(no subject)

[vagabone]

Who: Héctor, Toriel, Muffet
What: Invading Muffet's personal space and bringing bad jokes
When: Early April, before babbyfication
Where: The Denny
Warnings: None as of yet!

[Great minds think alike because as it turns out, two people have decided to invite themselves to Muffet's workspace at the same time. Nothing new on the skeleton's part, he almost always shows up unannounced and unplanned. Héctor doesn't do schedules. What he does do is clatter his way in and lean against the wall, grinning.]

Hey, Muffin. How's it going?

Comments

[prettypurpleparlor]

[Muffet just smiles slightly, waving a hand in his direction as she fiddles around with a few bowls of ingredients she's retrieving from a shelf. It is a public restaurant in the middle of opening hours, Hector. You're not doing anything particularly scandalous by showing up.]

[Even if he seems to have trouble believing he's wanted there.]

Actually, as it happens, I'm making muffins tomorrow. Today, I was planning scones.

[goat_mom]

[Toriel enters at nearly the same time as Héctor, quite to her surprise. She was planning on getting something to eat (since apparently she needs to eat in this world) and meeting this "Muffet" person, but she wasn't expecting to also run into the skeleton she met not long ago.]

Oh, greetings, Héctor! It is good to see you.

[She takes one look at Muffet behind the counter and... is momentarily taken aback. Another monster? Could it be...? No, it must be a coincidence. There must be many sentient creatures, in all the worlds that exist, who look like monsters but are not.

She quickly smiles and walks over to greet the spider woman properly.]

Greetings. I am Toriel. You are "Muffet," correct?

[prettypurpleparlor]

[Muffet blinks in surprise, having just enough self-control not to drop a cup. She sets it down neatly on the counter instead.]

Your majesty?

[So, in this particular case, not a coincidence.]

[In retrospect, she supposes that this isn't too surprising, with Asgore having already appeared here. Somehow, she still didn't quite expect that...]

[She curtsies politely, still mannerly as always.]

Yes, that would be me. A pleasure to meet you.

[From her perspective, she's met Toriel before in passing, on the Surface- but she's well aware that people can arrive here from different points in time by now, or even different timelines entirely, so she's assuming that she doesn't know her.]

[vagabone]

That's Muf--['Muffin, alright', he was going to say, but there's a little detail here that stops him dead (ha ha). He's giving a Toriel a very bemused look, because it seems something sure did slip her mind.]

'Your majesty'?

[Who has two thumbs and is totally out of the loop. This guy.]

[goat_mom]

[She has no idea how to react to that. She blinks in surprise, looking back and forth between Muffet and Héctor. She isn't sure what exactly to say, so she goes for both things on her mind, looking at Muffet.]

I am not "Your Majesty" anymore. I have long ago abdicated the throne to Asgore.

But, Muffet, you... recognize me? You are from my world? [Clearly from a very different time period, or she is much older than Toriel imagined.]

[prettypurpleparlor]

[She nods politely.] If you'd prefer that, Ms. Toriel. [You're still getting some kind of honorific, sorry- there's probably no getting out of that. But overall, monsters tend to be fairly easygoing about authority, so referring to the former queen by her first name isn't as much of an adjustment as it might be.]

Ah, yes- I was born in Hotland, though I have family in the Ruins. [She's not sure whether Toriel is familiar with the spider clans there, lost to the outside world except by scattered messages carried by those who could make it out to the rest of the Underground- but she suspects she'll understand the significance, why someone with people in the Ruins would be particularly interested in the former queen.]

You two know each other, then? [She raises a proverbial eyebrow. You weren't rude to royalty, Hector, were you?]

[vagabone]

Asgore?

[Really seems to be blowing his mind, for whatever reason. Can't be that the big friendly goatguy was willing to become a meatshield for some shabby skeleton during those pinche trials. They didn't even know each other's names at the time.

Give him a minute for his brain to boot back up.]

We've... we've met already.

[goat_mom]

[She wants to say "Toriel is fine," but refrains. She can't expect people who know she was the former queen to not refer to her with some deference, as much as she'd prefer to leave that part of her life behind.]

Ah, that must be the spiders. I am quite familiar with them. I made my home in the Ruins, you see, so I often gave them generous amounts of gold. They were quite friendly to me - the least I could do is return the favor.

[She nods towards Héctor.]

Yes, Héctor and I know each other. I suppose you could call him something of a friend of mine.

[prettypurpleparlor]

That would be his majesty King Asgore Dreemurr of the Underground, yes. [She looks amused.] I wouldn't be terribly concerned about it if I were you, dearie- you're neither a citizen of the Kingdom of Monsters nor anywhere near its' legal boarders, it isn't as though he has any proper jurisdiction here.

[He's relaxed enough that even people actually under his rule could get away with being casual with him, Muffet's just polite on general principles. She smiles warmly at Toriel.]

Well, it's always a pleasure to have such a supportive customer- I'm sure they were delighted to do business with you.

[vagabone]

[Sure, look amused, he's just trying to be respectful!!]

Still. [A beat.] He doesn't exactly... act like a king. [Probably best if he doesn't elaborate on what he means by that, beyond being too nice.

And then... he grins a bit at Toriel, pleasantly surprised and not saying anything.]

[goat_mom]

[She laughs at that.] How true! I forget that the monarchy is meaningless in this world.

[She turns towards Héctor, her smile fading slightly.] He never did. He always was a meek leader. [A pushover, really. She always wonders if abdicating the throne instead of forcing him to abdicate it was a mistake.]

[prettypurpleparlor]

From what I've seen, humans tend to be a bit more... fussy about that sort of thing, in any case.

[She pointedly does not defend Asgore from Toriel's comments. She has her own issues with the man, far less personal but still a tad bitter. Let him argue his case if he wants.]

[vagabone]

[What does that say about what they think of him, also estranged--though only Muffet knows--and not exactly macho by most people's standards?

But then again, he's a nobody, not a king. He's quiet for a moment, uneasy.]

Yeah, I suppose we are. Anyway, ah... scones?

oh no héctor!!!

[goat_mom]

[She gently claps her hands together, grateful for the change in subject away from human monarchies and Asgore.]

Ah, yes, scones! That sounds delightful.

Would you like help in the kitchen, Muffet?