Broken Souls

Chapter 11 - Re-Introductions

Gaster spent his first few days back in existence at home. He still wasn't quite used to moving long distances or speaking for any period of time longer than ten minutes. Of course, after seeing Sans and Papyrus rush their father back home and then not allow anyone else in to see, Asgore was growing curious as to who exactly Sans had rescued. Naturally, this led him to go and visit the skeleton household to see what was what.

And because Gaster was left alone during the day when Papyrus and Sans went to work, it was Gaster who opened the door for a very familiar face.

===

"Your majesty!" Gaster cried, sweeping into a deep bow. Whilst he himself might have been erased from existence, his manners weren't, especially those towards his King. Asgore chuckled awkwardly, having not really expected an overly-courteous skeleton to open the door and address him so formally. He had never been much for demanding respect, although a few older monsters still gave him such. So, undeterred, when Gaster straightened back up, Asgore just gave him a gentle smile,

"Good morning... ah..." The King paused, only then realising that he didn't know the skeleton's name and only knew that he was related to Sans somehow. Gaster stood for a few more moments, waiting for Asgore to finish and rocking back and forth on his heels until he suddenly remembered why people might not know his name.

"Oh! I'm terribly sorry your majesty. You obviously forgot, but I am Dr Gaster, your former Royal Scientist."

Asgore was curious at Gaster's last statement, but he decided to wait until he'd been let in the house, to avoid any unnecessary doorstep conversations. Gaster quickly let on, bounding back inside with energy similar to that of a child's. Asgore followed, somewhat less energetically and sat himself down on the couch. Gaster pulled up a chair and clasped his hands together, looking purposeful.

"You look like you have questions. I wouldn't be surprised. It took Sans and I an entire night to explain my situation to Papyrus."

Asgore sighed in relief, happy to know he wasn't just stupid and forgetting someone.

"You called yourself 'former Royal Scientist'. I don't mean to impose but, well we do have a shortage of Royal Scientists presently. And I'm assuming you don't have a job as of yet."

Gaster's entire expression shifted to one of pure joy. He almost leapt out of the chair he was sitting in until he remembered that a) he was in the presence of a King and b) he was still in a state where too much moving could exhaust him. He composed himself, taking a deep breath before replying.

"If you mean to say that I can take up my job once more, I would be delighted to accept." Gaster grinned, summoning two Magic hands behind him to vent his excitement, "And if you wouldn't mind I'd like to give Sans the position of assistant. Science suits the boy better than sentry duty."

The king gave a nod,

"Very well then. We have our Royal Scientist and his assistant. And, if you don't mind, I have some plans that might be of interest to you and your sons."

===

When Sans arrived home with Papyrus in the afternoon, Gaster embraced them both in a tight hug, excitedly explaining what Asgore had told him earlier that day. The two had listened with wide sockets, mentally thanking the King over and over again in their minds.

According to Gaster, a new house was to be built directly next to the Lab, just for the three of them. A bedroom each, with a surplus of guest rooms and a bathroom to boot. The basement would be enlarged in order to connect to the Royal Scientist's private lab next door. And just for Papyrus, the King had promised a state of the art kitchen.

It was perfect.

After the brothers told Gaster about their day, Papyrus went off to the kitchen to make dinner and Sans collapsed on the couch with his dad. Gaster was feeling quite tired after his day, as was Sans, although perhaps for different reasons. Sans was just lazy, but Gaster...

Well, existing had a lot of strain on a person, especially if they hadn't existed for a long time. But what was really tiring Gaster out was the stress. He had discovered that his Soul, after aching for a few days was now showing visible signs of damage. A thin web of cracks had begun to appear on the surface and Gaster had no doubts that if left untreated, those cracks could easily become deeper. Gaster didn't have much time, so he needed to fix it soon.

But that was a problem that he could tackle tomorrow. For now, Gaster wanted to spend as much time with his sons to make up for their time lost. He pushed the negative thoughts from his mind, reached an arm out to Sans and hugged him. Sans let out a sleepy mumble, curling up against his father before settling down to sleep. Gaster hummed a soft lullaby he'd heard Toriel sing many years before and slowly faded into a drowsy stupor himself, contented and relaxed.

===

The next day, Gaster had planned on going straight into work but both Sans and Papyrus managed to talk him out of it. They both agreed that he should be resting for at least another day before trying to work and Papyrus also came up with a very logical "but you have nothing to work on", which effectively put a stop to any more arguments.

Although Gaster did still get his way when he asked both of his sons to take the day of with him.

Thus, with the family all at home and doing pretty much nothing, Papyrus decided now was a good time to introduce Gaster to Frisk. Being the infinitely kind - if naïve at times - person he was, Papyrus failed to notice the sour expression that crossed Gaster's face upon mentioning that Frisk was a human. Sans didn't say much, he only asked that Papyrus also invite Toriel, so she could both meet Gaster and also intervene should anything get... dangerous for Frisk.

===

As it turned out, Frisk hadn't needed to have worried so much about Gaster being violent. He spent most of their visit talking with Toriel and any times he actively interacted with them, he was merely curt. Not cold, exactly, just making it painfully obvious that he disliked the idea that they were still alive.

There was one point during Frisk's visit when they did prepare to run. Papyrus had been explaining to Gaster how Frisk had freed everyone from the Underground and hadn't hurt - let alone killed - a single monster. Then Gaster had turned to Sans for confirmation. The short skeleton had readily agreed with his brother, but both Frisk and Gaster had noticed the dark look in Sans' eyes that told an entirely different story.

Gaster hadn't spoken to Frisk after that, not that they minded of course. It wasn't often that a monster outright avoided them, but it still happened. Gaster's hatred just seemed a bit more profound than other monsters'. But nevertheless, Frisk was determined to make a friend of Gaster; he seemed like a nice person once you got to know him, and watching him and Sans argue was nothing short of amusing.

Frisk could befriend him. It would just take time.