#It's never really brought attention to once Gaster is back that Papyrus is wearing his childhood scarf :0

[sysig]

Something old and borrowed (Patreon)

[aeris-blue]

The Doctor’s Charges 1 Year Anniversary

I was really wanting to write a bunch of unused scenes and post them in varying times today but it looks like it might just be this one!

Gaster’s skull smacked his head a bit harder against his desk than he had intended to in a display of his frustration. This wasn’t working. Nothing was working. Numbers weren’t coming out their proper shapes, equations weren’t following their own formulas, and his obnoxious chair kept waging complaints every time he moved. He let out a hefty sigh as he tapped the desk absentmindedly with a pencil.

What was the matter with him? Work was all that mattered to him: it’s what made him Gaster after all! Nothing was more important or crucial then his work so why was he thinking about sloppily written WingDings? Why was he wishing he’d have delved deeper in that notebook? Why was he so fixated on the children’s fascination with him?

It was just because they were skeletons. He hadn’t seen any in so long it had to be some sort of innate habitual survival instinct. The pencil fell from his grip to the floor clattering about in a pathetic demand for attention but he neglected it. Not like he was getting anything done today anyways.

Maybe he should just go home regardless of whatever heckling rhymes he’d get from his assistant. He pulled the documents he’d taken from the desk out of his drawer and set them on top. They had all been filled out quickly, and efficiently, thinking the questions would deter him or that there would be some huge disqualification so he could say at least he tried.

There was nothing of the sort.

His fingers fidgeted with a paperclip, he was unsure of where it came from but twisting it between his fingers was grounding and thus soothing. Maybe it wasn’t something instinctual? Pity. It had to be pity. Being torn apart from your only remaining family wasn’t a pleasant idea. The loneliness. Knowing there was someone out there in the world concerned for your well being but knowing you couldn’t see them. He rubbed his soul as familiarity settled in it.

Sans wouldn’t get adopted. No one would take a child prone to sickness when they had such a thin line between life and death. The child was walking along the edge of a knife trying very desperately not to step too heavily. Of course it would take an outside presence to push him atop it and Papyrus certainly wasn’t going to allow that. The pair needed each other and the idea of a family being separated didn’t settle well with him.

He’d claimed a family, in title alone, but had never… well, they weren’t anything like him. Now his ‘family’ was just a collection of loose threads with the vague memory of once being attached to one another. Stars, he missed the days when it was whole but those were far behind him.

There was work to be done.

Just as he was about to slip the application back into the drawer the door slid open. When he recognized the sheer mass of the shadow that cut across his dimly lit room he shoved the folder in as quickly as he could manage.

“I saw that,” came a voice as strong as thunder rolling across a dampened valley.

‘I wasn’t expecting you Your Majesty,’ Gaster signed precisely as he rose to his feet.

“None of that pomp and procedure Gaster, you know full well why I am here.” His expression was stern, focused, fitting of a boss monster but try as he might Gaster couldn’t figure out what had brought him here. As the King crossed to his desk Gaster squared his shoulders preparing to improvise whatever it was he’d apparently forgotten.

A twinkle danced across Asgore’s eye as a repressed smile bloomed like a golden flower across his face, “What decision have you met with the children?”

His soul twitched in frustration, Asgore knew full well he’d managed to work him up for nothing. ‘It’s a terrible idea, even separated they’d be better off with someone else.’

Asgore nibbled on the inside of his lip, “Are you sure?”

‘I’m certain Asgore,’ he sulked back into his chair, ‘I’m not warm, or soft, nothing about me is anything a child desires, and I can barely take care of myself.’

“When is the last time you ate?”

Gaster’s sockets narrowed as his thoughts grew distant trying desperately to recall what he had eaten last. With a knowing sigh Asgore produced a packet of crackers from his inventory, “It isn’t much but it’s something.”

‘Thank you,’ he signed before he placed the wrapper on the desk, maybe he’d remember them there.

“So you are not going to adopt them?”

‘It would be detrimental to their development if I did.’

The king’s shoulders dropped in mild disappointment. He had unquestioningly been hoping for the sound of children’s feet about the throne room praying desperately his moody desolate friend could experience the joy that he had lost. Perhaps he merely wished to live vicariously feeling it was something he no longer deserved to have.

Of course that was untrue. Asgore had been an excellent father and he would be again if the need ever arose. It was Gaster’s own foolish pursuit of knowledge that-- He sighed suddenly feeling as if the room were pressurized.

‘I can’t stop thinking about them,’ the phrase was extruded from his hands. He swallowed as best as he could, ‘I wish them well. I hope everything works out but you know as well as I do how terrible of a monster I am.’

“WingDings,” Asgore said firmly, “you’re not terrible.”

‘I can’t be a parent Asgore, what life could I give them without kindness?’ His fingers scratched across his misshapen ribs, ‘even if we can pretend that a few good deeds here and there mean I’m capable I can’t help them. Skinned knees, scraped shins, I can’t fill their heads with delusions of magic kisses that make the pain go away.’

He’d never experienced it first hand. The caring touch of a parent trying to soothe the pain away from their child. Watching Toriel though, he’d seen it, he’d see what wonderful things a parent could do with green magic. Utilizing that healing touch all of monsterdom were supposed to possess they could spark imagination and wonderment in their offspring.

‘If they came to me with night terrors I’d send them to their beds telling them exactly how preposterous it is to worry about such things!’

“You never said that to Grillby.”

‘If another child was antagonizing them I’d tell them to fight back!’

“Inadvisable,” Asgore combed his beard with his claws, “but not altogether terrible.”

‘What about my LV poisoning?’

“What of mine?”

‘I just can’t Asgore!’ He slammed his hand down on the counter startling both himself and the boss monster. Softly his hands curled in on themselves from the lingering pulse of his overly dramatic action. ‘What of my fate?’

Asgore put his paws on Gaster’s shoulders, “I’ve told you all along that was a lie from a monster who wanted nothing more than to hurt you.”

“Gaster. What do you think of the boys?”

The weight of the boss monster’s paws on his shoulders grounded him more than any drink could, ‘Sans is a clever child. Smart, cunning, well aware of his condition but unaccepting of it. The world has attempted to wear him down, make him weary, but he stands in direct defiance. He aims to find life.’

‘Papyrus… is life. He is spontaneous and loud and in constant motion. I find him harder to get a reading on but I know that he loves his brother. And I know there is that same desire for knowledge that his brother has just maybe in a different direction.’

His eye lights pointed up to Asgore’s, ‘that’s why they need each other.’ His fingers twitched, ‘I’d thought about… adopting just Sans?’ Even just repeating the thought made his soul still, ‘Papyrus has a better chance at being adopted,’ he rationalized, ‘but I know they’d be devastated without the other.’ And most importantly he knew most monsters just wouldn’t understand.

Skeletons were just different monsters. They were quirky by nature, inquisitive to a fault, not to mention, in his experience, a little difficult to interpret. His fingers drummed against the desk as he forced himself to still a rattle. ‘I. I just want them to be happy Asgore. I want them to be able to be kids like I didn’t get to.’

“That’s really all it takes Gaster,” he smiled plainly his magic hung in the air as close to sunlight as one could hope down here, “and I think having someone else to care for than yourself might just do you some good.”

‘But--’

“No, I think we’re done with that, let me see the documents,” he extended his paws and within moments they were holding the manilla envelope. Asgore thumbed through them his muzzle tilted a bit to one side. “Were you nervous?”

Gaster clicked his teeth, ‘That bad?’

“Well,” he hummed, “I’m not certain how well the manager will be able to read WingDings.”

Gaster peered over the writing. Whoops.

“Do you have white out? I’ll help you fix this up in no time!”

[gasters-story]

Chapter 32

Word count: 2,026

Warning: Self-harm

Things didn't go as really planned for Anton today. News had yet to go out about the prince and Chara so he had no idea what he was getting not or what Gaster knew. Anton expected to just visit but he instead found Sans waiting absently by the royal scientist's door.

“He hasn't came out of his room in a while.” Sans starts to explain once he notices Anton. “I think something happened but he has yet to tell anyone.” Anton stared at the door for a moment before looking at Sans.

'Can you talk through the door for me and let him know I'm here?’ He asks the other. Sans nods and then moves to knock.

“Hey, G? Anton is here to see you.” There was a long pause as if there wouldn't be anyone responding. Sans opened his mouth to probably say something again but was cut off this time.

“Tell him to go the fuck away then.” Gaster says harshly from the other side. Anton didn't seem to care though, even it technically directed at him. Sans didn't respond to Gaster and instead looked at Anton.

“The door is one with a key to it. I'm not sure why exactly but if you really want in that's your best bet. I'm not getting in trouble with someone I will have to deal with.” Sans mutters to him. “You won't get in because of G since he's stubborn.”

'Alright. Thank you.’ Anton writes after he nodded. Sans smiled and gave a thumbs up before walking off.

“Good luck.” Anton just did a small wave to respond before starting his relatively long search. Anton didn't plan on giving up though, not until he knew what was up with Gaster. He even asked the helpers if they knew anything.

They managed to be as their job name suggested and directed him to a drawer with all their “useless” keys inside. It wasn't clear which one it was out of all the keys there besides a few definite “no”s for a variety of reasons. He ended up taking plenty of them to test on the door to find the one that works.

It was one of the last ones that made the door click. Anton smiled in relief as he dropped another key he was holding in his right hand. He was quick to open the door so he got a glimpse of Gaster quickly pulling down his sleeves. Anton wasn't really expecting it.

“Fucking great. You really managed to find a way in.” Gaster muttered before he stood up on the ground where he was sitting. He shot a glare at Anton before moving to sit on his bed instead.

The flame didn't speak back, no matter how rude Gaster was being, yet was moving over to the other. The skeleton glared at him once again but Anton still didn't take offense to it. He just grabbed Gaster's arm to roll up his sleeves.

It was littered with names and two of them were clearly fresh ones. Asriel and Chara. The others were ones Anton could tell were dead.

‘What is all this?’ Gaster had looked away before Anton could finish writing, already knowing what he was going to ask. The elemental forced the other to look at him, not planning to just take nothing for an answer. It still took a while of Gaster gazing down for that answer.

“My- mistakes…” He mutters without looking up. Anton stares at him for a moment before looking down at his cut up arms and running a hand over the names slowly. Gaster didn't show if he was affected or not.

'How exactly?’ The flame soon writes.

“They're… all gone and it all points back to being my fault.” Gaster kept his voice quiet as if he didn't want to be heard. Anton thought about it for a moment before asking.

'These are people from the war and who got ill after… I get the latter but why the former?’ Anton asked it but didn't get an answer. He just had to guess what the other believed to make him in the wrong. The flame just pulled the skeleton into a short hug with a sigh. 'How is Chara and Asriel one then?’ He asks after pulling away.

There was silence before Gaster's answer. “They're gone as well…” Anton stared at the other in surprise.

'That can't be true. How can they be gone all of a sudden?’ Anton frantically writes out. He couldn't hope they weren't though, Chara was sick after all but not Asriel. Gaster didn't just joke like that anyways.

“They're dead, Anton.” Gaster says a bit more stern this time. “They died just a while ago. Together.”

'I thought only Chara was sick though.’ Anton's writing got shaky with his hand.

“They had a plan and it just didn't work. Now they're both gone because of it.” Gaster was slowly pulled back into a hug after he was done speaking as Anton leaned against him.

The hours passed by quietly as Anton took the information in. The underground kingdom fell into despair as well once the news was announced and war later was claimed to inspire hope. Gaster didn't do much more than wait during the period after all the changes, especially of Toriel leaving with Chara's body, while Anton would visit more often to check on him. Sans didn't confront the topic like Anton and just kept his eye on the other skeleton.

The days started to feel quiet as they went by with hours and minutes of wasted time. Monsters continued as normal but didn't talk much between each other as much as they usually did until a bit later. No one wanted to confront the loss of their hope as they mourned and accepted it, eventually inspired for war on humans as their last option to leave this damp place.

Before he even realized it though, Gaster tiredly witnessed Papyrus make his first steps to Sans after being revived. The royal scientist didn't bother with it much and just kept on with the boring old days. Anton would eventually ask on his next visit.

'Who's the new small skeleton?’ He asks.

“His name is Papyrus and he is the younger brother of Sans.” Gaster responds. “That's all there is to it.”

'Though it's suspicious I have heard about him until now. I talk with Sans when I visit and he's never mentioned one or had him come with like today.' Anton writes as he continues to wonder about the new skeleton. 'Did he have babysitter problems or something recently?’

“He's just a newborn. That's all.” Gaster rolls his eyes.

'Really? Huh.’ Anton thinks for a moment before glancing at Gaster. 'I've never seen a skeleton other than you three though.’

“I wouldn't make that connection if I were you.” Gaster says maybe a bit harshly in tone but Anton hasn't cared for these past years he's known him. It's just Gaster being Gaster at this point.

'You gotta prove it wrong first then. It just makes sense to me.’ Anton gave the other an amused grin before patting Gaster's back. 'We can be single dads together otherwise.’

“No thanks.” The skeleton groaned at the thought. An arm of fire wrapped around him to give a side hug.

'Oh well.’ Anton shrugged before getting up. 'I should get going to see how Grillby is doing.’

Gaster watched him go as he waved goodbye and then let out a sigh. Dealing with people can be tiring.

Gaster let Sans be more absent or just work less when it came to Papyrus. Not like they had much to do so Sans focused a lot of attention on raising Papyrus mostly. Sometimes Sans supervised Papyrus in the labs to work and let him help out a bit by usually grabbing papers for Sans. Though that worked only when Papyrus didn't get distracted, listened, or could understand which ones. Papyrus had to always be supervised and banned from some parts of the labs for a reason.

When it came to Papyrus and Gaster's relationship, it was an iffy one. It barely existed since Gaster didn't feel like interacting with him or much of anyone at first. Papyrus started all interactions between the two, mainly when he gets bored, distracted or curious, and wanders his way to wherever Gaster was. The scientist would normally either return him to Sans and get an apology from him or give the toddler some science book for young kids that had pictures because he didn't feel like going to where Sans was.

This made Papyrus ask by pointing at said picture that caught his attention and tugging on Gaster's clothes for the other's attention. The skeleton just answered as simply as he could even if Papyrus wouldn't understand yet and he didn't want to give false information at all. He mainly wanted Papyrus to stop bugging him as they both waited on Sans.

By age three, Papyrus would try to say some big scientific words even if not always saying it right. Sans would get a kick out of it and ask Gaster but the scientist would just shrug it off. He did the same to Papyrus calling him “Ga!”, while at first sounding way too close to “da”, as much as it surprised and perplexed him. He tried to teach Papyrus early on how to say his full name instead.

Anton once stopped by while Gaster had Papyrus “reading” a book. 'How's single parenting going?’ Gaster glared at him for it, almost cursing at the other before glancing at Papyrus. He decided the other didn't need to know those words, yet.

“Maybe you should go home as the only single parent here.” Gaster retorted. Anton was only amused as he continued to crack jokes and build a good bond with Papyrus.

Gaster will only admit “teaching” Papyrus felt nice, especially since it distracted him from his own worries and Asgore's problems now that the queen is gone. It was honestly Gaster's doing if Toriel really wanted to blame anyone since he just wanted to take the souls as a solution, but he wanted to do it himself, not force it ever on Asgore. Even if it's been a year since that as well as Chara and Asriel's death, teaching at least made that feel distant. After all, he relied on his knowledge in his mind, not his problems in there.

Gaster would only start properly teaching Papyrus when he got more older and Sans had finally requested it. He had nothing else to do after all so he started properly teaching things in an easy to understand order that he could manage. Papyrus enjoyed it and even brought Gaster a scarf he made himself since he's the child's favorite teacher as the only one. Gaster wore it occasionally when hiding off in his room even if he already had a scarf to wear. His excuse was to keep warm and comfy.

It had made a while of no human falling feel longer. Gaster figured the chances were low because of either fear of monsters or no one knows about this place really. Perhaps a case of both. Maybe he should be checking to see if any have been falling but can't get out of the Ruins since the door seems locked now. Gaster has never bothered to check himself though.

The wondering about all that stopped mattering in a quick moment when one of the assistants came by to notify him. “A human has fallen down. I tried to direct them into the lab per your request but they honestly declined and went the other path. They apparently got a warning.”

“I see.” Gaster sighed as he stood up from his desk chair. “A warning huh?”

“Yes. They explained they got it from someone on the main river way.” The assistant explains. Gaster didn't say anything to that as he started to make his way out of the labs.

“Get one if the soul containers prepped for containment.” He says as he starts heading for the elevator.

“Yes sir.”

Royal Scientist Arc End

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[Index]

[motherlyra]

Chapter 47: Bus Day

Changed a couple things I originally had because of the cute fanart astrangeroftheworld made for me lol.

Honestly there isn’t much I can say for why this chapter took so long to finish. I probably wouldn’t have continued if I didn’t just get messages saying people were still reading this, so thank you for that! Luckily my new job has some down time in it so I might be able to actually focus on writing a little more often.

Warnings: idk internalized hatred and some exterior hatred as well I suppose.

[Sans Days/Nights]

[Buy me a coffee]

“Woooow, Dings. Way to make it sound like I purposely murdered them.” Sans’ voice soured with irritation. “After all this time you still act like I asked to be born.” He nearly snapped, his earlier mood gone in an instant. He crossed his arms and sat back onto the bench. Sans opened his mouth to say something else, but instead huffed between his teeth and looked down the road. The exchange left you shocked, looking between the two brothers, struggling to comprehend what Gaster meant.

Not wanting to spark a bigger argument, you tried to distract yourself by pulling the bag with Flowey onto your lap. You opened a zipper, trying to think of something to grab but your curiosity quickly got the better of you. “What… happened?” You asked quietly, loosing interest in the opened bag.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Flowey piped up, his leaves wiggling slightly as he turned in the bottle to face you more. He gave a half laugh, eyes shining. “Everyone knows that having three children is committing suicide. Clearly they decided they’d rather die than take care of the kids they already had-” You heard slight crinkling and immediately saw Flowey’s bottle start compressing, and out of the corner of your eye you saw Gaster’s hand clench. You gasped and grabbed Gaster’s hand, stopping him from using any more magic. You looked up and gulped, seeing his orange haloes burrowing into your eyes at your interruption. You quickly averted your vision before you lost yourself again and looked over to Flowey’s water bottle, seeing an orange glow surrounding it. Flowey had his mouth shut tight as he struggled to look down at the bottle with wide eyes.

“Flowey, say you’re sorry.” You quickly instruct, keeping your grip on Gaster’s hand. Flowey’s expression changed to a more neutral one.

“What? Why? They both know it’s true-”

“Flowey, say you are sorry right now.” You ordered, feeling Gaster’s hand tighten just a fraction. The orange light surrounding the bottle brightened ever so slightly, and another kink appeared on the bottle. The slight crackle caught Flowey’s attention once more, making him lose the neutral attitude.

“Fine, fine! I’m sorry!” He panicked, wiggling and failing to get out of the slowly compressing bottle. The orange light didn’t go away, and you looked back at Gaster.

“Gaster.” You made the mistake of looking into his eyes, and became trapped. The burning rings pulled at you, dragging the seconds by like minutes as reality stretched around them. A small voice in the back of your head was screaming to turn away, to blink, anything, but your muscles only relaxed as you stared transfixed at the magical flames and was pulled deeper in-

He blinked, and his eyes lost the magic that was keeping you hostage. You released the breath you didn’t know you were holding, feeling your chest shaking ever so slightly from your racing heartbeat. You stayed frozen where you were, unable to get your thoughts straight, until Gaster’s haloes glanced at the hand you had holding his. You quickly let go and sat up, pulling your hands together on your lap.

“S-sorry.” You stumbled over the small apology. Gaster adjusted himself in his seat, looking rather annoyed with everything in general. The silence dragged the emptiness of where you were out, bringing the lack of morning birdsongs to your attention.

“The weed is mistaken.”

“Sorry?” You startled slightly when Gaster spoke up again.

“They did not commit suicide. I thought I should clarify, since you seem to take everything to heart.” Gaster added, looking down the road as well. “Humans must be quite different with procreation. Is the practice of having more children not as costly for your kind?”

“N… Not really, well… Having kids costs a lot of money, and most families stick to one or two kids, though I know someone that is the youngest of six kids. But they live with their friends now to get out of the crowded house.” You answered, and Gaster’s brow bone elevated ever so slightly.

“Grand… parents? Interesting, though perhaps that would make sense. You live such short lives, perhaps being able to breed without any repercussions was to counter the likelihood of simply going extinct.” He theorized aloud.

“You guys aren’t the same way, I take it.” You half asked, suddenly remembering back when you chatted with Flowey so long ago under the willow, how he told you that monsters only aged when they had kids. He didn’t expand that though, and you guess it never really registered in your head what exactly that meant. Sans sighed, seeming like he would much rather get this conversation over with. He quickly pulled out his phone, tapping on a doodling app.

“When monsters have a kid, the kid takes some of their Soul energy.” Sans started to explain, drawing an upside down heart on the screen with the grey ink. “When they age, more of that energy goes to the kid so they can grow. Because of that, the parents age as well. Real age has no meaning to our Souls or, by extension, our bodies.” He made a smaller upside down heart off to the side, before making it bigger, and shrinking down the original heart. “A hundred year-old monster with a kid would look ages older than a four hundred year-old monster without kids, so our looks aren’t exactly a good judge for ages.”

“But if the kid dies before the parents do, the parents stop losing their magic and... stop aging.” Flowey added in, surprising you. So that’s why Toriel and Asgore looked slightly older than the average monster…

You thought about what they said, starting to understand what Gaster meant by Sans killing their parents. “So… If two monsters have a child and let it age enough to turn into an adult…?”

“They would age, but be overall they would be fine. A single child is not enough to dust two monsters, otherwise we as a species would have died out long ago. At most, two children becoming adults is the usual circumstance of the parents’ dusting, but they likely would survive a few years more depending on the strain on their bodies. Healthy monsters would be able to have two children reach adulthood and have time to be a family for some time before they could no longer keep themselves together.” Gaster said, and you saw him glance towards Sans. “However, if they create a third child… Well, you cannot make something new when you already ran out of supplies, can you?”

“It’s why I’m short.” Sans wasn’t looking at you, but you could see the drawing on his phone had the original heart crossed out, with two hearts next to it, and a single dot under them. “They didn’t have enough magic left for another full monster, let alone enough to give them a decent amount of HOPE.”

Gaster’s frown grew ever so slightly. “You should consider yourself lucky both you and Papyrus survived and managed to grow despite their dusting. They were incredibly powerful monsters, but even that was not enough to keep them from passing.”

“I’m so… so sorry.” You felt bad for making them have the monster’s version of ‘the talk’ with you now. You had no idea monsters having children was such a big deal. Or how magic could transfer from one to another. Or how old monsters could get without it affecting them-  In fact, for living very closely with monsters for the past few weeks and being around them on the surface for the past few months… You had significantly less knowledge than you thought you had about them.

“I never knew them, so it’s not a big deal to me.” Sans said, shrugging and looking down the road again. “It’s him who has any solid memory of a mom or dad. He lived with them for decades; Paps had them for what… six years? I didn’t even get that. It’s what happens to monsters.”

“Still, I’m so sorry I brought it up, I had no idea.” You apologized again, looking at your hands unsure. You glanced at Gaster, and saw him observing you quietly with his mouth in a tight line. His haloes shifted and looked past you, and you turned to see a bus heading in your direction.

“Looks like our ride is almost here,” Sans clicked his phone to the home screen, seeing the time. “A little late, but it’s fine.” He stood up and avoided looking at you. You put the bag down and stood up as well, a heavy feeling in your gut.

“Sans, I-“

“Let’s drop it. We need to get back to the others.” He interrupted, turning around just long enough to zip up the bag and pick it up, so quickly it made Flowey do a little “ooph” sound. You felt Gaster’s hand rest on your shoulders, and you looked up at him.

“Best do what he says.” Gaster hushed, giving you a slight pat before picking up the other bag, and the three of you watched as the bus crossed the road and turned into the small bus stop.

The squeak of the break hurt your ears as the bus finally came to a complete stop, the smell of bad gasoline carrying itself to where you guys were. You let out a small cough, covering your mouth and nose. A few humans scrambled out of the bus, along with a few kids, and a tall woman in a blue outfit held a sign up saying “Follow me!” stepped out behind them. She was wearing a massive smile, though it vanished when she saw you and the brothers.

“Wha- Oh, hello there! There shouldn’t be any tours ending at this time…” It was pretty clear she was confused about your situation, but she tried forcing another smile on her face. You felt a tight hand on your shoulder, but was too focused on trying to come up with a response to the woman.

“We’re locals.” Sans spoke up beside you, voice giving no hint of the distressing conversation you three had moments ago. “Figured we could catch the bus back to town, if it wasn’t too much of a hassle?” He asked, and the woman immediately started nodding.

“Why yes of course! No charge for locals, obviously!” She smiled, and Sans gave a quick nod. The woman looked behind you, seeming like she was concerned about something, but she noticed her tourists were starting to wander and quickly ran after them. “Oh! Please keep together! Follow me now please!”

As the woman walked away you became aware of how tightly Gaster was holding onto your shoulder. You glanced back and had to suppress your jump. Gaster was absolutely seething right now. So much so, you could practically feel the anger radiating from him. …Where those bubbles in his suit?

“Are you okay?” You whispered, snapping Gaster back to reality. His frown lessened and he looked down at you, but he still was looking like he was smelling something unpleasant despite not really having a nose.

“Just peachy.” He uttered, jerking his head towards the bus and pushing you gently. You took the hint and led the skeleton brothers to the doors. The bus driver flipped up his shades to glance at you, slight smile on his face

“Heading to the city?” He asked in a strangely accented voice. You couldn’t place it.

“Yes please.” You replied. He waved a hand at you and you quickly stepped up and moved down the aisles. Gaster and Sans were close behind, following you close to the back. You allowed Gaster the window seat, sitting in the middle while Sans took the inside. Before the three of you even sat down the bus was in motion again, turning and heading towards home.

The bus was fancier than you were used to, it even had a few small tvs on the ceiling. It looked like it was currently on a news show, four humans in suits and dresses sitting around a strangely shaped table talking to each other. The sound wasn’t playing, but you could see the small white words at the bottom of the screen come and go quickly.

Gaster took a loud breath, drawing your attention from the tv. His hands were in fists sitting on his knees, and he was wearing a permanent frown.

“What’s wrong?” You asked. His eyes were focused on the other humans on the bus sitting in front of you, most of them on their phone or reading a book. He glanced at you for a moment, adjusting his shoulders and taking another breath.

“Absolutely nothing.” He half muttered through clenched teeth, not quite selling what he was saying.

“No, something is up. What’s-” You started to ask, but you saw Sans shake his head out of the corner of his eye. You turned to him for an explanation.

“Big G probably isn’t used to the thought of not slaughtering humans,” Sans rolled his eyelights as if what he said was a casual conversation piece. “Isn’t he?” He added sarcastically, leaning forward to look at Gaster.

Gaster’s fingers tapped on his knees rapidly for a moment, jaw adjusting ever so slightly. He looked indecisive on how to respond to that. ”I am sure you would be less comfortable in this situation, had you been raised as I had been.” He said carefully, eyes focusing past you. “Though perhaps I have the right idea about a few of them.” He jerked his chin in the direction he was looking, and you turned to see the news still on the tv. A picture of Mettaton was beside one of the men talking, followed by a heavily pixelated video. 

Two girls looked to be taking a selfie in the streets of downtown at night, laughing and saying something excitedly before turning the camera around, showing Mettaton a bit ahead of them surrounded by fans. There was a flash of light and the camera shook as the crowd reacted to something, followed by another flash. One of the fans collapsed onto the ground, the rest scattered as masked men came out of nowhere, grabbing Mettaton. The rest of the video was a blurry mess as the camera owner seemed to run away from the chaos.  

The camera changed back to the man and the image of Mettaton, white words appearing under him.

[This was the scene of last night, after Metatton’s daily show. Three fans were seriously injured and police have yet to locate where the TV star Mettaton might be located. Please call the number on screen if you know any more information-]

You had your hands pressed to your mouth, shocked at what happened. Sans didn’t give you the details- he might not have known himself, but you didn’t know it happened right off of the street. Sans shook his head and clenched a fist.

“I… don’t know what we can do,” he looked at you. “We know it was HP, but the weed wrecked the only bar that publicly supported HP members.” Sans glared at Flowey, who looked away.

“You think it’s revenge for wrecking that guy’s face?” You asked, painful memories sparking back to life of an alternate universe where you and Sans died at the anger of the leader.

“He’s probably using that as an excuse, yeah.” Sans thought a bit before mumbling. “Even if we find where Metatton is, it’s not like we can march in there and ask him nicely to be released. There isn’t any way for this to go down without dust being spilled…”

“We’ll figure something out.” You said, but you weren’t entirely sure if you believed yourself.

.

The bus ride was long, though eventually you found yourself being shaken awake.

“Our stop.” Sans whispered, gently shaking you off his shoulder. You quickly sit up and grab one of the bags, following Sans off of the bus. Before you even had the chance to look around to see where you were, long bony arms wrapped around you and lifted you up, squeezing tightly.

“HUMAN!!!” Papyrus yelled as he spun around, effectively making you quite dizzy.

“Papyrus!” You tried to imitate his volume, letting yourself be a ragdoll in his arms until he set you down. You took a moment to keep your balance, and looked him over. “How are you doing buddy?” You asked, seeing he was wearing casual clothes, rather than his battle armor.

“Physically I am doing quite well. Emotionally I am very much scared for Mettaton’s life. So you know. That.” He awkwardly said, not entirely sure what else he was supposed to say in this kind of situation. You nod, relieved that he was still Papyrus even with all of the stress, if a bit more sobering. “Who is your new friend?”

You turned to see who Papyrus was referring to, seeing Gaster. Gaster’s mouth opened slightly, and a hint of disappointment made its way to his eyes. “Just… a friend.” He said quietly, keeping his distance from everyone.

“Well all help is appreciated,” Alphy’s voice startled you, and you saw her and Undyne close to the bus stop as well. “We’ve been looking for leads all morning, but we think we might have just found one.” She was nerviously knotting her hands together, as usual.

“Yeah? What is it?” Sans asked, interested in why they didn’t update him sooner.

“Probably best if you see it yourself.” Undyne said, motioning everyone down the sidewalk. The six of you walked for awhile, and you recognized you were pretty close to home. In fact, you guys were heading in that direction.

After a little while of walking, you saw why.

Your apartment was absolutely trashed.

[it-refused]

Prompt:  Papyrus vs. a nest of annoying puppies +  Gaster being world's worst babysitter

Thank you @armonah!  Since you sent several prompts, I tried to combine a couple of them.  I hope you enjoy it!  This is my first real attempt at writing Gaster.

Rating: G

Characters: Papyrus, Gaster (as the skeleton brothers’ dad), Sans, Dogaressa, Dogamy, and Dogaressa and Dogamy’s puppies.  

Summary: There’s a small emergency in Dogaressa’s family and she and Dogamy need someone to watch their kids overnight.  Papyrus volunteers and Sans volunteers Gaster.  I made this into a post-pacifist AU where they somehow managed to bring Gaster back from the void.

The old man was sinking into the living room couch in a way Sans found relateable. Emotionally, obviously, not physically.  

"hey.  pops. uh.  mind the gap, there." 

Gaster started back awake, reforming fully onto the couch.  He never had the shape he had before his "fall," but Sans was getting used to his new look.

"[Thank you,]" he said, with his hands.  

"if i have to watch bro mop you outta the couch again, i'm getting nightmares."

Like his name summoned him, Papyrus burst in from the kitchen.  "WONDERFUL NEWS,  BELOVED FAMILY!  MY LONG LOST FATHER AND...MY SHORT AND USUALLY AROUND BROTHER?"  He skidded to a stop halfway across the living room.  

"round?  i guess that's what happens when you eat as many 'burgs as i do. you're..."  Sans winked. "...dependable.  everyone always knows where to find you."

"WE CAN GET INTO A DISCUSSION ABOUT YOUR EATING HABITS LATER, SANS!  I DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME."

"yeah. and a great chef like you always needs some extra thyme."

"THANK YOU FOR COMPLIMENTING MY SKILLS AS A CHEF, HOWEVER...NOW IS STILL NOT THE TIME.  NOT FOR THAT OR THE HERB PUN YOU TRIED TO SLIP BY MY KEEN, TRAGICALLY WELL DEVELOPED PUN SENSES."

"nothing gets past you, bro."

"[I herb you were good at that,]" Gaster said.  Sans hadn't been sure he was paying attention until that moment.

Papyrus sighed, loud and exasperated.  "DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE SOMETHING THEY NEED TO EXPRESS, BEFORE I CAN SPEAK?"

"don't think of this as a...punishmint, papyrus," Sans said.

"[We clove you, son.]"

"WHY DID THINGS TURN OUT THIS WAY?" Papyrus asked.  "WOULD YOU LET ME SAY WHAT I MUST, BEFORE I HAVE TO...LEAF?"

"nice."

"NYEH-HEH-HEH!" He crossed his arms and lifted up his chin.  Unfortunately, he wasn't wearing a cape, so it couldn't blow dramatically behind him. "ANYWAY!  I HAVE BEEN GIVEN A VERY IMPORTANT, VERY IMMEDIATE TASK."

"you need help, or something?"  Sans didn't want to stand up.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!  I WANTED TO INFORM YOU THAT I WILL BE UNABLE TO COOK YOU A DELICIOUS, HEALTHY DINNER THIS EVENING.  BECAUSE I HAVE OTHER PLANS!"

"uh.  a date?" Would Papyrus call that a "task?"  ....Maybe?

"YOUR GUESS IS UNSURPRISING, AS I AM OF COURSE POPULAR ENOUGH TO DRAW ANY NUMBER OF ATTRACTIVE, SEXY SINGLES HELPLESSLY TOWARDS MY PERSON.  HOWEVER, IF I DID HAVE A DATE, IT WOULD HAVE TO BE A...RAIN DATE!"

"i get it."

"I HAVE BEEN ASKED TO BABYSIT," he explained.  "DOGAMY CALLED ME JUST A FEW MINUTES AGO.  APPARENTLY A MEMBER OF DOGARESSA'S FAMILY IS ILL, AND THEIR REGULAR BABYSITTER WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE UNTIL THE MORNING."

"oh.  guess you can't just drag six puppies to a hospital with you, or wherever."

"IT IS...INADVISABLE."  

"[Six?]"  Gaster's whole body shuddered.  "[Two was not easy.]"

"it's a few hours," Sans said.

"IT MAY NOT BE EASY FOR YOU, BUT IT WILL BE A BREEZE FOR SOMEONE LIKE ME," Papyrus said.  Sans could easily read the unease on his face.

"[Are you sure?]"  

"YES!"  Papyrus ran into his room, probably to pack a bag for overnight.

Gaster was staring at Sans.  It was a bad idea to look too long into the empty spaces of his uneven eye sockets.

"you want a chisp?" Sans asked.

"[It is too much.]  He continued to stare.  "[He is aware.  You are aware. We are all aware.]

"eh, he can handle it."  He really didn't want to get up.

"[...]"

It had been weird enough when Gaster would sign ellipses before he fell.  

Papyrus returned, briefly, carrying a heavy looking suitcase.  He dropped it on the floor by the door.

"hey, bro, how many kids have you watched?"  

He considered. "DOZENS!"

"at a time?"

"BROTHER, HOW MANY CHILDREN DOES FRISK COUNT AS?"

"probably one," Sans said.

"THAT IS THE NUMBER, THEN."

Maybe dad had a point.

"[You should ask someone to lend a hand,]" Gaster said.

"I CAN HANDLE THIS MYSELF!" Papyrus said, insulted and irritated.  "AND EVERYONE WAS ALREADY BUSY.  I WAS NOT THE FIRST ON THEIR LIST.  SO I WILL PROVE TO THEM THAT I SHOULD HAVE BEEN!"

"hey, dad," Sans said.  "what's the wd weather report today?"

"[I am...]" Gaster looked away.  "[The...the DARKNESS RISES UP.  THE CURRENT THREATENS.  PULLS.  So..]"  He shrugged, oddly.  "[ABOUT AVERAGE.]"

"that sucks," Sans said.

Papyrus ran back into his room, probably to pack another suitcase.

"[For...two meanings of the word.]"  His grin widened.  

Sans stared at him, and then laughed.  "wow.  the void's friendlier than i would've thought.”

"[. . .]”

"what."

"[Sans.  Wash your skull out.  With soap and water.]"  One of his hands waggled a finger in Sans' direction.  "[That is technically a third meaning.]"

"ok." Sans started to move, knowing he'd be stopped.

"[Never mind. Do Not Eat Soap.]"

They both remembered when Sans had been a kid, and - bolstered by his knowledge of a skeleton's near-immunity to food poisoning, and full of youthful scientific curiosity -  he had outright eaten a bar of soap when Gaster told him off for swearing.

"ok," Sans said.  He settled back down.  "just admit you thought it was funny, pops.  at least your upside down face thinks so."

"[He has bad taste]"

Papyrus returned with two more suitcases.

"so dad's feeling pretty ok today, and he wants to help you out.  he's watched two kids, and you've watched probably-one, so that's over half, right there."

"[Sans.]"  Gaster's face stretched in disapproval.  "[Children are not pleased when they see me.]"

"hey, you're just like their grandparents.  they'll love you."  Sans wasn't letting this get pushed onto him.  Anyway, it would probably be good for dad to get out and spend time with people who were used to monsters like him.  Yeah.  Sans was going to go with that.  It was for dad's own good.

Man.  This chair was comfortable.

"WELL, FATHER DOES NEED TO GET OUT MORE," Papyrus said, a little doubtful. "THIS COULD VERY WELL BE A GOOD IDEA."

"[THIS WILL END BADLY,]"  Gaster said.  "[Let's go.]"

--

Papyrus' fingerbone wasn't even off the doorbell when the barking started.  Gaster understood enough dog to figure out that it was mostly just "Who's there?" shouted at the door over and over again.  The highest yipping bark kept telling them to go away.

Dogamy opened the door.  His fur was rumpled and he barely glanced at Gaster before letting them in.  He was in the middle of packing.  Dogaressa was sitting on the couch, two of her puppies on her lap.  They had been distracted by the doorbell, but the puppies looked like they had been crying.  Separation was difficult for very young children.

Once the young ones caught Papyrus' scent, the barking changed, and the four of them not sitting with Dogaressa ran over and started cheerfully nipping at him.  Dogamy tried to shoo them away as he explained the routine so he and Dogaressa could get going.

Gaster sunk back, uneasy around so many monsters.  He melted into a shadow, and only left it reluctantly when Papyrus called him over to shake paws with (and give a quick pat to) Dogaressa and Dogamy.  They sniffed him, and he wasn't sure they liked what they smelled, but they thanked him for helping out on such short notice.  They gave all their puppies a goodbye nuzzle and hurried out before the whining and wailing from the puppies could make them decide they had to stay.

Two minutes after they were gone, the whining stopped, and the puppies went back to sniffing at and trying to gnaw on Papyrus.  

"I AM GOING TO MAKE DINNER!  IT IS UNWISE TO EAT THE PERSON WHO IS GOING TO COOK FOR YOU!"

"[Play with them,]" Gaster suggested.  

His hands moving seemed to catch the attention of the puppies.  One of them growled, and then was shushed by another.  Gaster was having trouble telling them apart.

The boldest one approached him.  They sniffed.  Gaster was sure they couldn't see him all that well, when he wasn't moving.  He held out a hand and the puppy examined him.

They barked, excited, to their siblings.  "He smells like grandmas!"

"Grandmas?" The other puppies hurried over.  Six tiny wet little noses nudged against his hands.  They all barked the names they had for their amalgamate relative.  

Gaster felt a warm feeling swell within his broken soul.  He was not sure he would ever be a grandparent.  He didn't like the monster Papyrus was regularly dating, and he didn't think Sans would settle down.  Well.  He was in a permanent state of "settled down," actually.  He would have to unsettle if he started dating so he could resettle into a different position.  One that would give Gaster grandchildren.

He didn't bring it up.  He had been away for too long to feel comfortable even mentioning how much he would enjoy having a little baby bones running around calling him some cute nickname.  The puppies calling him "grandmas" and "geny" and so on made that desire suddenly overwhelming.  

He was supposed to be there to help Papyrus babysit, but...

"[I have some treats for you children,]" Gaster said.  The puppies didn't understand him, but they did understand the smell of the dog kibble he brought out of his inventory.  His original idea was that if they swamped him, he could throw the kibble and escape, but now he just wanted them to have it.

"DON'T GIVE THEM TOO MANY!  I HAVE A PROPER MEAL PLANNED AND IT WOULD BE AWFUL IF THEIR APPETITE WAS RUINED BEFORE THEY COULD EAT A DELICIOUS MEAL PROVIDED BY THE GREAT CHEF PAPYRUS."  

"[Right,]" Gaster said.  He laughed as one of the puppies licked his hand.  He gave her another handful of treats.

"DID YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID?"

"[Yes.  You're making dinner, correct?]"

"...FINE!  I WILL DO THAT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE."  

"[You children can call me grandpa if you like,]" Gaster said.  They still didn't understand him, but they liked watching his hands move around. Their vision would be average for dog monsters (he initially thought "poor," but that was a relative, subjective term that did not apply) so his hands would be blurry and indistinct.  

They didn't mind not understanding him.  Now that they knew he was a snack-providing adult, they were fine with him.

Gaster found some of their toys and tossed them for them, watching the puppies race around and bounce into each other.  They yipped in excitement.  When Papyrus returned with dinner, they were worked up into a complete frenzy. They had forgotten the toys and were nipping and chasing each other.

"THIS IS ABSOLUTE CHAOS," Papyrus said.  One of the puppies deliberately slammed into his leg, laughing, and Papyrus' chef hat fell onto the ground.  Another puppy jumped on it, and a third came over and sniffed at the sauce spill on Papyrus' apron.  They bit his apron there, trying to eat it.  A fourth puppy, catching on that something exciting was happening, ran over and grabbed Papyrus apron, too, apparently thinking they were playing tug of war with it.  

Papyrus waved his arms, trying to keep his balance.  The last two puppies were too busy yipping and nipping at each other to notice Papyrus.  

"[They are adorable,]" Gaster said.  "[They have so much energy. Above average, I think.  They remind me of you when you were their age.]"

"THAT IS A VERY SWEET, IF INCONVENIENTLY TIMED REMINISCENCE."  

The apron tore, and one of the puppies fell back, yelping in surprise.  She must have landed on her tail badly, because she started to howl.

Papyrus picked her up and checked her for injury (with the other puppy still hanging from his apron).  She calmed quickly, and when he set her down, she ran over to the two puppies still fighting and hopped in with them.

"DINNER IS READY, PUPPIES," Papyrus said, loud, trying to get their attention.

"Bones?" one of them asked.

"Bones!!" That word caught the attention of the rest of the dogs, and they all launched themselves at Papyrus.  He fell over under the onslaught.  

"NO!  IT IS IN THE KITCHEN!  IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW DELICIOUS MY ARM IS, WE ARE NOT HAVING IT FOR DINNER."  

Gaster got out his camera and took a few pictures.  This was the cutest thing he had ever seen, and he needed a permanent record of it for his archives.  

It took Papyrus a long time to get the puppies into the kitchen.  They didn't want to sit and settle down to eat.  When they finally did, the food was gone in seconds and they ran back into the living room spreading sauce everywhere and getting into trouble.  Papyrus chased after them, yelling about baths.  

The first, boldest puppy approached Gaster again.  They had sauce all over their muzzle. Gaster wiped at it a little bit with a tissue, but it didn't help much.

"Pets?" They asked.

Of course.  Gaster pet them.  There was sauce on his hand, now, but he didn't care.  He sat down on the couch and the puppy climbed into his lap, curled up, and fell asleep.

"OK!  YOU ARE WATCHING THAT ONE!  THANK YOU.  I WILL BATHE THE OTHER FIVE BY MYSELF, AND THEN WASH THAT ONE LATER, I GUESS."  Papyrus was holding three puppies and another two were playfully nipping at his ankles.  He was covered in sauce.

"[Ok.]"  Gaster pet the one he was responsible for.  They made adorable little snuffling noises in their sleep.

There was a lot of noise coming from the bathroom.  Gaster turned on the television.  

When Papyrus returned, he was soaking wet from head to toe.  His clothes dripped, and odd, sauce-colored suds stuck to him.  The puppies came with him. They were all very, very wet.  

"WE NEED MORE TOWELS," Papyrus said.  "I USED EVERY ONE THEY HAVE."

"[Paper towels?]" Gaster suggested.  He stayed where he was.  One of the wet puppies jumped up next to him, and he used one of Dogaressa and Dogamy's throw pillows to dry him off.  The puppy in Gaster's lap woke and shoved off their brother when he tried to climb on, too.

"[Now, now,]" Gaster said.  

When Papyrus returned, the puppies and him were dry again.

"THIS IS PROBABLY WHAT HELL IS LIKE," Papyrus said.  "THEY HAD A PACKAGE OF SIXTEEN ROLLS OF PAPER TOWELS IN THE PANTRY, AND I USED EVERY SINGLE ONE."

"[You are doing very well,]" Gaster said.  The puppies were all fluffy and even more adorable, now.  Papyrus had done an amazing job, in his opinion. "[If you sit down, maybe they will sit with you.]"  

Papyrus slumped on the couch next to Gaster like he was a puppet and someone had cut his strings.  The dogs were all worn out, and climbed on with him, piling up on Papyrus and each other until they were a warm, snoring mass.  

"WE SHOULD READ THEM A STORY," Papyrus said.  "THAT IS PART OF THEIR BEDTIME ROUTINE."

"[I would, but they don't understand me.]"

Papyrus sighed.  He wasn't going to get up and get a book, so he told the sleeping puppies his own favorite bedtime story from memory.  He trailed off at the end, and fell asleep himself.  

Gaster put a blanket over his son.  The blanket moved around from the pile of puppies concealed under it, to his amusement.  

He wasn't going to want to leave when the regular babysitter got there in the morning. He decided to stay awake and keep an eye on things, just so he could enjoy pretending to be a grandpa for a little while longer.

[oldscarredlove]

ProjectTale - Part 1

Again, another old story that was never completed. Also, this is before Project met Dolly.

This is my second AU and is also the second fan-fiction I’ve posted on Tumblr, if you’d like to see my first AU, it’s called AfterGone and there are 3 parts to it. You can read this one and go read the other after but I recommend reading this one 2nd. ANYWAY!! I hope you enjoy this story and I should be able to do Part 2 either tomorrow or the next day. I HAD drawn the beginning of it out but I seem to have lost all but 1 of my comic strips =_= Greeaat….  So, on with the show! — The room was dark, soft snores was the only thing you could hear, the underground was completely silent and all the monsters had retired to their homes. Next to the library was a rustic looking house, the window to the main bedroom opened slowly and none of the residence awoke.

The man slithered in and crept past the queen sized bed and stopped before the cot beside it, which had a small baby skeleton wrapped in an blue blanket sleeping inside. This was his target. The man brushed his fingers against the baby’s skull and lifted him up into his arms, he flinched however when the baby’s face scrunched up and started to wail.

“That is my child.” He glanced behind him, not enough to show his face but enough to see hers. Her eyes were glowing a deep red, ready to spill his dust on the floor for touching her son. He cracked his neck and teleported away, he managed to avoid her physically but not her final cry, one word echoing through his skull for the rest of his days. “SANS!” — His footsteps echoed through the corridors as well as the baby’s cries. Sans’ cries. The man scowled and used his free hand to rub in between his eyes, he was getting a headache. Arriving at his main lab, he went up to a clean desk and placed the small skeleton onto it delicately. He placed on hand onto the center of their skull and felt a burning sensation, apparently the baby also did as their cries turned into screams.

“You are mine. I’ll make you stronger than any creature and you’ll be useful when it’s time to overthrow.” He chuckled darkly, removed his hand and in the middle of the baby’s head, just above the center of their eye-sockets was a wingding for the letter W. “Sans…” —???— I could hear everything, I didn’t know if I should feel freaked out or amazed. All those books I’ve read have really paid off, I’ve learnt how to tame my magic, to make sure it didn’t run wild and give this psycho what he wanted. It’s been… How long has it been? I only learnt time but that just keeps on resetting… and how can a guy remember how many times the clock has struck midnight?

I keep my mouth shut, feeling the oozing chemicals around me, making me feel sick to my non-existent stomach. I hear him groan, then a buzz and was suddenly released from my containment tube. All the liquid rushed out, taking me along with it and I ended up sprawled on the floor, coughing for air.

“Pathetic.” I hear him say before my soul started to glow and I started to float up in the air. I thought I was choking, it felt like something was blocking me off from my air, I struggled, trying to get out of the invisible grip but to no success.

“Tell me Sans, you’ve been consoling your magic, haven’t you?” I felt my eye-sockets widen in fear. Oh no… “How? Who taught you?” I looked at his cracked face, the left socket having a crack going up whilst the right was going down. I hated his man. W.D Gaster. “I ought to be more careful with what you read. I should make your punish worse, you seem to not be listening to me anymore.”

I felt a burning sensation in my left eye whilst my right went cold. In the corner of my socket I saw a vial that had a yellow caution symbol on it, thinking it looked promising, I willed it to come closer and closer. When Gaster looked in the vial’s direction, it was too late.The acid splashed onto his face then forgot me completely and whilst taking this golden opportunity, I ran away. — I was so screwed. I needed to find a way out and soon. I never got to travel through the lair and now I see why, so I’d never find the exit. Somewhere within these hallways, I heard a dangerous growling and did what my mind first told it to, hide.

I went into a random room and shut the door behind me, backing away slowly whilst taking in my surroundings, spotting a mirror at the opposite side of the room. I went up to it and gave myself a once over. A skeleton wearing a dark grey dress-thing with a black choker around the turtle neck this dress had and a wingding on the forehead. Yeah, definitely not going out like this.

Then a miracle happened, my eyes were attracted to a navy box behind me that said “Janitor” and I was easily able to rip the door off. Inside was a pile of orange and black clothing and after putting them on I couldn’t stop grinning, my fang-like teeth making me feel even more dangerous.

The orange thing covered my entire body (except my arms since the sleeves were ripped off from the shoulders), I’d left the two top buttons undone because it felt weird with the black hood thing I wore underneath it. There was this thing black material also that fit through the loops of the suit, it helped it fit better onto my figure. The shoes were a little soggy, like they had been drying out but weren’t quite done.

After the quick change, I put the hood up and covered up the mark I’ve had since forever. I peeked outside and made a break for it once I thought it was clear. After running around for what seemed like half an hour -with the exception of making a quick stop- I saw it. The doorway to my freedom. — This new power inside me was incredible. I heard that madman’s Blasters and sent red bones to impale them to their demise. The sirens of the professor’s lair were louder than I thought, I’d been running for a while and I can’t even see the flashing lights but even from here, I could still hear them.

My running came to a stop when I came to a small place full of monsters, next to me was a sign, a big one, that read “Welcome to Snowdin!” As I looked around I was captivated by the tree in the centre, decorated with lights and lots of colour. I hadn’t even realized I’d walked up to it.

I pulled out the picture I’d quickly taken from my quarters before my escape from the pocket of the suit. My hand started to shake and I willed it to stop. I needed to find a place to hide for the time being, there was no way I was going back to that torture.

“May I help you?”

I turned toward the voice and felt my jaw drop slightly. This monster…  “You seem to be looking for someone?” Was completely made out of fire! And he wanted me to talk? I’ve never spoken to anyone expect Gaster and I’d only just throw snarky remarks at him.

So when I spoke, I was even shocked by how deep it was. “No worries about it..” I shoved the picture back into my pocket. The wind blew and I shivered from the low temperature. The fire monster offered me to follow him and I’d agreed, cracking a joke that I was “chilled to the bone”. I think that was my first warm-hearted joke.

We headed into another building and whilst looking around, he answered my unspoken questions. “This is where I work, it’s the ‘place-to-go’ here in Snowdin. Grillby’s, the number one diner.” He instructed me to sit down and I did so, watching as he went around to stand on the other side of the counter. “And yes, I am Grillby.”

“I guessed.” I could smell all the food around me and I realizing just how starved I was, I couldn’t remember the proper day I’d eaten, perhaps 3 days ago? “Want to order something?”

I shook my head and grinned under my hood. “Nah, got nothing to pay you with… I’ve been… erm.. Travelling and I’ve kind of ran out….?” Shoot. Making it sound like a question was bad, you might as well add to the end ‘Was this believable?’

He nodded thoughtfully and said. “I see your dilemma, as a first timer here, you can order something for free. On the house.”

My life was full of light and glory at that moment. I ordered something called “fries” and during my wait, I took of the picture again and did nothing else. When he returned, I was brought little thin sticks that flopped in between my fingers. As I popped on into my mouth I was introduced to probably the best thing I tasted.

All of a sudden, there was a bang at the front of the diner and a booming voice saying. “Grillby! May I have a word with you?” Heavy footsteps stormed toward me and I felt myself turn into a statue, staying as still as I could so I wouldn’t attract unwanted attention.

This guy sat in the seat right next to me and I got the impression that he was a very scary guy, his armour looked very fancy and spiky, suggesting he was high up in the royal levels or something. What was it that Gaster said… about a new guy he didn’t like….

“Head Guard Papyrus, how can I help you?” Head Guard! That was it! I took a sneak peak at ‘Papyrus’s’ face and MAN was it creepy looking. His eye-sockets were empty and on his forehead was the symbol of the kingdom, a mark I basically saw everywhere in the labs.

“I’m looking for an escapee,” I froze in spot, “In the last couple of hours, Gaster was attacked and apparently an experiment of him got out. Have you seen any peculiar looking monsters tonight?”

Please don’t say me, no, I won’t go back. I’d rather die than- “Nope, not really, I mean, no one looks somewhat normal down here. But if I see anything I’ll come find you Head Guard.” He gestured to the weird junk he had at the back of the bar. “Would you like to get something? You look rather tired Papyrus.”

Now that he mentioned it, he did, it looked like he hadn’t gotten sleep in days. He frowned in disgust. “No thank you, I’m on duty so I don’t have time.” He got up from his seat and turned away heading toward the exit.

Grillby turned his attention to me once the door shut and asked. “Is something wrong?”  I was shaking, I couldn’t stop, even the picture wasn’t helping. Grillby made a small, low noise and then asked me another question. “Who were you looking for back there?”

I shook my head and smiled sadly at the skeleton-woman with a sweet, sweet smile holding a small skeleton in a blue blanket in front of a familiar -looking decorated tree.

“No one” —PAUSE— I hope you enjoyed the opening of ProjectTale and wish to read more of it! I’ll be looking forward to any comments you may have!

[asksmolgaster]

It was him. It was Sans, his son, his child. After all these years, even after falling into the CORE, his son still remembered him. Gaster almost couldn’t believe it.

Gaster bunched himself up like a spring and jumped up at Sans, who, while startled by his sudden movement, caught him in his arms. Gaster wrapped his little armless hands around Sans, his version of a hug, to which Sans replied to with a hug of his own.

“I’m not gonna lie, I thought you had completely forgotten who I was for a second there. Scared the crap outta me pops!” Sans laughed while giving Gaster a light noogie.

Gaster made a strange garbled noise akin to laughter. He removed his hands from Sans and began to sign.

“I apologize for worrying you, son. It has been many years, and many of my memories have began to fade ever so slightly,” His expression changed to that of a embarrassed smile as he signed. “But that is to be expected after falling into the CORE and being stuck in the Void for gods know how long. Besides, I would never fully forget my son, at least not for long.”

Sans snickered at that. “Yeah, I suppose you have a point there.” Sans suddenly seemed to remember something, and his smile widened. “You know, there’s someone who would really love to see you.”

“Papyrus?”

“Who else? Come on, I know a shortcut.”

------

Gaster was surprised at how little the house had changed. He was even more surprised that they had been able to move it all the way to the Surface without having to remove some parts. But it seemed that they had managed to do just that.

Ah, the wonders of science and magic.

For a while he just sat on Sans’ shoulder, staring at the house as memories began to surface.

Sans nodded at the house. “Well, here we are. Nice short cut, huh?”

“I taught you how to do that.”

“Aw come on, lemme have some fun!”

Gaster made another garbled laugh, and nudged Sans’ shoulder playfully. He was teasing of course. He may be the size of a small cat now, but he was still a dad.

Gaster blinked at the two mailboxes that were in front of the house. One of them was horribly bent, and had bits of ripped paper that appeared to have been yanked out. He gestured at it.

“What happened there? Did it get hit by a car?”

Sans blinked and looked at the mailbox his father was pointing at and shuddered slightly. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

“Did you hit it with you Skull Blaster?”

“I hit it with my Skull Blaster.”

“Gods dammit Sans.”

Sans burst into laughter at Gaster’s dismayed expression as he stared at the mailbox. “Look man, there was some weird shit in that thing, it had to put out of it’s misery!” He wheezed between laughter. Gaster merely rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“Well, other than the desecrated mailbox, the house looks well cared for. I’m proud of you and Papyrus.” And it was true. They had kept everything the same. The tree lights that Sans had threw over onto the house while practicing his magic, the lovely wreath that simply refused to wilt on the door, the snow on the roof-

Wait. The snow on the roof?

“Sans, why is there-”

Sans swiftly approached the door and opened it before his father could finish his sentence. “Welp, we should probably go inside now, shouldn’t keep Papyrus waiting, huh?” He said quickly. Gaster couldn’t help but be amused by his attempts to change the topic. Oh well. He’d address him about it later.

Sans walked into the house. He removed his shoes and took off his coat, leaving it on a coat rack, which was probably a new addition to the house since Gaster didn’t recognize it.

“Hey bro, I’m home!” Sans called out as he made his way to the couch. Once there, he opened up a drawer and pulled out a binder. Good heavens it was big, it must weigh a ton. Sans placed it down onto the couch right as Papyrus walked in wearing a apron that read “Hug the Cook”.

“ABOUT TIME! I WAS STARTING TO WONDER IF YOU HAD FALLEN ASLEEP SOMEWHERE AND NEEDED ME TO COME FIND YOU!” Gaster jumped at Papyrus’s voice; he had forgotten how loud he was.

“Haha, no, not this time. Sorry bro,” Sans chuckled. “I didn’t mean to stay out so long. But, I have a reason for it. I brought someone home.” Sans explained with a grin.

Papyrus slapped his hands to his skull in a shocked gesture. “WHAT?! YOU BROUGHT SOMEONE OVER? WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME? I COULD HAVE COOKED EXTRA SPAGHETTI SO THERE WOULD BE ENOUGH FOR ALL OF US! AS WELL AS CLEANED UP A BIT MORE,” Papyrus scolded his brother, who continued to grin widely. “WELL, WHERE ARE THEY? THEY’RE A GUEST, AND WE SHOULD BE POLITE! DON’T TELL ME THEY'RE STILL OUTSIDE ON THE PORCH!”

Sans shook his head. “Nope. They ain’t on the porch. They’re inside.” Sans spoke as if it was a casual situation and not that their father had returned from the void after several years. Gaster wondered what Sans was up to.

“WELL, WHERE ARE THEY THEN?” Papyrus demanded, putting his hands on his hip bones. Gaster decided then that he should probably move so Papyrus could see him. And maybe find out if Papyrus had his eyes checked recently.

Gaster jumped off of Sans’ shoulders and ‘slid’ over to Papyrus. He reared himself up to try to make himself taller, though it didn’t make much of a difference.

“I am down here on the floor.” Gaster signed while making garbled sounds. Unlike his laughter, which sounded like staticy whistles and weird popping noises, his speech sounded a bit more distorted. Creepy, he supposed, but it got people’s attention.

Papyrus looked down and met eyes with Gaster. For a while, they stared at each other, neither of them moving or speaking. Then Papyrus spoke, his voice unusually quiet.

“Dad?”

Gaster nodded.

The next few hours was spent with crying, pats on the back, and a lot of hugging.

[gasters-story]

Chapter 34

Word Count: 2,008

Warning: Death

Gaster was forced out of the labs one day to look at books in the library of Snowdin with Papyrus. Picture books would probably be good for the kid and he wanted to go too. The main annoyance would just be the boat ride to get there swiftly. Rocksan, Papyrus, and the small surface area of the boat would be problematic together.

Papyrus’ energy added to the factors as well. The boat rocked when said kid hopped on enthusiastically, though Rocksan acted pretty unaffected like it wouldn't be the first. “Don't rock the boat by jumping on haphazardly.” Gaster advises as he steps on himself. Papyrus just gives a bright smile as he looks at the other. Gaster just sighs, ironically feeling the kid's energy depleted his own faster.

While the boat was moving, it was silent. Rocksan seemed to watch both of them in slight curiosity. Papyrus leaned over the edge of the boat to see down into the water. At first, he was fine but at the next moment he leaned too far and started to fall in. Rocksan seemed to panic for a moment once she noticed but Gaster just used some magic to gently pull up Papyrus by his soul and keep him from falling. Out of the corner of his vision, the royal scientist watched Rickman slowly calm down, slowly realizing the child wasn't going to fall overboard.

Papyrus never seemed to notice nor care. His attention was fully on the water. He stayed like that until Gaster lifted him up with his magic and then gently placed the other on Snowdin's snow. Papyrus instantly sped off in excitement to explore and find the library.

“Gaster.” The voice called him from behind as he went to follow after Papyrus. With a sigh, Gaster looked back at Rocksan. “You brought him back too?”

“More like Sans did it for me.” Gaster shrugs, only slightly remembering when Papyrus was out of the machine years ago.,”he found things out and made the choice a long time ago.” Rocksan looked down a bit as she thought for a moment. As much as she seemed to want to keep talking, Gaster knew Papyrus was getting farther away. Him getting lost wouldn't be good.

Gaster turned to walk away to find the kid. “Can we talk later?” It was Rocksan who asked probably understanding that letting Papyrus run away was a bad idea. Gaster waved his hand a bit as a sort of not really an actual answer.  He'd decide later if he felt like coming by to just talk to her. He knows at least where she can be found with her boat job so it's not like he can't take his time with it either.

Papyrus meanwhile was found staring at the christmas tree in amazement. Gaster didn't immediately go to the other, pausing for a brief moment. He wondered if he would've been like this if the experiments weren't made into what they had been. Vedren might have been in his spot now, while Gaster stood in Papyrus' spot. Of course they would've been on the surface too. Aksinya, Ouphre, and Nomeus wouldn't be dead. No monster would be fighting for hope and survival.

It probably didn't help that Papyrus had Gaster's red scarf neatly wrapped around his neck while Gaster wore the purple one from Papyrus. He let Papyrus wear it since he was being told he should wear the purple one and it wasn't like the kid would ruin it. Luckily, though, Papyrus would notice Gaster and run over to grab his hand. The sudden contact snapped the scientist back into reality.

He looked down at Papyrus as he was being dragged away by the small child. "We gotta find the library!" The young one exclaimed with glee. It took a brief moment for Gaster to lift Papyrus with his magic and put the other on his shoulders so the child wouldn't run off again. Papyrus gasped and looked around as his bones shook with more excitement. "Now we have the high ground!"

"Indeed." Was Gaster's only response. He guessed it was something Sans said during a game between the two. Papyrus was learning quickly and growing gis vocabulary, making Gaster happy that he could understand the child better now.

The scientist didn't take long to find the library and Papyrus was let down to get a book or two he liked. Gaster waited at a table as the child eventually came back with a stack of books. Gaster sighed as he watched the other come sit down and start to read through the books as best he could. Gaster would help with a word or two here and there, otherwise Papyrus was a great reader so far.

Soon Papyrus began to yawn occasionally before leaning against Gaster. He kept trying to read through his books but it seemed that wasn't going to happen. Papyrus fell asleep during one book so Gaster had to use his magic to keep Papyrus still while he put all the books back up.

He walked out of the library carrying Papyrus in his arms and face buried in his purple scarf. He kept his eyes closed on the boat ride to keep his mind off Rocksan, who was definitely watching him. Something felt off and he didn't want to confront it.

He just headed back to the lab to give Papyrus to Sans, who was grateful his brother was asleep since he needed it. Gaster didn't pay much mind yo it though. He just went to his own room to think about other concerns of his.

The next morning, he decided to take a stroll through the Ruins. Being part of the extremely small population that could transfer in and out made it ideal for avoiding familiar faces. Plus less monsters live around here.

It became less of a stroll once he saw a human wandering around. Gaster stopped suddenly to watch them as they walked and soon laid their eyes on Gaster. There were a few moments of pause as the human child seemed to wait for Gaster to make the first move. The scientist just knew what he had to do.

Gaster did make the first move, attempting to swiftly kill them with a bone to the head. However, the child ducked out of the way quick enough to be just barely scraped. They dropped their ribbon on their hair as they shot Gaster from slight surprise of an opening. He could see them bleeding from the head though as they rushed past.

Gaster didn't honestly care about the ribbon, some other monster can have it if they really want, and just went after the kid. They're a problematic one, being patiently observant, so Gaster didn't just rush at them or teleport in front of them or anything.

The human soon hit a dead end though. Gaster was now in the way of another escape, no matter how patient they were for an opening. They clearly knew this too since they pulled out a measly toy knife. It wouldn't really be effective in scaring even most monsters away. They still made a fighting attempt to do so though.

Gaster just killed them quickly like planned. He didn't want to waste more time on them anyways. He pulled out their cyan soul and looked at it for a moment. It was the same kind as Sans', which slightly bothered him. He just tried to ignore the familiar anxious feeling as he made his way out of the Ruins. He skipped Home by teleporting since he knew that Toriel took up residence there after the incident years ago. If she knew what Gaster recently did then that's more to her hate list.

Gaster decided to walk to the labs from just outside the Ruins so he didn't have to get back as quick as he could be doing so. With that plan in mind, he put the soul in his ribcage to keep it safe and hidden. It was a good thing he decided to take a walk apparently.

On his way he found a large, fallen tree branch, probably due to snow piling too much on it. Gaster took a moment to even realize it but Rocksan was stuck underneath the branch. Once he had, he moved to push the branch off the other carefully while assessing the damages.

She had a broken arm af worst and was unconscious. Gaster was annoyed that he now had two problems but he would have to find a way to manage. He would just gave to carry Rocksan to the lab after wrapping up any wounds and using a splint to keep the broken arm straight.

After the mostly just a long, aggravating journey of making sure the splint stayed in place since it was a makeshift one anyways. Once he gets back to the lab he plans to make Sans deal with her instead. That way he can deal with the soul.

Sans instantly accepted the job when he saw how hurt Rocksan was at least. Gaster watched Sans go off to get supplies but didn't stay in the room longer than that because of the one injured there. He didn't feel like staying longer than needed plus he had to go put the new soul up and tell Asgore about it. He would rather let Ashore know about the important matter than also find out Rocksan's reaction to really anything.

Sans, not really knowing who Rocksan was at all, just waited in a chair for her to wake up. While he waited he couldn't help but wonder where she came from. He knew how skeletons came to be skeletons but he didn't know the story of this one or why Gaster left as fast as he did. He must have missed something in the journal. Something related to this skeleton, unless there's naturally made skeletons he never met but that's highly unlikely.

Sans didn't realize when Rocksan was first waking up. She was quiet as she squinted at the ceiling to think of where she could be. By the time Sans looked up from his fidgeting hands when he heard the bed sheets move, Rocksan was already sitting up and looking around.

"Oh- I didn't realize you were awake." Sans says as he stands up. Rocksan jumped a bit but it got her attention all the same.

"It's quite fine." She responds simply, eyeing the other as looking for some clues or specific details. "Can you maybe explain a bit on what's going on?"

"Ah, right. G told me he found you injured so he brought you to the labs for treatment." Sans answers. "By the looks of it, the biggest thing is your broken right arm. Other than that there's some scrapes and bruises around the break as well as other places that have been treated."

"I was able to feel that…" Rocksan mutters as she winced a bit. "But who's G?"

"Doctor Gaster. Sorry about not specifying." Sans rubbed his neck a bit.

"I see…" Rocksan mutters as she looks down. She was silent for a moment, as if thinking. "When do you think he'll be back in?"

"Not sure. He never told me anything. I didn't even see him leave." Sans simply responds.

"Alright…" Rocksan let out a sigh. "Let me know when he's back. I want to talk to him."

"Can do. I might even be able to page him." Sans thinks for a moment. "If he's not too busy, he should come right away. Otherwise the only important thing I can see him doing is talking to the King about something. That or he's hiding off on a break or something." He shrugs and stands up. "He'd only do that though if he believes I can manage the patient though." He gives the other a smile after the explanation.

Rocksan nods slightly. "I see…" She doesn't say much more than that, instead just taking the time to think as Sans pages Gaster.

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