(I love these Undertale Lofi remixes if you couldn't tell)

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After the announcement, it was pretty crazy for a while. Izuku could hardly go anywhere with Asriel without getting some sort of fanfare. It was absolutely ridiculous in his opinion. Why ask how he planned to break the barrier if he didn't even know how it was made in the first place? However, that question did put him on a bit of a study spree as he stealthily snuck several books on as many relevant topics as he could find. He read about the history of the Monsters, the Barrier, the war, the Underground, and anything else he could find. He read about how the barrier came to be and who was said to have made it. He read about what came after and how Monsters came to terms with their new prison. He read about the prophecy and all the theories pertaining to it. He read about Monster culture and how the barrier affected it.

Then, when he ran out of books to read, he asked Asriel if he wanted to go see the local town. After all, seeing as the Dreemurs were royalty, that must mean that they had a personal library. And if the Dreemurs had a library personalized to them, then the citizens would have to have a public library with more variety in them. Izuku loved his new family, but he'd already learned everything he could from their library. And yes, that does include all of Toriel's and Asgore's fun fact books. Gardening and bug hunting may not be his chosen field, but it was still good to know. Asriel may be content playing in the wildflowers, but Izuku would still like to know what it is he's playing in before they both start to itch for some mysterious reason.

It took some convincing (Asriel was even kind enough to teach him the art of Puppy Dog Eyes) but their parents had agreed to a family trip, as long as the two stayed close while they all took turns running their respective errands. Izuku (as always) wanted a new book to read, Asriel wanted a board game, Toriel wanted to stock up on ingredients for a new recipe she'd been meaning to try, and Asgore said he needed to visit a friend. It also served as a method of getting the citizens used to Izuku wandering about the area so they didn't freak out whenever he walked into a room.

And if all went well, Izuku might be visiting that library more often.

Izuku and Asriel were tasked with carrying a backpack each. They both got purple bags with the royal insignia on the front but were each given different keychains to help tell them apart. Izuku got a red flower and Asriel got a white flower. Toriel walked out with a rattan basket the size of her forearm with Asgore closing the door right behind her. Asgore swept his gaze over his family and its newest member then smiled, "Alright everyone, let's go on an adventure!" he bellowed. "Ya-ay!" the boys cheered in unison. Toriel giggled and linked her free hand with Asgore's.

. . .

The family wandered through the caverns, turning heads as they walked. It wasn't often the king and queen left their home, but when they did it was always a special occasion. Though with the princes running around them like excited pups, it made it look more domestic than the professional affairs they are usually seen for. It was never uncommon to see the young prince wandering when he got bored, but if his parents came along it was rarely ever to play a game of catch.

It was kind of cute to see them all together like this.

The first person to reach their chosen objective was Asgore. Apparently, the friend he wanted to talk to was the very same family friend that came to visit once in a while, but being this close allowed Izuku to take the man in much easier. He was a skeleton Monster with two white eye-lights and wore a grey knitted turtleneck sweater with black pants. He was also wearing some rectangular glasses that made him look very professional and smart. He kneeled down and extended a hand out to Izuku, "Greetings, Your Highness, I am Doctor Wingdings Gaster. I am the Royal Scientist and your family's personal doctor. It's wonderful to finally meet you in person--Izuku, was it?" Izuku nodded and politely took his offered hand with a small shake, "Yes. It's nice to meet you too."

The man's hand was a lot smaller than his father's, small enough for Izuku to wrap his entire hand around the man's palm. Though maybe the Dreemurs were just larger by nature. Izuku never actually realized how large his parents were until he watched the doctor stand up and still only reach Asgore's chest. "Please, come in, we can talk more inside while I give our new prince a tour," he suggested, stepping aside to allow them in. Once inside, Izuku took the opportunity to analyze the man's home. It was certainly cozy from what he could tell.

The purple-bricked house was a lot less purple on the inside, much to his relief. It was nice to know that people hadn't given up on putting some color into their lives. The walls in the living room were painted a mahogany red and the floor was carpeted a soft blue with purple accents. "Alright, this is the living room. There-" he pointed to a plump green couch, "-is where we all sit, and I can pull out some extra chairs if you plan to stay for tea." The man smiled as he began to walk further into the house, Izuku following at his heel, "To your right, we have the dining room and kitchen. And down this hallway are the bedrooms, as well as the washroom and study."

Down the hallway were four doors--three on the left and one at the end--as well as a stairwell on the right with a storage closet underneath. He walked toward the hall but stopped in the doorway. "Sans! Papyrus! Come out here, we have guests!" he called out. Asriel hid himself behind Izuku, causing the other to subconsciously block him from view. Izuku thanked his instincts, for not a moment later, two small skeletons came barreling down the hall, one from the second door and the other from the stairwell.

The one from the second door was wearing a blue and purple single-striped shirt with blue jean overalls and pink slippers. He seemed a bit calmer than the other, a slightly smaller skeleton who was wearing an orange and red double-striped long-sleeve shirt with jean pants and a red scarf. The smaller one practically dashed down the stairs while the other caught up with a slight jog. They both made it to Doctor Gaster at the same time and stood behind the man as he turned to Izuku. "Izuku, Asriel, these are my sons, Sans and Papyrus. Boys say hello," he said. "sup, i'm sans," Sans said with a lazy wave. "HI! MY NAME IS PAPYRUS!" Papyrus shouted with much more enthusiasm than his brother.

Izuku immediately analyzed the two to determine if it was safe for Asriel to approach. Sans was the laid-back type, lazy but confident. Izuku got the feeling that he was good at keeping secrets. Papyrus, however, was the opposite. He was the outgoing type, loud and spontaneous. Neither seemed all that threatening, just eccentric. Izuku took a deep breath, "Greetings, I am Izuku. This-" Izuku tilted his head toward Asriel, "-is my brother Asriel." Asgore leaned down to Asriel, "It's alright, son. They are just excited to meet you is all."

Asriel was still a bit apprehensive about the two if the way he gripped Izuku's sleeve tighter was any indication. Gaster whispered something to his sons and guided their parents to the dining room to chat. The silence between the two lasted another minute before Sans, deciding it was too awkward for him, spoke. "so, got a favorite color?" he asked. A bead of sweat rolled down his skull and Izuku faintly wondered how that worked. "... Red," he said with a well-hidden glance into Asriel's eyes. Sans nodded. "WOWIE! THAT'S MY FAVORITE COLOR TOO! HOW COOL THAT WE LIKE THE SAME THING!" Papyrus cheered.

Somehow, that seemed to calm Asriel down a little. Good, maybe Papyrus's enthusiasm would be good for his confidence. Izuku couldn't be his only friend. A wise king like him must have a full court, after all, so it would do him good to learn how to be more sociable. Izuku placed a hand on his and took a step aside. Asriel hesitated but nodded, "I.. like yellow..." he whispered. Izuku smiled with pride at his brother. Sans looked pleased with the progress as well. "that's cool. as you can probably tell I like blue," Sans said gesturing to his clothing, getting a snort from Asriel that he tried to smother with his hand. His attempts were clearly not enough if Sans's smug grin was anything to go by.

"well, now that we've all gotten acquainted with each other, wanna see the rest of the house?" he asked. Papyrus's bones started rattling all of a sudden, startling the young princes before Izuku realized that Papyrus was excited. "Erm... sure. We can do that..?" he said, his voice trailing off as he looked to Asriel for confirmation. Asriel nodded wordlessly as his hand trailed down to the cuffs of Izuku's sleeve. Papyrus bounced in glee and grabbed Izuku's free hand. "AWESOME! LET'S GO TO MY ROOM FIRST!" he cheered.

He practically dragged them both upstairs and swung his down open to reveal his room. It looked very cool if he was being honest. The walls were brighter red than the deep mahogany of the living room, and they had black stripes with symmetrical white spots running just above the baseboards. On the blue carpet floor, a purple rug with red spikes embroidered all along the edges. He had a red bed with blue blankets and glow-in-the-dark racecar stickers all over it. Next to the bed sat a wooden desk with an unfinished puzzle on it and the box sitting next to it. On the back wall was a bookshelf full of puzzles, puzzle books, and a few books--one on Rube Goldberg. Next to it was his closet and another desk with homework packets on it placed in front of the window. How the window was letting in natural light would forever baffle Izuku. And then in the corner next to the door was a box of tiny racecars and a track setup.

Asriel split off from Izuku to go look at the toy racecars while he went to take a closer look at the bookshelf. Thankfully, there were more than just puzzle books and riddles in here. There was one titled "Science For Dummies" coupled with slightly more advanced chemistry books. There was a book on wires and traps, as well as a cookbook entirely dedicated to pasta. The one that caught Izuku's attention was one about chemistry. It was still shiny and new, though, so maybe he wasn't ready for that just yet. But judging from Papyrus's collection, it would be very long before he was. Their father must be proud.

Once Papyrus had given Asriel the full tour of his room, it quickly became Sans's turn. "alright, but just know that my room isn't exactly the cleanest," he chuckled. The door opened and Izuku got a huge surprise. The layout was similar to Papyrus's room, but where Papyrus was obsessed with racecars, Sans was obsessed with stars. The floor wall was a deep blue that almost matched the carpeted floor and there was a giant poster on the wall with a bunch of circles and rings on it. On the top, it read "Our Solar System". The bed was also blue with a bunch of white spaceships on it and a star-themed blanket that matched the rug on the floor. Along the edges of the star rug were small moons that showed the different waxing-waning phases of the moon.

On the table next to the bed was a book about star charts and a dream journal that Izuku dared not touch. Next to that was a scattered assortment of pens and pencils with a small jar next to them. The bookshelf looked the same but revolved more around astronomy than technology. One that stood out from the others was the lonesome joke book hiding between a physics and cosmology book. Izuku wondered what kind of personality Sans must have to revolve his dreams around space and then cover it all up with dumb jokes. The closet and desk were in the same placement as Papyrus's, but the door and window were decorated with glow-in-the-dark star stickers.

"I fail to understand how you perceive this as 'a mess'. But it's interesting to meet someone who loves the stars as much as you do," Izuku told him. He rubbed his neck with a grey blush. Interesting. "thanks. so uh, think our parents are done talking now?" he replied. Izuku hummed then nodded, "I believe so. Father was only planning to visit the doctor before we went back to finishing our other errands." Papyrus's head snapped in their direction. "OH! ARE YOU GOING OUTSIDE? CAN I COME? I CAN EVEN SHOW YOU AROUND TOWN!" he begged excitedly. Unfortunately for him, his pleading eyes were much less convincing than Asriel's puppy dog eyes, which were downright fatal. "Hm, I'm not sure-" he tried to say but got interrupted by Asriel joining in all of a sudden. Since when did he get so attached? "... that your father would decline should you ask nicely." Sorry doctor, but he's been outnumbered.

"NYEH HEH HEH! A SIMPLE CHALLENGE FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS!" he declared, dashing out of the room. "And don't forget to ask for a packed lunch! We're going to be out a while!" he called, but the boy was already down the hall. Asriel was quick to follow and Izuku shook his head fondly at the two. "thanks. paps doesn't have that many friends, so it's nice of you to do this for him," Sans admitted gratefully. Izuku nodded, "Well, I'm not just doing it for him. Asriel is the same way, you know." Sans smiled, a feeling of camaraderie forming between the two. "So, I noticed a joke book in your collection. Have any good ones bouncing around that skull of yours?" Izuku asked. Sans grinned wide at the offer, quickly diving into a string of space puns.

It seems they had both made some new friends today.

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(Hello! I'm back with another chapter.

I almost ended up writing more than intended this time. But hey! The meeting between our young princes and the skeleton family is here! I'm gonna try to catch up on the old timeline now. But don't worry, there won't be any big-time skips, just a few here and there to help fill in the plot holes from the last book.

Izuku's not gonna get any obvious angst until later, but it's still there if you know where to look. Leave a comment if you can spot it.

Thanks for reading and I'll see you all next time!)