Chapter Text
“W-what do you mean he’s back?!” Dr. Alphys asked, pacing back and forth in her lab.
She paused at her table, claws digging into the wood grain as she stared at her Mew Mew Kissy Cutie poster. A plea for help. Her feathered crest was lowered and quivering.
Sans was sitting on one of two chairs at the table, one elbow on the surface and fingertips rapping against it. He was deep in thought, trying to articulate the proper response to placate his friend.
They hadn’t spoken to each other in a long time.
“he’s just... back,” Sans said. He wasn’t smiling now. Instead, he looked worried. “and i don’t know how. both of us can guess, but unless we ask him ourselves, we can’t say for sure how he’s... existing again.”
Alphys removed her claws from her work desk, and took a deep breath. She turned to her fellow scientist. Someone with whom she’d worked in the past. Someone who knew Gaster and temporal complexities better than her. One of Gaster’s sons. It was amazing how calm he could be, even now, as their assumed reality was falling to pieces.
“You know... w-what the worst part is?” she asked softly.
Sans looked up, questioning.
“I can still remember it. I-I mean, there’s a part of me that remembers when he didn’t exist and how things were without him. But there’s a part of me that remembers all that, a-and written over it, over these past memories, i-is the knowledge... the pain of knowing he’s been gone.”
Sans looked down again.
“I-is that how it’s supposed to be, Sans?” Alphys asked, looking increasingly panicked. “It’s like, when he came back, h-he split reality into two... Th-the past. Like both these r-realities exist at the same time somehow... W-what does this mean for the timelines...?”
Sans closed his eyes. “i don’t know, al,” he replied. “i’ll be honest, i don’t know. i’m a little worried, but for some reason, somehow i have this feeling that what he did was... legitimate. there’s gotta be some logic behind it. look, you knew- know him. you know me. i can sense it... if i ran a test right now, the timelines would look different, but at the same time, nothing technical would be out of order.”
Alphys shook her head. “I never got the time stuff like you two did... y-you know that. It was my thing w-while not being a part of me.”
Sans quirked a smile. “i know, al. you’re still pretty damn smart, so don’t sweat it. heh. it’s not gonna help either of us to dwell on this.”
“Y-yeah, you’re r-right...” Alphys said, wringing her paws. Her crest rose as an idea popped into her head. “A-after what happened, we haven’t seen each other i-in a while. Now that you’re here, we might as well c-catch up...?” she suggested hopefully.
“sounds good,” sans said, nodding then getting up from the chair. “been a long time since we’ve binge watched anything together.”
Alphys’ crest flapped down then back up again in excitement. “Yeah!” she said, nodding. “I’ll make us some ramen!”
Her paws pattered against the tile as she hopped onto her lab’s conveyor belt and went to fetch some ramen packets from her fridge. Sans studied the mess of blueprints and notes on Alphys’ table. The scattered tools, bits of wire, scrap metal, screws and nails and batteries. He wondered what his friend had been working on all this time, and regretted how he’d avoided her since Gaster fell into his creation and he started working tirelessly to bring him back.
It had been by sheer luck that Alphys remembered anything at all about Gaster post-accident. Luck, a bit of science, a bit of magic, and a bit of Sans’ desperate explanations. After Alphys was appointed the new royal scientist, she had to pour all of her time into continuing the work between her, Sans, and Gaster in relation to Determination. It had been her hardworking attitude that gave her the job, and besides, Sans didn’t want it.
He wanted his father back.
Nobody else remembered him. Not even Papyrus, and that hurt Sans almost as much as Gaster being gone in the first place. He spent almost all his time in his lab. He cut off communication from Alphys altogether, ignoring her calls and messages. One day, he dropped his phone, breaking it, and didn’t bother fixing it. He didn’t want to talk to Alphys - she only reminded him of Gaster. He didn’t want to talk to anyone.
After realizing that, despite all his work, all of his work, Gaster’s work, and Alphys’ work together couldn’t bring Gaster back, something in him broke. And Sans gave up hope. His depression grew worse and worse. It was a long time before Papyrus could coax him back into a comparatively normal life. An even longer time before he was anything close to okay again.
But by that point, Sans had to accept that it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. All of the RESETs in all the timelines couldn’t bring Gaster back. And even then, they would keep happening. All of his work would be for naught; it didn’t matter how close he thought he was to a solution.
There was always another RESET.
“H-hey, Sans!” Alphys called. “Ramen’s ready!”
“coming,” Sans said.
And now that Gaster was back somehow, what was Sans to do? He kept worrying about the next RESET and how that would affect Gaster’s existence. He hadn’t even met up with Gaster yet. He wasn’t sure he wanted to, after he’d finally accepted he wouldn’t get Gaster back. It wouldn’t be easy. He had a hunch that whatever Gaster had gone through, being shattered through time and space, had changed him. Would he even recognize Sans? Alphys? Papyrus? Anyone at all?
“I-is it okay if we watch your favourite?” Alphys asked as she transferred ramen into bowls. “I know w-we’ve seen it a bunch of times, b-but that was a while ago! S-so it’s okay, right?”
Sans’ hands clenched. He had to pull himself together.
“yeah,” he said, stepping onto the conveyor belt to join Alphys. “it’s fine, i don’t mind.”
He could worry later, and he knew Alphys would let him because she was a good friend, always understanding because she went through a lot of the same problems as him. His current regret, though, was that he wasn’t with Papyrus. He knew Papyrus would be hurting and confused right now.
But Sans knew if he’d gone to see his brother right after that weird feeling clicked in him and something in his mind whispered Gaster’s return to him, he wouldn’t be able to handle it. He wouldn’t be able to hold himself back from a complete breakdown, and he was not in the mood to accidentally cause his brother - and Undyne, whom Papyrus was likely with - severe physical damage.
So he had to hold onto his thoughts and feelings. He had to tamp them down, at least for the time being. He had to take some time to recover. Then he had to take some time to think - but only when he was ready.
“you still got those bean bags?” he asked.
Alphys just grinned and nodded.
“[WHAT’S THE MATTER, ASGORE?]” Gaster asked, trailing after the king. Literally trailing; his black, formless body seemed to melt into the ground and the shadows.
“I don’t know, Gaster,” Asgore replied with a shake of his head. His brow furrowed. “Perhaps I simply haven’t made my mind up yet.”
He stopped, and Gaster nearly bumped into him. Asgore turned to face his friend. Deep concern was written over his features.
“It’s not that I’m not happy about your return,” he said. “I am. I... I’ve missed you dearly.”
Gaster blinked.
“It’s more that... Because of how it turned out, with the... the timeline,” Asgore continued, frowning a bit. “Well that’s all a bit over my head - you know that. But being fully aware now that you’ve been gone, and that you’ve been gone for so long... It’s not only difficult for me to comprehend. It’s difficult for me to feel... okay that you’re suddenly back.”
Gaster cocked his head. One of his fingers twitched.
“[...DO YOU WANT ME TO GIVE YOU SOME SPACE?]” Gaster asked, the words quiet.
Asgore winced. “I didn’t mean... I... I’m not sure, Gaster. I think some space might help, though. It’s just that so much has changed, I don’t know what to do about it. How to... present you to the public. If you would like them to know, that is. Most of them don’t know you, because they were born after the... the accident.”
Gaster gave a small nod of confirmation.
Asgore turned back around, facing his throne room now. His cape fluttered before settling back down. It was a lovely shade of purple. Gaster tore his gaze away from it. It was too familiar, and for some reason, that hurt.
Ten, a hundred, a thousand years ago; Gaster didn’t even bother pinpointing the specifics now. Many years ago... Yes, he’d been rather fixated on the king. He spent an embarrassing amount of time staring at his cape instead of making eye contact lest he imparted a gaze that would tell more than he wanted to tell. Luckily, Asgore always had a fondness for grand, sweeping gestures and was used to some of his subjects not making eye contact with him. He was the king, after all. Kind as he was, some just acted that way towards the royals out of habit. Habits ingrained into them from their last ruler.
Gaster, being nearly as old as Asgore, could easily use formality and deference as a front. He avoided eye contact even as the monsters of the underground gradually started warming up to their benevolent rulers.
“I have missed you,” Asgore added, closing his eyes and listening to the birdsong. “I feel like, in a way, I was lost without you. You know how I felt after losing her. My dearest wife, Tori...” He sighed. “I’m sure when you were erased, so to speak, I didn’t feel anything more than the dullest sense that something was wrong, before I carried on. Just like everyone else. But after your return and the memories flooding back, there was so much pain. Does that make sense?”
Gaster nodded. It did. Those who knew him before the accident weren’t aware it happened. When he was gone, he was gone. Only a few remembered him - including Sans and Alphys. Sans had full knowledge of him. But upon Gaster’s return, everyone who knew him was suddenly aware he’d been gone. They had a split awareness of a reality where he was wiped from existence, and a reality where he was simply gone for a long time and had just returned. In that second awareness, they felt the full force of loss, of missing him as if they’d been aware of his absence the whole time he’d been gone.
For Asgore, one of Gaster’s oldest friends, that couldn’t have been easy. There were only a handful of others who felt that level of pain, and had built that many memories.
“Now, I’m not sure if the best thing for myself and for us would be to spend time together now. I want to catch up, more than anything, I really do.”
Gaster’s void-tail swished, snagging against the window frames’ shadows on the corridor floor. “[BUT YOU NEED SPACE.]”
Asgore stepped into his throne room. He looked regal against the backdrop of the room and the golden flowers growing all over the floor. The light dappling him from above made his crown glimmer, and his strands of blond hair caught the light as well. Gaster’s fingers knitted together. His friend really hadn’t changed much at all. A millennium of being lost in the infinity of time and space, yet Asgore himself was still the same.
“I think so. I’m sorry. I don’t want to make it hard for either of us, and it would be unfair to you to take all of your time now,” he said, giving a rueful smile.
Gaster’s hands melted back into his shapeless form. He gave a respectful bow.
“[I WILL MEET WITH YOU ANOTHER TIME.]”
“See you, Gaster. We’ll have tea and then we can catch up properly.” Asgore gave a real smile, the warm kind he was known for giving.
Gaster shuffled back out into the corridor. It was weird not having a physical form with legs like he used to, but it was a small sacrifice in the face of a life he could actually live again. He did not look back before melting into the shadows.
Like Sans, Gaster was a skeleton who could manipulate time and space. He could teleport, but he didn’t. Instead he travelled by slipping into a shadow and melting into it because for some reason, that was easier to him than teleporting. Then he would be in the confines of the non-existent void of eternity. In a short walk, he’d be wherever he needed to go. Sans used a different method. But Gaster liked the company of himself.
Grillby preferred to communicate in flickers of light. He was younger than Gaster, even Toriel, but not by much. Like Gaster, he was quiet. Gaster appreciated that; he liked the quiet. The din consisted of Grillby’s flickering flame body. A warm, crackling fire.
“[STILL WEARING THOSE GLASSES?]” Gaster asked, hand signing as he spoke. “[I’D THINK YOU’D HAVE CONTACTS BY NOW.]”
Grillby manipulated his face-flames in a way to show an eyebrow raise. It was quite something to watch.
‘I can’t believe I haven’t thought of that,’ he replied, his flames blinking.
Not all monsters understood him, but older ones tended to have a grasp on most languages anyway, especially skeletons. Skeletons were the masters of language. In any case, Gaster understood and laughed. He’d always loved Grillby’s snark, sass, and sarcasm - something that many others didn’t have the luck of understanding.
“[HOW HAVE YOU BEEN?]”
Grillby shrugged as he poured Gaster his drink - rum and coke - over ice cubes. He was careful not to get his hands too close as he added a slightly burnt lime wedge.
‘I can’t say a lot has changed. I’ve been looking after your sons. Even when I wasn’t aware of you, I suppose there is still that urge to be a guardian. I have yet to spawn my own offspring, after all.’
A flare of gratitude sparked inside of Gaster before he nodded in understanding, and took the drink. The glass was cold but Grillby’s presence was already melting the ice inside.
“[I APPRECIATE IT. I’LL HAVE TO GO CHECK ON THEM MYSELF, SOONER OR LATER.]”
Grillby cocked his fiery head. ‘Have you not seem them yet?’ he asked.
“[I... I HAVEN’T. IT’S NOT LIKE I DON’T KNOW HOW THEY’RE DOING. I MIGHT NOT REMEMBER EVERY LITTLE DETAIL FROM THE VOID, BUT I REMEMBER ENOUGH. I CAN TELL YOU THAT - EVEN RIGHT THIS SECOND - BOTH OF THEM ARE FINE,]” Gaster said, giving a tiny smile. “[I DON’T THINK THIS TIMELINE IS ONE IN WHICH WE’LL HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT ANYTHING. THERE IS AN ANOMALY, SO TO SPEAK, BUT I AM NOT WORRYING ABOUT IT.]”
‘An anomaly? What do you mean?’
Gaster took a sip of the rum. Skeletons, lacking a bloodstream, couldn’t get drunk the way most non-elemental monsters could. Their little physicality and their magic didn’t line up in a way that made alcohol a fun and easy escape; skeletons just didn’t have the same experience with alcohol. But Gaster was also part void, so the drink didn’t really even go anywhere. He felt the coldness seeping into his form, warming briefly before disappearing.
It helped him feel better.
“[THE HUMAN,]” Gaster said, swirling the glass as he quirked a hollow grin. “[THEY HAVE BEEN IN HERE AND THEY’VE ALREADY PASSED SNOWDIN.]”
Grillby thought about it. That had been a busy day, hadn’t it? He poured himself a screwdriver.
‘I think I remember. They came in here, looked at everything and talked to everyone before leaving again. Then Sans brought them back and dumped a ton of ketchup on their fries. It was kind of rude, but...’
Gaster laughed, a distorted, rippling sound that might’ve once been like a laugh combined with the rattling of bones. It sounded more like a tear in the fabric of space-time.
“[THAT LITTLE SHIT WOULDN’T HAVE EATEN ANYTHING ANYWAY. SANS TALKS TO THEM ABOUT THAT OVERGROWN HOUSEPLANT WHOM HE, IN SOME TIMELINES, ALREADY KNOWS AND HAS BEAT THE FUCK UP. HE’S REAL FUCKING SHADY, THOUGH, ‘CAUSE HE PRETENDS HE’S TALKING ABOUT THE ECHO FLOWERS IN WATERFALL WHEN HE ISN’T. BUT THE HUMAN’LL GET THE POINT ANYWAY BECAUSE HE SPEAKS OF THEM IN YELLOW AND CYAN TEXT.]”
Grillby’s shoulders shook and his flames brightened and grew louder, which was a mute fire monster’s way of laughing. He really had missed Gaster and his presence that seemed to fill up a room when he walked in.
“[THE HUMAN IS THE ANOMALY. THEIR CHOICES CAN’T BE DICTATED BY THE TIMELINE, BUT IT DOESN’T MATTER, BECAUSE I STILL KNOW WHAT THEIR CHOICES WILL BE. IT’S KIND OF FUNNY, ACTUALLY. OR MAYBE NOT THAT FUNNY. ACTUALLY... WITH A LOT OF THINGS, THEY DON’T SEEM TO BE MAKING THE CHOICES THEMSELF. THERE'S... SOMEONE. WITH THEM. ALWAYS.]”
Grillby poured some of the drink onto his head, which was his method of drinking. He just burned the alcohol and the soda left a sickly sweet taste in him, but that was the way he liked it. The smell of burnt, sugary orange filled the air.
“[ALMOST EVERY BEING’S CHOICES ARE WRITTEN INTO THE TIMELINE, BUT WHAT THE HUMAN DOES... IT MAKES THINGS A LITTLE BLURRIER IN THE FACE OF REALITY. DOESN’T MAKE SENSE, DOES IT? THE TINY SHIT IS GREAT AT NOT MAKING SENSE.]”
Grillby finally took a seat to relax. He didn’t need to; standing didn’t take any effort, but it did lighten the atmosphere some. He wanted to listen to everything Gaster had to say, to everything he’d learned. He wondered how long it’d take to hear all of that. Forever? Almost forever? Even Gaster’s knowledge pre-accident was extensive. Grillby had fallen asleep listening to him talk. He had so much to say.
“[I KEEP THINKING I SHOULD DO SOMETHING ABOUT THEM, WHETHER OR NOT THEY MAKE MORALLY DUBIOUS CHOICES. DO I NEED TO? NO. NONE OF US DO. REGARDLESS OF OUR ACTIONS, THE HUMAN’S PATH IS SET IN STONE. MORE THAN THEY THINK IT IS, I FEEL,]” Gaster said, closing his eyes. “[FEW OF US HAVE THE ABILITY TO CHANGE THEIR FATE. AND EVEN IF WE DO, THIS IS JUST ONE TIMELINE IN THE SEA OF INFINITY.]”
Grillby threw back his screwdriver and set the glass down. Gaster reflexively leaned back to avoid the burst of flames.
“[THERE ARE THREE MAJOR TIMELINES. EVEN IN INFINITY, SOME POSSIBILITIES ARE MORE LIKELY THAN OTHERS. SOME TIMELINES ARE LIKELIER THAN OTHERS, WITH THIS ANOMALY OF A WEIRD TODDLER. SO, THERE’S THIS BOOK FROM HUMANITY, AND I DIDN’T LIKE IT BUT IT SAID A THING ABOUT HOW SOME INFINITIES ARE LARGER THAN OTHERS, OR SMALLER THAN OTHERS, I DON’T REALLY CARE. THAT’S WHAT THIS IS.]”
Grillby squinted, which didn’t look much different from his head just being the way it was. Gaster could see it, though. It didn’t require nigh-infinite knowledge just to know his friend that well.
“[IT MIGHT NOT SOUND LOGICAL, BUT LIKE... I MEAN. THAT’S KINDA LIKE, QUANTUM PHYSICS SHIT, Y’FEEL? DOESN’T SEEM TO MAKE SENSE IN SOME WAYS, IT DOES IN OTHERS. THERE ARE TIMELINES SEEPED IN SHADOW THAT EXIST BUT SIMPLY DO NOT EXIST AS MUCH AS OTHERS.]
“[ALRIGHT, I’M GONNA GO OFF ON A FUCKING TANGENT HERE. GET YOUR HOT ASS READY. WOW, I CAN’T BELIEVE I JUST SAID THAT. I MISS SANS. ANYWAY - THIS HUMAN IS DANGEROUS. DEADLY. THEY’RE AN ANOMALY BECAUSE THEY MIGHT BE A GENOCIDAL HELLSPAWN. YOU’D BE SURPRISED HOW ‘LIKELY’ THIS KIND OF TIMELINE IS. THERE’S A VOID EVEN I CAN’T SEE INTO, AND I HAVE A BAD FEELING THAT THAT VOID MIGHT BE A LITERAL VOID. THAT THERE ISN’T ACTUALLY ANYTHING THERE. NO LIFE, NO TIME, NO SPACE. THE HUMAN MAY BE THE ONE CAUSING ALL THESE TIMELINE CUTS AND WARPS, BUT... THEY MIGHT ALSO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT VOID POCKET.]”
Gaster finished his rum and coke. His voice quieted as he continued, “[IT’S NOT HAPPENING IN THIS TIMELINE, BUT I STILL HAVE CONNECTIONS TO ALL THE TIMELINES. WHAT WORRIES ME IS THAT THIS VOID HAS SIMULTANEOUSLY HAPPENED AND NOT HAPPENED. IN THE SAME WAY I ONCE EXISTED WHILE NOT EXISTING, AND IN THE SAME WAY THAT THERE ARE INFINITE MULTIVERSES WHILE THERE IS A MULTIVERSE WHERE NO OTHER UNIVERSES EXIST.]”
Grillby was almost asleep - his flames had dimmed a bit, and Gaster flashed a sympathetic smile.
“[I APOLOGIZE. I DIDN’T THINK I’D BE TALKING FOR THAT LONG.]”
‘Don’t worry about it,’ Grillby replied, waving a hand.
Gaster headed over to the other side of the counter, which was actually just him making himself less corporeal and phasing through the counter.
“[COME ON, YOU NEED REST.]”
‘I don’t need rest. I only need fuel.’
Gaster’s pupils blinked into visibility so he could roll his eyes.
“[YOU SOUND SO MUCH LIKE SANS AND ALPHYS. THEY’D BE EATING FUCKING RAMEN AND DRINKING SODA AT FOUR IN THE MORNING. WHETHER THEY WERE WATCHING ANIME OR DOING COMPLEX SCIENTIFIC WORK, THEY COULD NEVER REST. BUT THEY NEEDED IT. AND EVEN AN ELEMENTAL MONSTER LIKE YOURSELF NEEDS REST.]”
‘I’ll sleep here.’
“[NOT TO SOUND RUDE, BUT THAT IDEA FUCKING SUCKS.]”
‘That was rude.’
Gaster gave a soft sigh. He wrapped the shadowy void of his form around Grillby, and picked him up with ease, one hand on his back. He was burning hot, even as he was drifting off.
‘Talk to me about the void,’ Grillby said, tugging at what he assumed was the general area of Gaster’s arm.
It was hard to tell what was what, when Gaster was formless and didn’t form limbs. He could form shadowy tendrils, and if he happened to feel like it, crude and inappropriate shapes. But he didn't bother with limbs at the moment.
“[THE VOID IS A WHOLE LOT OF NOTHING. SOMETIMES I THINK THERE’S SOMETHING, BUT THEN I REALIZE I’M WRONG AND IT SUCKS ASS.]”
Grillby could feel a comforting heat emanating from somewhere within Gaster. Skeletons could adjust their body temperature at will. Was he doing that now, or was his own heat just spreading?
“[HOLD THE FUCK ON,]” Gaster warned, dark tendrils snaking out of his form.
He ducked into the corner where the ‘fire exit’ door was, and pressed himself against the wall, feeling cold shadows grabbing at him. The void whispered a greeting into his head.
‘Onto what?’ Grillby asked, grabbing at a whole lot of nothing inside of Gaster as the skeleton sank into the wall.
“[TO YOUR PANTS, I GUESS? FUCK IF I KNOW. I SAID THAT TO TIP YOU OFF; IT WASN’T ADVICE. HERE, TAKE MY HAND. I GUESS THAT’S A HAND. OKAY, NOW IT’S A HAND. SEE? I ADDED PROTRUSIONS THAT RESEMBLE FINGERS.]”
Grillby took Gaster’s hand. A weird pulse came from within the dark hole in his palm. But his hand, with its finger-like protrusions, was definitely warm. And Grillby appreciated that - even more so as a bitter cold washed over him in unison with a sweltering heat.
“[HEY, I’M WINGDINGS GOLDEN ASTER, AND THIS IS MY CRIB,]” Gaster said, still carrying Grillby.
‘What? Is this... where are we? This isn’t my home.’
“[OH MY GOD, GRILLBY... MOST PLACES AREN’T YOUR HOME, BUT YOU CAN MAKE THIS PLACE YOUR HOME IF YOU WANT.]”
Grillby saw Gaster’s void room as a simple room with dark grey walls and a grey floor. It was a modest size, like a small apartment or a large living room.
‘This is where you sleep?’
“[NAH, I DON’T NEED SLEEP. I’M LIKE, ONLY HALF A BEING, REMEMBER? BUT YOU NEED SLEEP. HERE, WATCH THIS, I’LL MAKE A BED FOR YOU. OR WOULD YOU PREFER A GIANT FIREPLA- KIDDING, KIDDING,]” Gaster said, snickering as he felt Gaster punch him.
He didn’t make any movements, didn’t say anything, and didn’t even gesture to the floor as he summoned a metal bedframe, quickly followed by the rest of the bed. A blanket and some pillows after made it a perfectly normal bed.
“[WAIT, WAIT. CHECK THIS OUT.]”
Gaster turned it green. Vibrant lime stripes of varying widths ran down the deep emerald blanket. Now it was a perfectly normal green bed.
‘Okay, that’s pretty neat,’ Grillby said, his flames blinking.
Gaster set him down on the bed. It was immediately set on fire.
“[SICK AS FUCK,]” Gaster said, nodding in approval.
But Grillby was already asleep. The bed could burn indefinitely. Such was the way of things that didn’t exist, and yet, at the same time, did exist.
Gaster wasn’t lying when he said he didn’t need to sleep, but he wasn’t in the mood to meet his sons, Alphys, and Toriel just yet. He knew the conversations ahead were inevitable. They could be delayed some, but they were inevitable all the same, in the end. So he summoned himself a bed as well. For some reason, a part of him saw it fit to make the bed purple, and seeing that just made him sad.
Purple was Sans’ favourite colour.