Good Morning, Goatdad!

[Breakfeast with the gote.]

The coffee was bitter, carried a slightly burnt taste and had the vague underlying savor of boiled dishwater.

And yet Asgore just couldn't get enough of the stuff. He opened up the newspaper, just idly scanning through major headlines to see anything monster-related. He was slowly opening up towards regular humans news as well, but there was a significant lack of context to most things and he just couldn't always make sense of it. Taking another sip, he adjusted his floral-patterned shirt a bit and took another sip of the foul, yet irresistible liquid. Several guests have told him he was using the coffee machine all wrong, but attempts quickly formed into habits and by now the motions were burnt into his memory. Frowning to the abyssal drink, he continued flipping through the pages, generally finding little more than useless or uninteresting bits of information.

He did love the little comics though, especially the one with the lazy cat. He felt a slight amount of kinship with the animal.

A faint thud diverted his attention, especially as it was followed up by a child groaning. He leaned aside with the chair, just enough to peek into the next room and see Frisk scrambling to collect themselves from the floor after an unsuccessful and slightly painful landing attempt. The kid hardly seemed conscious at all, rolling back and forth in a futile attempt to fall back asleep. However, the concussive wake-up call was far too strong.

Asgore grinned under his well-kept beard, as Frisk finally managed to find their two feet again. Naked feet tapped loudly against the floorboards as they approached the kitchen, a safely blanket adorned with golden flower patterns secure in their grasp. They kept rubbing one eye after another, hair and pajamas a complete mess.

"Good morning, Frisk." he said, his deep voice just enough to make them look up. "Did you sleep well?"

The child nodded, though even Asgore wasn't sure if it was intentional, or the remnants of a snooze still dragging it down. It took several attempts before they were even able to climb onto the closest chair. It was clear that the goat monster anticipated this and strategically placed a bowl and a box of cereal in preparation. However, rather than dig in, they pushed both of them away with a soft groan.

He quirked a brow and uttered a brief 'golly', watching as Frisk scurried back into the room. A brief rummaging later, they returned with a plate and a slice of pizza; a survivor from last night. Asgore snorted, but tried his best to hide it. A breakfast like that that would have sent Toriel cartwheeling into a flaming ball of rage.

Frisk approached the microwave and raised the plate high above their head. They paused and waited, breaking into a smile as the monster took the plate and placed it in the microwave, which was still just a couple inches above their height. The loud noise coming from the microwave assisted greatly in waking the child up, at least as much as Asgore ruffling their hair up. They giggled and tried swatting his large hand away, but had absolutely no chance.

With one fell swoop, he collected the chuckling human in his hand. His palm alone was large enough to double as a little chair for Frisk, their minuscule weight barely putting any pressure on his surprisingly sturdy muscles. They leaned back against his arm, smiling brightly. Once the microwave timed out, Asgore carefully collected the plate and returned both it and Frisk to their chair.

"Toriel will be here in an hour." he said, grabbing something to drink for the 'Midnight Menace', renamed after they insistence on watching just one more movie, that they fell asleep to anyway.

He returned with a glass of juice, which Frisk made sure to immediately consume, much to his amusement. Pizza was acceptable, but soda was out of the question so early in the day. Upon returning to his seat, he continued with a wry smirk.

"You know what that means, right?"

Frisk nodded quickly, taking hungry bites from the pizza in-between the repeated gesture. Sleeping over at Asgore was always a special occasion, but it also came with a set of responsibilities. Not because the monster was strict, but rather to ensure every future visit would be just as fun.

"Wash your face, comb your hair and pack your things away." he listed, confirming each article with the child. "And remember the golden rule!"

They paused in the middle of a bite and reached for their lips. Pressing two fingers together, they zipped their mouth shut, though making no additional attempt to hide the mischievous grin. Asgore chuckled, gazing at Frisk warmly as they immediately returned to their meal. For a brief second, his mind conjured several other faces before him: one like his own but younger, another human face with a much reserved smile, and a large toothy grin and ringing laughter. The memories quickly morphed back to this little child, unkempt brown hair sticking in every direction possible, face adorned with a gleeful smile as they devoured the leftover breakfast.

He took the last sip of his coffee, not taking his sight off the little bundle of happiness, even for a second.

The coffee was sweet and soothing.