘I got it!’ chimed from the living room, Frisk absolutely giddy to spend time with the larger goat. The retired queen wiped her hand off of her apron and walked into the dining room, watching as Asgore picked up and hugged the ecstatic human.

	“Why hello, my child,” his baritone voice said, a smile wide on his face. He nodded at the monster watching from across the room. “Toriel.”

	She put up a hand and flashed an unenthusiastic smile, Asgore quickly got the point. His smile slightly cracked as she walked back into the kitchen, but Frisk flicked one of his ears, forcing him to pay attention to the unruly child.

	“Hey, what did I say about playing with my ears?” he said, a devious look in his eyes.

	Frisk feigned innocence. “I dunno.”

	“It would make me do something awful, something neither of us would want...” His fingers pressed at her sides. “Tickle you!”

	A gleeful squeal came from the human as Asgore pinched and tickled at her, her useless flailing doing nothing to help her escape from his iron grip. He had full control, the monster laughing as he knew that Frisk was well more than sorry for her crimes.

	Asgore set down the giggling child and lumbered into the living room, sitting heavily in the rocking chair as Frisk followed closely behind. The seat groaned as he sat himself down, the springs letting out an extra squeal as Frisk climbed into his lap, her legs kicking as she watched him open his folder. The leather binder was well worn, the sleeves sagging as the weight of sheet music and assorted books tugged on the seams, but it still stood strong. Asgore pulled out his reading glasses and leafed through the thick stacks of paper until he found the book he was looking for.

	“Ah, here we go!” he said as he thumbed through the pages until he found the lesson he had dog-eared. “Now I know this isn’t all that fun, especially since we don’t have a piano anywhere to practice on, but if you want to learn music, Frisk, you have to know the basics. It’s good practice.”

	The human nodded and peeked at the notes and staff, noticing the black dots and their tails leading into an ascending scale. Asgore smiled down at the yellowed paper, his bifocals balancing comically on his wide nose.

	“It’s best to start with the basics, so we’ll start with C major, and how to read the notes.” He pointed a clawed finger at the lowest note in the sequence. “This note is ‘C’, and, in this case, it’s also known as ‘Do’ since it’s the first note in the scale. I know I’m more of a bass compared to your soprano, but can you sing it with me?”

	Asgore recited the basics of music theory to Frisk, how to read the staff, what the clefs look like and what they mean. He had learned that if you can sing something, then you can play it even better, so he taught her solfege and how to sing a scale up and down. He didn’t dare go into anything too advanced, instead going for a gentler plan that he hoped he would be able to continue at least every other week.

	Toriel balanced two plates in her hands, each with their own generous slice of her famous Butterscotch Cinnamon pie with a garnish of vanilla ice cream. Asgore looked as she emerged from the kitchen, his eyes nearly bulging from his head, his heart skipping a beat as he watched her set down the plates in each of their hands.

	“Frisk told me how much you missed these pies.” The small hints of a smile appeared at the corner or her lips. “I know you said I didn’t need to pay, but it’s the least I could do for you to take time for your day to teach her.”

	“‘Take time from my day’? Are you kidding? I have been looking forward to this all week!” He laughed, taking a heaping forkful from the pastry. “But I’ve never been the monster to turn down dessert. Thank you, Toriel.”

	She let out a small giggle. “Oh, I know that very well, and you are welcome. Just call if you need anything.”

~~~

	Asgore watched the sleeping child in his lap, the larger monster completely dwarfing the child. Frisk was curled up against his belly, a content smile on her lips as she quietly snored. He lifted her carefully in his arms before setting her down on the soft plaid cushion of the chair. The human murmured in her sleep, her arms clutching at the pillow, Asgore silently chuckling at how cute she was.

	As quietly as he could, he stacked the two pie crusted plates in his arms, using one of his fingers to mop up as many crumbs as he could. Try and try as he might, he was never able to make anything even close as good as Toriel’s cooking, and now, after all these years, it tasted all the more sweet.

	He stepped into the kitchen, watching as Toriel stood at the sink. She was too invested in the plates she was washing to hear him walk in, the clink of porcelain and silverware echoing through small kitchen. Asgore cleared his throat, Toriel looking over her shoulder at him.

	The king walked forward, the plates still in his hand. ”You, um, want me to do the dishes? It’s been well over a century since I’ve done those for you,” he offered.

	She sighed, “No, I’ve got them. Thank you.”

	Asgore deflated at that, setting the dirty dishes next to the sink. A strained silence formed, the sound of her hands in the sudsy water the only sound filling the quiet room. The king leaned against the counter, not sure what to say.

	Toriel looked up from her work at Asgore. “I didn’t know you played piano,” she said, snapping Asgore back out of his thoughts.

	He looked at her, a genuine smile on her lips, a smile he missed seeing. ”Oh, yeah. Undyne taught me after I trained her to become a guard. I guess it was a bit of a repayment for all that I had done for her.” He said, cheering up at the conversation. “It’s a good way to get my mind off of… things.”

	Her smile faded for an instant before coming back. “Yeah… I wish I had a piano for Frisk, she’s been wanting to learn ever since she heard you playing. She seems rather smitten by you.” She wiped her soapy hands off on a washcloth as she set] last plate onto the drying rack, the old monster turning and leaning against the counter as well.

	He chuckled. “I think so too, and I can’t say it’s one way.”

	His face turned somber. “She reminds me so much of…” he trailed off, quickly realizing that he was about to pick at old wounds. “She’s like a daughter to me... and I just hope I don’t mess it up… again.”

	Toriel opened her mouth to respond, before closing it again, her eyes looking down. Asgore looked at her, old memories of what they did together, of what they loved to do. Her tiny hands and warm smile, the timbre of her laugh and smell of a welcoming home and cooking bread.

	He shook his head, his eyes turning slightly misty. “W-Well, I think I should head home, I don’t want to keep you or Frisk up any later than I need to.” He pushed himself away from the counter and made his way to the exit.

	Before he could get halfway out of the kitchen door, Toriel spoke. “Asgore, can I ask something of you?”

	He stopped, turning around. “Of course. What do you need?”

	“Could… Could you possibly teach me how to make your Golden Flower tea?” she asked. “I haven’t been able to recreated it and my pies have never tasted the same.”

	Asgore’s eyes softened, his solemn expression turned into a smile. “I’d be happy to.” He walked up to the vase she kept next to her sink, several golden flowers were wilting in the vessel. “May I?”

	The king plucked a dead flower as she nodded, picking the dried petals off of the dead plant. He looked through her cupboards and grabbed the right spices he needed. Toriel watched as he demonstrated what to do, the queen writing down the steps on a scrap piece of paper. Asgore had the steps down to plain muscle memory, he set the pot of water to boil and crushed the flowers before adding them to the mix of spices and the black tea leaves.

	Toriel listened intently as he explained little ins and outs of what he did, how many petals he uses per person, or how he heats the glasses up before pouring in the tea. Before long, she had every single secret he had behind his tea on paper, and a small bag the tea mix for her to use as she pleased.

	Asgore smiled as he turned off the stove, the king looking up at the clock. “Oh, goodness me, it’s nearly nine thirty. I definitely should get going.”

	Toriel set down her notes as the two monsters walked to the entrance, both of them treading lightly past the sleeping Frisk. She unlocked the heavy oak door before opening it.

	“Thank you for coming over Asgore, I’ll let you know if Frisk wants to spend the day with you, or if she wants you to come over.” She smiled a bit larger, Asgore happily returning his own wide grin.  ”I’ll be sure to bake you your favorite pie if you choose to come over.”

	”Thank you Toriel… for everything. I’ll see you at school tomorrow, yes?”

	She nodded. ”I’ll be looking forward to it.”