BEN Drowned | Hopes And Dreams

T H E N

"Oh, thank you so much for rescuing our sweet boy!" Toriel, Asriel's goat mother exclaimed as she placed another tray of pie fresh from the oven.

The air smelt of cinnamon—no, butterscotch? Doesn't matter as long as it smells good, right?

"It's no sweat, Mrs. T."

"Indeed, we wouldn't have known what to do if he hadn't come home." Asgore, Asriel's Father Goat, cackled a booming sound. Then, as gentle as the wind grazes his fur, he gazed adoringly to his face as he said ever so sweetly, "Why, if it were to happen then I guess.. We just have to make another one."

My face scrunched in on its own, like a whirlpool formed in the middle of my face, sucking it whole as the cringe smacked me square in my jaw. Asriel's disgusted shriek resonates within the room as Toriel's embarrassed laughter failed to enlighten the atmosphere.

"Oh, fluffybuns, not in front of the kids."

For some reason, I didn't know what's worst. Fluffy buns or that I'm considered one of their ‘kids.’

"I think I lost my appetite for pie," Asriel mumbled, pushing his tray of shared butterscotch and cinnamon pie, "Or anything sweet in general."

"More for me, then!" I piped in, taking the plate from him and shoving the entire pie down my throat. Please don't be creepy, I meant this in a good way.

Asriel gazes at me disgustedly, as if he had read my thoughts and what the author had written about shoving the pie down my throat. Nonetheless, Toriel couldn't have been happier as no pies were harmed and/or wasted in this chapter.

That's enough 4th-Wall-Breaking for today.

"Now tell me, child." Toriel began, looking to her side before turning to me. Her red-violet eyes gazes into mine, momentarily sparkling in an emotion I didn't have a vocab for. "Where did you come from? You most certainly do not look like you're from around here, nor do you look anywhere similar to a human."

"Unless they've mutated somehow." Asgore pipes in, a steaming hot cup of tea in hand.

"Like I said, I came from the Ethernet, where I found Asriel floating aimlessly through the vast sea of codes."

"Yes, like you have said, but where exactly? The Ethernet as you say it, is like.. something that connects our world from the rest, correct?" I nodded, "Then what world did you come from? If this is a different reality than the rest, I assume you have your own?"

"I'm from.." Pixelated flashed of my past life flashed before my eyes then.

The drowning. The bullying. The waking up to becoming and knowing I was no one. A nobody.

"From the riverside."

"Riverside, you say? What's it like in The Riverside?" Toriel asked, and upon gazing into hee interested eyes, I couldn't help but feel an urge to fill whatever curiosity she had.

"It's.. very.. wet."

Asgore hauled in laughter as Asriel continued to cringe beside me. Toriel had an embarrassed and surprised look on her face, she gazes to her side as she told me, "Well, that is one way to describe it. But I want to know the people that lived there. Are they kind to you?"

I shook my head, no. Asgore stopped laughing and Asriel looked more and more intrigued as the atmosphere felt a tad bit heavier than before. "I.. There aren't anyone that lived there. It was just.. me when I woke up."

"When you woke up? Did they leave you, somehow?"

I shook my head once more, "I don't think so, no.. I.. When I came into my senses, I was.. drenched and I was laying near a river."

Toriel's eyes shone in recollection then, finally getting that riverside is not.. well, Riverside with a capital R.

"I didn't know how I got there, didn't know if I was even alive-alive and or dead-alive." I took a long shaky breath as silence wafts into the room.

"What's so wrong about that?"

All eyes shifted to Asriel, his nearly gray eyes gazes into mine witu an emotion I barely understood. "What's so wrong about being dead-alive?" Determination.

"I.. I don't—"

"I think it's cool." He blurted suddenly, a shade of pink somehow dusted his fur. How is the question I would also like to ask, but the logic of games are unfathomable. "How you're both dead and alive." He added sheepishly and I felt a smile tug the cornee of my lips.

My hand instinctively reached out for his head and to everyone's surprise, I petted the goat in front of me.

"Thanks, that means a lot, actually."

"Y-You're.. welcome." He squeaked, gazing up at me sheepishly despite being a goat.

"Well, child, if you do not have a place to stay.. Why don't you live here with us?" Toriel offered with the warmest smile ever given to me since the day I woke up.

"I, uh, I.. What?"

"That's a wonderful idea!" Asgore boomed, grinning heartily as he said, "You can sleep in Asriel's room! There's an extra bed there in case we decided to make another cutie."

Asriel gagged beside me. I would, too, but it's just too early for that.

"Oh, that is wonderful! What do you say?" Toriel grinned, and as I rrmainedsilent contemplating my circumstances, she called in such a sweet tune. "Benjamin?" And I knew I couldn't resist.

So I did the only thing I'm good at in awkward situations. I nodded.

Toriel's mouth opened, and a shriek came out of it. Her eyes gazed at the person beside me and I followed it to find that it wasn't Toriel who shrieked out of happiness. It was Asriel, whose paws—err, hands are clasped atop his mouth, his eyes twinkling under the light as he mumbled out a sheepish, "Sorry."

Asgore chuckled, impressed, as Toriel places a hand on both sides of her waist. Shaking her head as a smile slowly formed on her face.

And I knew that living here wouldn't really bother me at all. I hope.