busy coloring, or working on homework. Dazzling colors were on display, lavender, poppies, daffodils, cosmos. Small flowers popping up in the hedges. She would sometimes see the old gardener, his watering can and clippers in hand. He was always busy, whether that meant perfecting the garden, or moving something from across the campus.

Though, when Toriel caught glimpses of him, he didn’t look… happy. The sparkle in his eye greatly diminished. His usual big grin was invisible, a melancholy line appearing on his lips. A happy visage would show on his face when a child would walk up to him, playing the merry man and offering them a flower from his precious plants. Though, when they passed, his eyes emptied of the joy. His facade cracked, the sad manonce more coming out.

Toriel thought none of it, or at least tried to. She brushed it off as if it was just his pathetic attempt to guilt trip her. She’d check her peripheral vision when he was near her window, trying to see if he was looking in wistfully at her. He never did. In fact when working close to her room, he tried his best to not look in at her, hiding his eyes from her. He would trudge away as soon as his work was done. Toriel tried not to care, but her heart deceived her.

Why would Asgore, the man she knew loved gardening almost as much as he loved her, look so damn depressed doing his favorite hobby? He hid his face under his sunhat,