Null

Hopefully these aliens were invading.

Bart had stopped to turn and look, frankly uncertain as to whether or not he should find those questions hilarious. They were aliens, he'd decided, so would it be culturally insensitive to bust a gut laughing at the guy?… One look at big tall and gloomy made him come to the conclusion that it'd be wise to hold it in.

The cat-man cleared his throat before explaining, "They're just plants, buddy." Which wasn't really a sufficient explanation at all, was it? "Because of some scientific stuff I've never understood they uh, record the last thing they've heard and repeat it back when touched. Like so," and he lean in towards a Flower, whispered something to it, then gave it a bap.

That flower proceeded to repeat, "Bart is the coolest and the hottest actor in the Underground!" -- to which the cat made finger guns towards said Flower.

Then the flower spoke again and Null let out a delighted laugh, the sound bouncing off the cave walls around them. He clapped his hands together once and smiled up at Bart, thoroughly amused by what was probably, to most people, a rather mundane little joke. Of course when you've never heard or seen any before, every single one is a masterpiece.

Waterfall was… Well, it was Waterfall. Dirt and rock in the colors of a bruise interspersed with bio-luminescent fauna and crystal formations, and water that seemed to glow in some streams and standing ponds, too, likely due to something that grew in it. The darkest thing growing was the grass, probably due to an adaptation meant for the more effectual collecting of what little comparative light was given off by the locale than would be by the sun itself.

Of course, there were also the Echo Flowers; as crystalline as organic matter could get, and chatty. Bart accidentally knocked one while walking by it, and the flower spoke the last words it heard in true Echo fashion: "Buy a spider doughnut!"

He tried to distract himself and block out the grass by focusing on the other new things instead, like those amazing blue flowers! He'd seen one or two types of flowers before, a long time ago, but they were nothing like these. When a voice came out of one as Bart touched it Null jumped but got over his fear quickly as wonder replaced it. He crouched by the flower and very, very gently touched the tip of his finger to the edge of one of the pedals. The flowers repeated, "Buy a spider doughnut!" again and Null gasped.

As for Bart, he was still a little sketched out. Inside. Outside, he gave Null a thumbs up. "Yep! We can get going whenever you're ready. Just don't take too long looking at the, uh... Mushrooms. The Landing closes in a couple hours, y'know?" Granted, he didn't necessarily mean that for just then-and-there. If the skeleton got excited over mushrooms and pretty rocks…

As for the cat-man, he returned that plastered-on smile with a highly uncertain, rather exaggerated--though that was just how his face seemed to work--one of his own, once the moment seemed to have passed. "Oh, uh, okay, gotcha," he said with a voice to match, "My mistake."

"R-Really?" Null looked at Angel with big eyes, completely floored at the idea that she'd bring him food like this even when he was back in the void. And then she went even further by saying he could come visit whenever he wanted! He teared up a little, thankfully having the forethought to set his cup down before leaning forward and pulling Angel in for a tight hug. "Th-thank you s-s-so m-much!" He didn't mean to become such a blubbering mess, but just the offer itself meant so much to him.

--was as far as he got, for a moment, as he watched a pair of hands materialize out of nowhere. Gaster, looking just a mite bit thoughtful, signed in response to Null's question to him,〚 This is standard for Waterfall. I have never heard of 'Queen's Landing,' however. 〛

The cat-man understood absolutely none of that. A couple owlish slow-blinks later and he returned his eyes to the monochrome skeleton. "Yeaaah you can come with. As long as your," he began, before looking back to the creepier of the two, squinting, as if he could discern anything if he just fudged his eyesight a little. "… Dad…?" Sure, aliens probably had those. "Is fine with it, y'know?"

He turned his wide, excited eyes back towards Bart when he spoke again, only to snort and shake his head vigorously. "N-no no, Gaster isn't m-my dad-" He suddenly cut off with a quiet choked sound, his eyelights flickering with static as something inside him twisted and recoiled at the words he'd just uttered. He tried to swallow down the anxiety he could feel rising and churning in his soul, forcing himself to speak again. Though this time it held none of the mirth it had previously. "G-Gaster's not m-my dad."

Bart watched Null exit the weird room, unable to not look a tad bit bewildered by the skeleton's overall reaction to just… Entering--did this count as entering, though--Waterfall. Boring ol' Waterfall. Hadn't he been through it already? It didn't look like there were any other exits or entrances--?

As the cat-man turned back to take a look to confirm or hopefully disprove that thought for the sake of his own sanity, he opted, instead, to move back further when said room's other occupant finally left its confines.

Right yeah nope he didn't like how that guy was looking at him. Bart about-faced and instead opted to try and make his exit as the creepy tall guy followed what the cat-man can only assume was his friend.

He didn't get far. Gaster, opting not to answer any of Null's questions, grabbed the cat's tail, which got a startled yelp, with a hand materializing for that very purpose. Tail thus in hand, he dragged Bart on back over to stand, involuntarily, beside him, near where Null was crouched.

Gaster, who glanced at the cat and pointedly nodded towards Null. He didn't want to speak in the presence of yet another Monster, and while the cat had been ever so ready to sneak away... If he could pawn Null off on a guide, then he could work on a kill switch for this world that he could activate when it was time for them to leave. A simple plan; whether or not it was an easy one was yet to be seen.

When Null went on, the cat-man henceforth referred to as Bart couldn't help a chuckle at the absurdity of his questions. He tossed his hands up in a shrug that doubled as a gesture to the surrounding locale. "Be my guest…? It's not like I own this part of Waterfall, do what'cha want. Knock yourself out, bud." He looked one way, then the other, before adding, "To answer your other question, though, I can't see anyone else around. We're not exactly in the most scenic part of the Underground." It was just an otherwise boring stretch of cavern from all he could tell with his five senses, like it'd been each day he'd passed through it before. Not really a prime hangout spot. Just host to a strange door that hadn't been there the other day, that's all!

As he spoke, Bart took a couple steps back away from the door to grant the guy more room to get out. And also to put some distance between himself and that weird ass room.

"O-oh wow..." His sockets widened as he exited the door, his eyelights darting from place to place. It was so blue! But it wasn't like the blue he'd had as paint, there was more than one type of blue! And purple! There was something shiny in the walls too and they drew Null in, a little gasp falling from behind his teeth as he saw the dim light bounce off the object and spotted a warped reflection of his own face on it's surface. He reached out with a tentative hand and lightly traced a fingertip across the smooth surface. "Wh-what are these?" He asked in a hushed, awed voice.

While the egghead was scheming, outside, upon hearing the inquiry coming from that freaky room, the cat-man raised one of his hands to give a thumbs-up and a ground-muffled, "Just peachy."

With an utter lack of feline grace, he peeled himself off of the ground and took a moment to brush the dirt from his clothes before turning to take a gander at those responsible for his recent smooshing. And, of course, he snuck a peek past the one at the doorway into what was beyond said doorway, which was - not much? A skeleton, a pointless room, and a creepy dude? "Ooookay," he mumbled to himself, "Kind'a weird. Uh…" He flicked his eyes back to the grey guy with the static and gave his best attempt at a charismatic smile.

"B-building...?" He looked behind himself into the room when the cat squinted into it, not seeing anything new that they could be referring to. "Um, we're not b-building anything. We j-just came to v-visit! My name's Null, it n-nice to meet you!"

That was all the warning he gave before a multitude of hands began appearing already pressed up against the door, then against each other as they began to layer up. The door began to creak under the pressure increasingly applied, until--suddenly the door just gave way. Not in a way that was expected, though; it didn't bend or buckle or splinter, it simply slammed open against the outside wall.

The reason why gave a colorful shout of surprise, and then discomfort and pain as he found himself sandwiched between the strange door that'd been making some weird sounds and Waterfall's cavern wall. Lesson learned, don't touch weird creaking doors.

When the door slammed open he made a startled noise and then immediately grabbed his own face as if he'd been the one who'd had a door slammed into it. "O-ow..."

He glanced outside the door when gestured to and noticed the orange cat, becoming instantly captivated by the sight. He'd never seen anyone like them before! What was all that orange stuff on them? Why did they look so different from everyone else he'd seen? How many different types of people were there? So many questions were swimming in the little skeletons head from just seeing this person for two seconds.

Null was about to answer Angel's question when Pap spoke up and he made a face, scrunching up his nose and shaking his head. "Um, n-no, definitely not that one. It t-tasted...weird. Not a b-big like."

Instead he turned and pointed to the group of burgers still left on the table. "I l-liked that one a lot! Um, b-but also that one! Oh, and th-that one too!" The pie and then fries were pointed to next before Null paused and giggled. "I l-liked a lot of them. Th-they're all so different! I d-didn't know there could be so many tastes!"

〚 We have three options. 〛And as he listed them off, a new hand appeared to keep track: one finger raised for each item on the list. 〚 First, we can wait until someone happens across the door and opens it and therefore grants us exit - but we may end up waiting for a very long time if the door has appeared in a peculiar place, or if the world outside is underpopulated, or if it is not populated at all. Second, you can try to force the door open. It might be an opportune time to practice with your magic if you can convince yourself that you will otherwise be trapped in here forever. Or - third - I can force the door open. 〛

Oh. He hadn't actually heard him speak before. He'd wondered if he could speak, but here was the proof. "Y-years?" He whispered, a note of fear entering his voice. Oh god, oh no. He couldn't handle being trapped in here for years. This had been a mistake after all, he shouldn't have come.