Broken Souls

Chapter 20 - Room for One More

The next morning, almost everyone was up early, even Sans. Papyrus busied himself with calling all those who had been contacted last night, making sure they could still come to help. Most of them could. Gaster and Sans made lists of where everything needed to be and C continued sleeping in her cardboard box. Strangely enough, she was left there by the skeletons, who had almost forgotten she existed until Gaster almost dumped a stack of physics books on her. She was left alone after that and her box was clearly marked to avoid more accidents.

In little under an hour Frisk, Toriel, Undyne and Alphys had all arrived and were scattered throughout the house, helping to pack every last thing the skeleton family had missed or had left until last. The furniture proved the most difficult, but with a lot of Magic and physical strength, nothing was damaged or dropped.

After four hours everything was packed and ready to be moved to the new house. It was about a fifteen minute walk normally to the new house, but with everyone carrying heavy boxes, Gaster guessed it would take upwards of half an hour. He, Sans and Papyrus were able to lift the boxes with Blue Magic whilst Undyne and Toriel could easily lift them. Alphys, Frisk and C were less lucky and had to carry two boxes between them. It was hard work, especially when it was time to move the furniture. Although what most interested C was how random monsters who saw them kept coming up to help. In less than ten minutes, all the boxes and large furniture items were moving at once, carried by over thirty helpers.

With the extra help, there was no need for return trips, leaving the remaining part of the afternoon to sort out which boxes went where. That was done mostly by the skeleton family, although Toriel and Frisk helped move certain things. All in all, Gaster was happy with the progress, and decided to leave the rest for tomorrow. 

There was a small problem with that however, namely: without any beds set up, there was nowhere for anyone to sleep. Being a monster of a motherly nature, Toriel offered to house the skeleton family and C for as long as they needed until the beds were set up, and even made a butterscotch and cinnamon pie for them. So, once Undyne and Alphys had left for their own home, the three skeletons and C sat down with Toriel in the living room.

===

"Dr Gaster, I presume everything is okay with the Lab?" Toriel asked, serving everyone a slice of pie amid a mixed response of 'thanks'. Gaster took a bite of his slice before replying,

"No actually. There's little to no equipment so I've been getting Sans to shortcut me down to the old True Lab if I want to work properly. Otherwise I just sit at home and do planning or something."

Toriel nodded thoughtfully,

"Well, once you've all moved in I think it'll only be few more months until the Lab is complete. We can even move the old Lab equipment up here." she proposed, before pausing, "Actually, is C moving with you?"

C stayed silent and glared down at the floor, Sans was quiet too and Gaster only made spluttering noises. Papyrus sighed, not at all impressed with his brother and father's hospitality.

"Of course! If she wants to, it had multiple guest rooms, correct?" he asked Toriel, who smiled kindly and nodded. Papyrus let out a happy peal of laughter, looking eagerly at Gaster for permission. The older skeleton grumbled in annoyance, but his sour attitude was soon melted away by Papyrus' beaming face.

"Yes, but only if she wants to. You might have noticed that I don't enjoy the presence of humans that much." he reasoned. Everyone turned to look at C, who immediately moved her gaze to the suddenly very interesting pie crust. After sensing that everyone was still watching, her strange, empty eyes flicked upwards and scanned the skeletons, from Sans' lazy permanent grin to Papyrus wide smile.

"I dunno." She said finally, "I didn't really have much of a home before helping Gaster and I still don't."

"You could have our old house if you don't want to be with us!" Papyrus offered, just as bright as ever. Sans shook his head,

"nah bro. the dogs have had their eye on it ever since the new house started being built."

"Oh."

"Hey it's no problem!" C intervened, "I can just leave and find somewhere else to stay. You just forget I ever existed and everything will be fine."

Toriel stopped watching the unfolding conversation and decided to add herself in.

"My child, everyone needs a home. I insist that you stay with either Gaster or myself." she said, her motherly instinct kicking in, "You would be no burden if that is what bothers you so."

C frowned, mind working over the offer. It would be easier if they just allowed her to go and find someplace else. Although after that stunt she pulled the first time, maybe they wouldn't. Monsters are kind creatures after all and none, perhaps excluding Gaster, would stand for abandoning someone. C relaxed as her decision came to the front of her mind.

"I think I'll stay with these guys. They might be crazy but I have some things to experiment with Gaster." she decided finally, indicating to the three skeletons. Toriel seemed content with her answer, turning to Gaster to hear his response. Her gaze held a slight warning as to what would happen should he decline, but any threat was unneeded.

"Guest room is all yours then." Gaster said simply, returning to his slice of pie.

===

C and Gaster were the only people who had yet to go to bed, left in Toriel's living room after their hostess had bid goodnight. C was sitting on the floor with her back against the couch, scrawling stuff in the notebook that always somehow managed to be around her whilst Gaster was sprawled on the couch, his working eye socket half open as he muttered random equations to himself. Suddenly he sat up and swung his legs round so they landed on the floor, narrowly missing C's head.

"Annoying female human!" he cried, making her jump.

"Since when do you call me that?" C asked in monotone. Gaster looked down at her,

"Since now. Sans and the other human fetched you from a school, correct? Then why aren't you there now?" Gaster rambled, mostly just letting the disconnected thoughts in his head spill out. C raised an eyebrow,

"I'm not there because it's three in the morning?" she supplied, unhelpfully. Gaster waved his hand,

"No, as in, it's Sunday tomorrow-"

"That's also a weekend." C interrupted,

"Shut up. After Sunday it's Monday-"

"You know the days of the week congrats."

"I said shut up! Anyway, you can go to school on Monday." Gaster concluded, looking pleased with his conclusion. C stared up at him with a pout.

"What?"

"You, go to school, to learn, on Monday. As the Royal Scientist I cannot allow you to forfeit your education for any longer. It's been just over three months since you saved me." Gaster re-explained. C pouted more,

"But I don't wanna..."

Gaster's sockets went black and he grinned creepily down at the human,

"G o."

C, completely unfazed by Gaster's expression, shrugged.

"Fine. I guess it wouldn't hurt to say hi to my friend as well." C mused, one hand creeping up to touch the blue heart pendant she wore all the time.

"Did they give you that?" Gaster asked curiously, not really needing an answer but wanting one anyway. C smiled softly and for the first time, Gaster noticed that her smile was genuine and not the empty forced ones she used so often.

"Yeah. I gave her one too, she has one like my Soul and I have one like her's."

Gaster let out a thoughtfull 'hmm'.

"An integrity Soul then? Can I meet this friend?" he asked. C chuckled,

"Do you hate humans?"

"Yes."

"Then no."