(Another drabble huh? This time with... Dadster? Can he even be called a 'dad'? Oh well, focuses mainly on the reader and Gaster being as much of a dad as he can be. Takes place in the Handplates AU. Reader is about small child age range here.)
(Also feel free to drop requests in any of the Request Pages in this book, requests are always open!)
(Listened to 'Quiet Water' from the Undertale Soundtrack while writing this.)
Word Count: 1.1k
It was quiet in the dark, eerie laboratory. You were careful to step around various cords, careful not to bump into any tables and knock anything over.
You couldn't sleep, the nightmares were becoming too much, and how you'd managed to slip out of your containment was beyond anyone.
He knew you were lingering in the doorway before you even had the chance to speak. He was used to your almost nightly escapes, the only reason he never punished you is because you weren't escaping from the lab, you always went straight to him.
Plus, you took care not to touch or break anything, unlike your brothers.
"Is it the nightmares again?"
You quietly nodded, knowing he'd see it in his peripherals. He sighed heavily, the tick-tacking of his digits on the computer keyboard coming to a halt as he brushed his marred hands over his face.
"Come."
He sounded tired, like every night, yet you couldn't figure out if it was from general exhaustion, or if he was getting sick of having to lull you back to sleep each night.
You hoped it wasn't the ladder.
You quietly made your way to him, reaching up to softly hold onto his forearms as he picked up you and set you in his lap. One arm was wrapped securely around your back, the other brushing over the back of your skull in a gentle, repetitive motion.
As Gaster stared down at your small form, watching your tiny hands curl into his lab coat, he couldn't help but wonder why he bothered doing this each night. Perhaps... it was because he knew you would only cry if he merely sent you back to your containment.
It was what would alert him to your upcoming presence, after all. In the late night hours, the quiet of the lab allowed even the softest of sounds carry far. He would first hear your hitch of breath, and then the soft cries, the shuffle of your feet as you carefully picked your way to him.
Each night, for about a month now, it had became a ritual almost. You'd wake up from a nightmare, make your way to him, and then fall back asleep in his arms within at least half an hour. He could never get you to talk about your nightmare and its contents, he hardly ever got you to talk at all.
Gaster would've thought you were mute if he hadn't known you could already make sounds. If you could make sounds with a voice, then surely you could speak, couldn't you?
His pondering was interrupted by you shifting slightly, your tiny hand reaching out to grasp his, thumb tracing around the perfect circle in his palm. You would always frown and furrow your bone-brows at it.
Gaster sighed silently, the question falling from his mouth, even though he knew you would never answer.
"Do you wish to talk about your nightmare?"
You took a moment, just as you always did, to ponder his question before shaking your head softly. Another silent sigh left the scientist, going back to his repetitive motions of lulling you back to sleep, while using a magical hand to continue typing away at the document he was working on. It wasn't long until you fell asleep again, and once he was sure of your slumber, Gaster stood from his swivel chair, making the quiet trek back to your containment.
The next night, Gaster wasn't surprised when he heard your hitch of breath echo down the hall.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5...
Absently, he began counting the three minutes it would take you to reach him.
41, 42, 43, 44, 45...
Still, like every night, he kept his eyes on his work, he was already behind as it was in his research.
81, 82, 83, 84, 85...
He could hear your footsteps echo down the halls. The quiet sniffles and quiet creaks of doors as you made your way to him.
121, 122, 123, 124, 125...
Even still, his gaze did not stray from his work.
176, 177, 178, 179, 180...
His hands stilled on the keyboard at the sudden silence. You weren't in his peripherals, you weren't lingering in his doorway.
One hundred and eighty seconds. Three minutes. That's how long you took each and every night to get to him.
Gaster found himself pulling away from his computer, glancing off to his empty doorway. His bone-brows furrowed, his mouth pulling into a confused frown. The quiet unnerved him, sending chills down his spine.
Had he imagined your awaking? Had you in fact found a peaceful slumber tonight, and he just simply imagined the sounds he's grown used to?
No. He was sure that he heard you.
"...(Y/n)?" He called out, body turning his chair to the door, tension beginning to build.
Your sharp hitch of a cry is what shot him out of his chair, leaving it to spin in place as he swiftly followed your cries, his shoes clicking against the tiled floor in a hurried pace.
You were kneeled on the floor, shaking with the force of your fear until you saw him appear, your hands flying out to him.
"Dad!"
Gaster knelt in front of you and scooped you into his arms, soul pounding in his chest. You clung to him tightly, burying your cries into the crook of his neck.
"(Y/n), tell me what you've been dreaming of. It's clearly getting wor—"
He cut himself off when you lifted a shaky hand and pointed across the room, another quiet sob slipping from you. He followed your direction, and nearly smacked himself for being so stupid.
Of course that's what would keep you up at night.
The human soul he'd moved into this room sat across from you, it sat perfectly in your field of vision when you would walk through.
A month ago, a human had fallen into the Underground, and when brought to the lab for studying, began to lash out, killing and injuring monsters out of fear.
And very nearly killing you.
Gaster had stepped in just before then, but had never linked the event and your nightmares together until now.
"It... it won't come back... will it?"
Your voice was so fragile, teary sockets staring up at him as if he wasn't just some cruel scientist.
"No. It won't." Gaster reassured you still, standing with you cradled in his arms. "The human is dead, it will not return. It cannot hurt you."
You shakily nodded, and was pleasantly surprised when Gaster turned, walking back to his office instead of your containment like you expected. Taking a seat once again in his chair, he cradled you to his chest with one arm, using the other to continue his work. In no time at all, you'd fallen asleep to the sound of his soul-beat and the tick-tacking of his keyboard.
(I did a doodle of Kris, but of course my phone won't load it atm, so I'll ask mom for a hotspot in the morning.)