Through the woods

	Two pairs of feet crunched through the snow, their breath hanging in the air.  It was well below freezing, the two children shivering under their coats.

	“Told you this was a bad idea,” said the smaller one, his words muffled by his scarf wrapped tightly around his cheeks.

	“Shut up, you didn’t say that when we snuck out,” he breathed out, a puff of air escaping his mouth, “you’re always 'Mister
Hindsight.'”

	“Better than being the idiot who always gets us in trouble,” he clenched his fists, “’Let’s go out in the middle of the night! What
could possibly go wrong?!'”

	“You talk big, but if you weren’t such a wuss, we’d be able to go along easily,” he said,

“I’m not the one that dropped the map.”

	“Maybe if you didn’t rush me, I wouldn’t have dropped it!”

	“Maybe if you weren’t so slow I wouldn’t have to rush you!” the older brother stopped and turned to face his sibling, throwing his
hands up, “Maybe I should just stop taking you with me! I’d probably have more fun on my own without toting a little whiny baby like you around!” He pointed an accusing finger and planted it on his brother’s chest.

	The “whiny little baby” backed away from his brother, a look of shock and sadness appearing on his face. Tears started to form at the corners of his eyes.

	His brother’s eyes softened a bit as he kneeled down, “Sorry Rick, I didn’t mean it.” But his brother would have none of it; he
raced off not looking back. “Rick wait! Come back!” But the words died in the wind.

	“Shit,” he cursed to himself as he got up, watching his brother run off deeper into the words, he tightened his coat to keep out the wind and followed after where his brother went, his tracks fresh on the snow. The wind howled and whipped at the boy’s figure, trying its hardest to pry into him and steal the warmth away. He futilely tried to look forward for a few seconds, the wind driving him to look away almost immediately. He trudged along looking for his brother.

	The footsteps seemed to slow down the further they got, hopefully, this meant that Rick was nearby.  When the wind calmed down, he heard sobs to his right. He slowly moved towards the sound and spotted his brother sitting on a rock, weeping. He moved over and wrapped his brother in a hug.

	“Sorry Rick, I didn’t mean what I said back there.”

	Rick sniffled, “I know,” he wiped his eyes, “It was just that… you just scared me there James, you usually aren’t so... yelly.” He looked up and smiled.

	James chuckled at that, “I guess I did get a little angry there for a minute,” he ruffled his brother’s hair, “let’s get home
before mom notices.”

	Just as he said that, a twig snapped. The two brothers froze in fear, after the initial shock, James grabbed a stick on the ground. He heard another branch snap, this time closer. James threw the stick at the noise, connecting with whatever made it, a solid *thunk*
sounding at impact.

	“Ow,” said a deep voice. The being stepped into the small opening where the two boys were standing, rubbing his head where the stick connected, it was Asgore.

	“Who-who are you?” demanded James, another stick in his hand.

	“Just your friendly neighborhood monster,” he stuck out his hand, “Asgore Dreemurr, at your service.”

	The older brother took his hand tentatively and shook it, retracting it quickly. “How’d you know to find us?”

	“I was taking a late night walk, I couldn’t sleep and cold walks are good for that,” he took his cap off and scratched his head, “I heard some commotion and some yelling, and decided coming this way would be the best course of action.  The better question is what are two young men such as yourselves doing out this late?”

	“Well…” started Rick, “We sneak out every once in a while to have some fun, but we got lost this time, so we were out a little bit later than expected.”

	“Your mother must be worried sick,” said the monster, nodding.

	“She doesn’t know that we’re out,” said James, “… hopefully.”

	“Well we better get you back before she DOES notice,” he winked, “come on, we’re not that far.”

	And they weren’t, no more than a five minutes’ walk from the boys’ house.  Asgore lightly knocked on the door.  Their mother opened
the door and let out a sigh of relief at the sight of her sons safe.

	“Oh my goodness,” she covered her mouth, “you two are in so much trouble.” The two boys ran up and hugged her, both saying “sorry mom.”

	She knelt down to hug them back, “I was so worried, I’m just happy you’re both home and safe. Thank you so much Mister Dreemurr.”

	“Oh don’t mention it,” he said, waving his hand at her kind words, “and just call me Asgore.”

	“Well,” she looked down at her kids, “What do you two have to say to mister Asgore here?”

	“Thank you Mister Dreemurr,” said Rick.

	“Thanks, Asgore,” said James.

	Asgore ruffled their hair and said his goodbyes, waving as he walked away.

						~~~

	He climbed into bed next to Toriel and kissed her on the brow, he closed his eyes and snuggled under the covers.

	“What were you doing out so late?” came from the Queen.

	“Helping out a few kids who got lost,” he turned on the bed to face her, “their mother was very grateful.”

	Toriel let out a thoughtful hum.

	“What?” he asked.

	“Why would Asgore 'Punt the Runt' Dreemurr ever help out two kids?” she said in mock thought.

	“Honey,” he whined, “I told you not to call me that!”

	“Sorry, Mister Asgore 'Preschool Purifier.'” Toriel laughed

	Asgore scootched a few inches away from his bully, but she let out another laugh as she kissed her husband and hugged him in closer,
“Goodnight sweetie. I’m glad you helped those kids.”

	He chuckled himself as he wrapped his arms around Toriel, “as long as you don’t call me 'The Half-Pint Holocaust,' I’ll be happy.”

	“Oh, that’s a good one!”