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askmicrowaveayem · 7 years

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MAYEM: A Different Way Pt. 1

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The rest of the week went by pretty uneventful. Gaster and the boys travelled to another timeline where Chara didn’t show up, spending a few days sitting around and waiting for their device to detect them before hoping back home and then gathering up some supplies before they made their way to a more familiar time.

Gaster was sure to bring his double some tech magazines from ‘the future’, as well as scripts of his old rune studies. They compared magic and tested the differences between them, then of course had to sneak away one night for a dumb fight between them in order to prove who was the best goop. The only rule this time, of course, was to not… ‘merge’ into each other. Because that was absolutely disgusting and the mere thought made Gaster wanted to puke.

The Papyru had a lot of fun cooking and nearly destroying the kitchen and the Sanses tormented them with puns all the while. Overall, it was a very pleasant weekend to get away and make sure everyone was doing well.

It was the best Gaster slept in over a week.

The weekend was far too short and Gaster was once again about halfway convinced it couldn’t have happened, simply because three days of him being with his sons and all three having a good time with people who actually understood them on some level was borderline impossible. It was also interesting, looking through the information and magazines his double had brought--it definitely gave him something to do while helping his twin sleep, a duty he’d taken over from the alternate Papyrus for as long as they were around.

(Gaster won the goop fight, and he would accept no other answer.)

It was over far too quickly. Even if they hadn’t made much progress on deciphering their souls’ images or improving his twin’s sleep pattern. All that aside?

He wished it could’ve lasted a little longer, even though he knew it couldn’t. Before long, it was time for his double to leave.

Gaster and his sons said their goodbyes with promise to return. This time leaving wasn’t nearly as difficult. There was no finality to it. They knew they would meet again. Maybe not so soon like another week, but… maybe a month? It was good to slowly ween yourself off rather than cut cold-turkey, right?

It had been nice to sleep, that was for sure.

The trio climbed into the machine and set their course for home. Things were going smoothly until there was a sudden jerk and everything was flung towards the sides. The boys panicked only slightly this time and Gaster made sure to grab onto something so he wasn’t flung out of his harness.

Here we go again.

He hoped it wasn’t one of the ‘worse’ Gaster’s he had discussed with his double.

The machine crashed.

-- #

Gaster was waiting for them to pass by.

They were being stupid and taking forever, though.

He guessed that’s what he got for always hiding out back here, huh. People were starting to figure out where he liked to be. He’d have to find some other places. Maybe higher off the ground. The little offshoot alley by the repair shop's junkyard and next to one of the larger multi-level stores was full of good hiding places.

Or, it was, until something flew out of the sky and totally wrecked about half of them.

He flinched down and moved closer into his chosen spot beneath some plywood, watching the--....piece of shit that had just fallen out of the cavern ceiling.

...at least it looked like the kids who’d been following him ran away after that crash.

Now he’d just sit and wait and see what was exactly going on.

He might as well.

“Everybody alright?” Gaster asked, having kept himself from being flung around this time.

“yeah.”

“I’M FINE.”

“Good.” The doctor sighed, “We’re going to have to put bumpers on this damn thing.” He paused and looked at the door before walking over and reaching for the handle. “Let’s assume another Gaster sent us here.”

With a heavy clunk he opened the hatch and peered outside.

… A dump?

Well. He did like the dump. It had cool shit.

He stepped out and looked around while his sons wrestled with their harnesses.

Gaster’s eyes widened as the monster stepped out of the piece of shit. He’d never seen one that looked like that before.

Maybe he could get closer and get a better look…?

He glanced around the area and decided he’d probably have his best chance slipping a little closer by running to one of the other piles of spare parts while the monster was looking around. When the monster looked further up the alley, he darted out behind another pile, a bit closer to the shit.

He hoped this monster relied on sight to find things, haha…

You didn’t live as long as Gaster had to be snuck up on by a child.

He spun around just a little too late to see what had moved. What if this was one of those evil Gasters? Him. But… actually evil.

Shit. Yeah, no.

“Boys, stay inside.” Gaster said, reaching up and slamming the door shut on Sans’ face.

“wh-”

He waved his hand and opened a prompt, slowly turning it in front of him as he rotated in a small circle to see if he could ‘see’ anyone nearby.

There was a Gaster nearby. Startlingly close, possibly--not far from the ship, clearly able to see him, but completely out of sight himself.

The list of names and recent encounters would have all been foreign. There was no Sans or Papyrus to be seen.

But his LV level was unaffected, at the very least. But that only meant he hadn’t dusted someone.

(Gaster shifted a little, trying to get a clearer look at whatever that thing was the other monster had summoned. Should he try to duck away from it? Was it some kind of attack…?)

Gaster turned until the information on the other Gaster nearby popped up in his prompt, then quickly did away with it. He was standing facing them now, the white dot of his eye scanning the area in front of him.

“Come out before I start throwing shit.”

Gaster stiffened.

He didn’t know how the other monster knew where he was, but--did he? Was this a bluff? Maybe?

It didn’t sound like a bluff.

He sat there, tense for a moment, before proceeding with the only obvious course of action.

He threw shit first.

Three large, long femur bones materialized in the air above his hiding place and with a swing of his arm, he sent them hurtling towards the other monster without hesitation. They weren’t aimed to be fatal, but they were certainly aimed to hurt, flying through the air towards the other monster’s legs and shoulder.

While the monster was dealing with those, he shifted his position, preparing to run.

Gaster ducked the one aimed for his shoulder, but one speared him through the leg. It was easy to go all the way through even when you didn’t intend to when you… had no bones or actual real flesh.

It didn’t seem to effect him much at all, Gaster summoning a pointed bone in one hand before turning and teleporting behind the spot where the bones had summoned.

As the hit landed, he moved to get up and did manage a few steps before realizing his target had vanished.

Speared through the leg or not, no one should be able to move that fast!

He fell back when the air ripped open behind him, summoning a half-formed frantic shield of bones as he stared up at the monster above him.

...he was so much bigger up close.

Gaster looked angry, but only for a split-second before it softened. The arm that had started to raise upwards with his attack stopped and he blinked upon looking down at the child.

“... Oh.”

He dismissed his attack. “Well. That’s… not what I expected.”

The bone was still lodged in his leg, poking straight out the other side.

Gaster heard the words, but ignored them. He’d gotten good at that. And he was much, much busier flicking his eyes between the monster’s face, the weapon in his hand, and the bone goring his leg.

Slowly and shakily, he lowered the hands he’d raised to form his shield, planting them palm-flat on the ground--two holes were present in his hands, but not nearly as wide or smooth as they would grow to be--and tried to look up at the other monster, smiling a little for a moment, hoping he looked harmless.

Four bones burst up through the ground aiming to gore both his legs and pin him in place.

Gaster got up and ran before he could see if it worked or not.

It didn’t look harmless at all.

“Don’t y-”

He watched his legs get speared before the child ran off.

Why.

Why was it always his legs.

Gaster groaned and yanked his legs off the bones to turn and teleport in front of the kid again. His own attack was long gone. He wasn’t about to fight a kid.

“Fucking STOP a minute!” He yelled once he was in front of him again, agitated enough to sign it at the same time.

Gaster was pretty good at ignoring it when people shouted at him to stop.

He was less used to ignoring the sharp, familiar motions of the other monster’s hands.

Even then, it was more shock than actual obedience that made him come to a wobbling stop, half a second away from bolting again.

Still wary and moving slowly, Gaster looked up at the other monster and began to raise his hands again. This time, though, he didn’t attack.

...you can talk?

The doctor sighed and went straight to signing. He should have known better than to yell at himself. Singing was always a sure way to gain his trust since it was so rarely used.

‘Yes.’ He signed, then started to again but paused to yank the bone attack still in his leg out, the void pulling at it before retracting and filling up the hole a second later. He tossed it onto the ground.

‘Sorry, didn’t mean to spook you. Thought you were someone… thought you were an adult.’

Gaster gave him a flat look, trying to ignore the panic crawling up the back of his skull as he watched the monster yank the bones out. He couldn’t fight someone who didn’t care about being impaled, but that didn’t mean he could stop himself from saying, haha, fuck you too after that bullshit dismissal.

Wait fuck.

He probably shouldn’t have insulted him.

This is weird.

He wasn’t exactly used to censoring his hands and let out a smaller stream of oh fuck damnit.

‘Those are some vulgar hands you have there.’ Gaster smirked, apparently not bothered by the insult. ‘Does no one else speak wingdings here?’

Gaster scowled up at him. What do you mean ‘here?’ No one speaks wingdings.

Oh right. He wasn’t used to having to explain this, it was usually Sans.

‘I’m from pretty fucking far away, but no one really uses it there either.’ He looked back the way they had run from. ‘Why were you in the dump?’

Gaster’s eyes went wide, but then narrowed sharply, his scowl not fading. Not in the dump! Junkyard. Mandrake’s Junkyard. None of your business.

He debated summoning bones again, but considering his track record so far, held off a moment longer. Where you’re from. Take me there.

‘Dump, junkyard, same shit.’ Gaster shrugged, then raised where his brow would be. ‘Eager to get the fuck out of here? No family?’

Fuck you, Gaster said, which seemed to be his default response to most things thus far. My family’s none of your business. Show me where they speak in hands!

Somehow, he seemed even more angry than before.

‘They don’t speak in hands. I’m the only one, outside of my sons. No one fucking knows it for shit. They’re all dead.’ He added, ‘It’s a rare thing everywhere.’

Gaster wilted. The anger seemed to drain out of him, and he just looked tired and sad. Oh.

He finally took his eyes off the strange monster, looking down at the pavement beneath him instead.

Gaster frowned sadly. Maybe he had been a little too direct with the kid. But… then again, he wanted direct answers, surely.

‘Sorry kid. Wingdings and skeletons are a rarity everywhere I’ve seen… and I’ve been to a lot of places, trust me.’

That caught Gaster’s attention again, though he was more cautious this time, side-eyeing the monster as he asked, You’ve met skeletons?

Oh right. He wasn’t… really a skeleton anymore. A part of him was saddened by that, but he didn’t show it. ‘My sons are skeletons. Do you want to meet them?’

No, Gaster said, and winced, and then decided it was probably true. N o .

He edged away again.

That was a… curious reaction. He raised a brow again and signed a simple ‘ok’.

Something about this felt… familiar.

His hands raised again, ‘Is being a skeleton here… bad?’

Gaster snorted and shrugged, How am I supposed to know? There aren’t enough around to give a fuck.

He knew his parents always kept him out of sight of the King and Queen when they could and he never wanted to see the old warrior from Waterfall ever again, to the point where he’d completely rerouted how he got to the Dump, but if this stranger wasn’t old enough to know?

Gaster wasn’t going to fucking tell him that there was apparently something wrong.

Gaster seemed to only pay half attention to the kid’s answer. Maybe it was the specific way he signed or just something about him, but this world was feeling very familiar to his double’s. He could remember what he had been told about skeletons from there and suddenly grew worried.

‘... Right.’ He signed eventually, then turned back to his tiny double. ‘You have a family, right?’

He just wanted to know that this version of him wasn’t completely alone. Hanging out at the junkyard wasn’t a very good way to tell.

This time, Gaster just nodded. Why are you being so nosy?

‘I gotta make up for not having a nose myself.’ Gaster said without missing a beat and smirked. ‘Just… trying to judge where I am, is all.’

Gaster blinked and made a face--he wasn’t. Was that a joke? What. How was he supposed to react to jokes when people could actually understand his reactions??

Change of subject, change of subject!!!!

He quickly crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, snorting at the tall stranger and said, Wow, are you stupid lost or what? You’re in the Captial.

He told the stranger exactly where he was, too. The same neighborhood and series of blocks that, in another time, were nothing but rubble.

‘I can guess that much. It’s less a place and more a time I’m wondering about. Do you know what year it is?’

Once again, Gaster gave him a long, confused look, before saying the year. Or. About what he thought the year was.

He didn’t pay a ton of attention.

Oh. That was… yeah.

If he was going by his double’s timeline that would make sense, not his own. It lined up pretty well.

‘Okay. And you never did answer me about parents.’ He gave the tiny him a pointed look. ‘I just wanna know you aren’t living alone at the dump.’

I’m Not Living At The Dump! The anger was back and his eyes flashed indigo. I answered you! I nodded!

He could nod! People usually understood when he nodded--it was about the only thing they understood from him so wow that was infuriating, to have this bastard just ignore him like that, he was--

Aaaaaagggghhhhhhhhh

Oh. Whoops. Wasn’t paying attention. Too busy worrying about whether or not his kids would be lynched, maybe.

‘Calm down, Gaster.’ He signed without really thinking about it, but didn’t look particularly intimidated by the sudden flare of magic.

Gaster’s anger froze and he tensed, taking a few steps back and hunching down again, as if about to run. He’d been standing relatively at ease for most of the conversation, but now--

I never told you my name.

Bone attacks weren’t working.

He took a shallow breath and tried to summon his skulls.

They were small and malformed, and wouldn’t be able to do much, but they looked frightening, and that’s what Gaster needed, right now. He couldn’t win.

So he’d have to look frightening.

Gaster froze too. Oh. Oh shit. He was… not good at this. The lights of his eyes vanished and he put his head in his hands.

Fuck. Fuuuuck.

‘Okay.’ He signed, rubbing at his eyes and mostly ignoring the blasters. ‘Okay, okay. Put the blasters away and I’ll explain everything. Those are tiny anyway. You’re just going to tire yourself out.’

Gaster grit his teeth, but… did as he was told, this time.

There were too many blasters out, anyway. As much as he hated to admit it, he could already feel the strain of having them out. He let out a ragged breath when he dismissed them, but didn’t take his eyes off the monster.

Explain.

‘Okay, well give me a minute.’ Gaster said before reaching up to the side of his head.

“You two can come out now.”

“what the hell was that about?”

“I was worried it was an evil-me, but it turns out it was a mini-me. A mini-me who’s full of piss and vinegar and likes to stab me in the legs.”

“oh great.”

“You can come out. Check the machine over. I need to talk to the kid.”

“gotcha.”

With that finished he looked around, found an old stool, and turned it right-side-up so he could sit on it.

Gaster narrowed his eyes at the conversation, but stayed still otherwise, watching the other and waiting expectantly. Well?

‘Believe this shit or not, but it’s going to sound nuts either way. When I said I was from really fucking far away I meant that I was from another time. Another world entirely.’ He began, ‘I knew your name because I’m YOU from another world.’

‘That’s a time machine. It gets pulled towards other versions of myself sometimes.’

He paused there to see how the kid took it.

He was trying to keep his face impassive. He might’ve been succeeding for the most part. On the inside, though, he was wavering.

This monster didn’t look like him. This story was ridiculous. He said he had two kids who were both skeletons, which was even more ridiculous. Time machine. ‘Gets pulled towards other versions of myself,’ gee, that was convenient.

(he almost wanted to believe it.)

His eyes flickered in and out and he said, I want proof.

Well, Gaster only knew one other world with another version of himself and this world was clearly not his own. He hadn’t been living in the capitol as a child.

‘Your name is Gaster and you can’t talk and you’re adopted by a dragon and a plant thing.’ He signed as flatly as he could.

Gaster waved his hand dismissively. Anyone from around here knows that. For all I know, you’re one of the ones pissed about it.

Gaster frowned and seemed to be fighting with himself about something, but eventually decided to go with it.

‘You’re the body of a dead human.’

The lights of his eyes vanished.

He took one slow, shaky step away from the strange monster.

Too much conformation. He signed quickly--with jerking movements that weren’t used to lying like this--wow what the fuck who even says that to someone you sicko

Gaster sighed loudly and rubbed his head again. ‘Sorry kid. I’ve met your older self and didn’t have much else to go on. He never really talked about his childhood that much. But I knew that would be one thing you would definitely know.’

‘Like I said, I’m you, but not the same version of you. I know I don’t look like you right now. I’m not a skeleton anymore. But…’

Fuck.

He didn’t know what to say. Gaster hung his head and pressed his knuckles to his eye sockets.

This kid was going to stab himself in the fucking head. He was going to lose his parents. He was going to live in fear. He was going to get shattered into the void.

Fuck.

Oh.

….Gaster knew that kind of look. And that body language. He wasn’t used to it being shown around him, but--he knew it. His dad did it when work at the shelter was getting too much for him. He did it sometimes, and one of his parents would hold him until he could stop.

He wasn’t touching this guy.

But… he couldn’t hurt someone looking like that. Well, he could, and that--that was a big problem. But he also didn’t have to, so… so he didn’t, just then.

He snapped his fingers to get the other’s attention, waiting until he had eyes back before saying, look, fine, I believe you. Go find your fucking kids and get a hug or something, holy shit.

...it was pretty pathetic, talking like that, and he was pretty sure concern and discomfort lingered on his face, but he didn’t know what to do about it right now.

People. People didn’t show this stuff. Normal people didn’t do this kind of thing in front of strangers. Normal people probably didn’t do this stuff at all unless it was hidden away, and then it passed quickly, and they didn’t pull bones on random monsters who happened to come close to them, and--

I believe you.

He didn’t know what else to say. But he had questions.

They could wait. For a little while.

Gaster looked up at him, reading his hands before that stress melted away for… laughter.

Holy shit. This really was his double’s younger self. There were just some things that were too damn obvious. ‘Go get a hug from your kids, holy shit’? That just… screamed his double.

It took him a few moments to calm down.

‘Sorry, sorry. Just… damn. You’re someone I know alright. I’m fine. I’ll get hugs later.’

I thought I was you, Gaster said, flat faced.

The laughter had laughed the concern right off his face.

What an asshole. He’d been trying to be nice.

Dick.

‘No, no, yeah you are. But there are some pretty big differences between me and the… uh, older you. He tells me to hug my kids all the time. It was just funny. I’m sorry.’

Gaster sighed, his expression slipping just enough to show that the laughter had really just been a way for him to hide the fact that he was tearing himself up inside knowing this poor kid’s future.

...he didn’t like that. He didn’t like that expression that the other monster had for just a split second. He didn’t like that at all.

Keep them talking, that’s what mom always said, right? Just keep people talking. He wasn’t very good at that, but he could try to get answers as fast as he could, anyway.

How old am I when you know me?

If this other monster knew him as well as he claimed, he’d probably be able to translate that into ‘how long do I live?’ at the very least.

Gaster thought about that for a moment. His double had said he was 30 when they met or something like that, right? Then Sans had aged about 20 years, so…

‘50ish? I’m not sure. I met you when you were about 30.’

Gaster’s eyes widened again. But that’s too long!

How was he going to live for fifty years??

Was he super frail now? Did he figure out some way to live a long time? How old could skeletons usually live???

His internal screaming was a lot more high pitched than usual.

Gaster smirked, ‘Sorry kid. If it’s any consolation at least you’re not as old as I am.’

Gaster almost didn’t want to know. ...how old are you?

‘Somewhere over 1,000. But I think I might be a special case.’

He hoped so. Damn he was old.

Kill me now, Gaster said, staring up at the ridiculously old monster.

Gaster laughed, ‘Sorry, I’m not looking to kill myself anytime soon.’

Gaster was tempted to summon up a bone bludgeon and offer his assistance.

The magic was half-formed in his hand before he caught himself. He jabbed a thumb inside the hole of the still-glowing hand, scraping the bone painfully until he felt a little better.

He couldn’t talk while he did that. So he just noddd slowly at the other. And hoped he’d wait a minute as Gaster tried to turn his body away a bit so the ongoing chipping wasn’t noticeable.

‘Don’t hurt yourself, kid.’ Gaster said, able to pick up on the small gesture easily enough. ‘Although I guess there isn’t a point in telling you that.’ He sighed, thinking back to his double telling him about stabbing himself in the face.

It would happen no matter what he said, one way or another, wouldn’t it.

Gaster scowled. He brought the hand he’d been picking at up and bit into it in plain view for the other monster to see, glaring at him.

His other hand in, rapid succession, signed, Fuck You; Don’t Tell Me What to Do; What Do You Mean By That?

Gaster only frowned a little, but didn’t stop him. ‘You’re going to do what you want anyway and I’m not your dad. I’m just saying what a worried parent would say is all. Pay no mind.’

Slowly, Gaster stopped biting his hand, and returned it (trembling with new long trenches in it) down to his side.

Don’t worry, I won’t, he said, and pretended he didn’t feel a little sick inside.

Why’d you come here? Change subject. This was awful. Change subject. He wanted to go home.

‘I told you, my machine flings me into other timelines with Gasters sometimes. It isn’t intentional.’

‘You’re only the second I’ve found so far and you’re a younger version of one I already know, I think.’

He considered that. So, I guess you’re leaving, then.

He kept his tone and expression as flat as possible.

‘Eventually. The machine probably needs a few minor repairs.’

Oh, Gaster said, and left it at that. I’ll leave you to it, then.

Gaster gave his little double a somewhat pained look before nodding and standing. ‘Yep. Nice meeting you, kid.’

Gaster nodded and shuffled around the other monster to the wall of the taller building across from the junkyard, found the fire escape, and proceeded to climb from the lowest windowsill onto it, heading up to the rooftops rather than walking on the street level.

He didn’t look back at the only monster he’d ever met who spoke wingdings. Who he’d been able to have a full conversation with.

That monster’d already met a version of him he clearly liked better. There was no point. He should get out of that monster’s life and let him get a move on. Since apparently his mere existence had caused his shit ship to crash.

As he climbed, a few photos slipped out of his pocket and fell to the alleyway below. They were the old sort of photos with faded colors, stains and blurs around the edges, and definitely none of them were of his own family.

Gaster didn’t find the photos until later. He had left to go help on the machine a little before coming back to the alley, hoping that the kid had come back or something. He wanted to help him. He wanted to talk to him. He wanted to tell him everything was going to be okay even though it very much wasn’t.

He wanted to help him live. But he didn’t know how.

The photos caught his eye as he walked along where he had been sitting and he reached for them.

None of the photos contained the small skeleton, or anyone his older self had ever described from his childhood. Most of them didn’t even contain the same handful of monsters. For the most part, they appeared to be just photos of groups of monsters, posed and smiling into the camera. Groups of friends, perhaps. Many appeared to be of families.

Some had names or dates scrawled on them around the edges or on the back. But they had definitely been dropped together, recently, and the only one who could’ve dropped them was young Gaster, who’d vanished over the rooftops.

Gaster flipped through them a few times and then stared at them.

… This was a good excuse to go find him.

After informing the boys he was leaving he tucked the photos into his chest and started to walk along the streets of the capitol. Some of it looked a little familiar while others didn’t. Occasionally he would stop to ask where ‘the dragon and plant-monster’ lived. Talking was a lot easier when you didn’t have to worry about the consequences. If shit went sour he could just hop into his machine and fuck off never to be seen again, right?

Most people on the street were friendly enough, even though there were quite a few who were confused at first about who Gaster was asking for, but soon enough, there were people who figured it out and happily gave him directions, telling him good luck with whatever he needed, but those two could probably sort it out for him.

All in good nature. A happy, functioning underground that made the angry, violent little skeleton definitely stick out.

The building he was directed to was a large apartment building, and several floors up, there was an apartment rented to a ‘Mr. Semi and Mx Chxlxthx,’ with a ‘please knock’ sign on the door, decorated with thin lines of paint and cheerful-looking colorful spirals.

Cozy.

Gaster had the forethought to pull the photos out of his chest before knocking on the door. He was starting to get a little nervous. Talking to himself was one thing, adults that he wanted to make a decent impression on was another.

“Coming,” came a garbled voice from beyond the door.

A moment later, the door opened, and a giant set of teeth greeted him.

A set of extremely large, sharp, pointy teeth that were attached to a mass of thick vines, a curled brown shell, and four bright red eyes.

Chxlxthx looked more like a creature from the deep ocean than most monsters, but she said, “Sorry for the wait, can I help you?” and looked over the stranger with plenty of patience and good cheer.

Most people were used to her by now.

It had been a very long time since he had seen a monster quite like that, but that wasn’t what he was anxious about. He was anxious about talking.

He couldn’t stop himself from signing as he spoke, much too nervous as he held out the photos with the hand that wasn’t twitching in front of him. “Yeah, I think your kid dropped these.”

Chxlxthx blinked and reached out to take the photos, holding them up to get a better look at them. She sighed. “Thank you. We’ll make sure he returns them.”

She noticed his hand movements, but didn’t comment on them. If there was one thing she’d learned with her boy, it was how self-conscious he got when his hand movements were brought up, and she’d gotten used to paying attention without comment. It’s not as if he was the only monster in the underground who moved his hands oddly.

Gaster hesitated a moment, part of him wanting to spin around and scream internally at having to talk to someone while the other part… really wanted to help the kid out.

Dadster won over Stresster.

“How’s his hand? He bit it earlier.”

She tucked the photos away somewhere in her mass of vines, shuffling backwords somewhat. “He’s with Sem recovering. It’s been a busy day, apparently. Would you like to come in?”

Nope. No way. Nuh-uh. Not a chance. Never.

“Sure.”

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Chxlxthx stepped aside, giving Gaster plenty of room to come in. “Do you want to see him, or do you have time to talk to me a little? I’ll get you something to drink.”

Her guest seemed tense.

So it was time for simple either-or questions, and taking charge of other things. She kept her tone calm but certain, and hoped it was enough to help settle his nerves some.

He wondered if he could melt enough to seep through the floor.

“I’ve got time.”

She nodded and ushered him to the kitchen. The apparment wasn’t especially large, but there were multiple rooms. The kitchen wasn’t far from the front entrance, but if Gaster glanced in the opposite direction, there was a door opened just a little through which a large, orange dragon was holding a tiny skeleton close to his chest and not letting go.

Chxlxthx put on some tea and gestured for Gaster to sit.

“What’s your name, dear?”

Fuck. Shitpissfuckmotherfucker.

Gaster sat down to give himself a few extra seconds to think. Gramps wouldn’t work, he didn’t look old enough.

“Treb.”

His father’s name would have to do.

“That’s a nice name,” Chxlxthx said, getting a mug out. “So you met Gaster earlier today, it sounds like?”

“Yeah. I sorta stumbled onto one of his hiding spots.”

“Can I ask what happened?”

She sets some tea down on the table in front of him, along with a cup of honey, if it’s wanted.

“He came home pretty distressed. We were worried.”

“Did he?” Gaster asked, his anxiety melting away slightly. He sounded worried.

“I… shit. That’s probably my fault.” He stared down at the tea.

Himself or not, this Gaster was still a kid. He was a sucker for kids these days.

How terrible.

“It’s all right,” Chxlxthx said, sitting down at the table. “Gaster’s a tough kid; sometimes it’s hard to know when he’s upset or even what’s going to upset him. We just want to know what happened so maybe we’ll have a better idea of how to help him, now.”

She was calm and didn’t at all sound like she blamed Treb for what had happened. At least, not until she found out Treb had been harassing her boy or something. But he seemed concerned for Gaster, and he’d come to return the stolen photos. That automatically won him some points.

“Yeah, no kidding…” Gaster mumbled slightly and rubbed at his head again.

Shit. Should he tell them too? Maybe… maybe it would help little G out? Maybe it would save them from getting killed? Maybe. Probably not, but. Maybe.

Maybe was enough. He had failed once. He could try again. Knowing him he would keep on trying even if every time failed. Maybe he just needed to find the right things to say at the right time and all of this mess could be avoided.

He couldn’t stop himself from laughing nervously. “Okay, so… I told the kid a lot of stuff he… probably didn’t want to hear. That’s my fault. I had never intended to. I’m fucking terrible when it comes to lying to kids.”

Chxlxthx listened, settling in for the long haul. It sounded like this was going to be something longer than expected. “He’s hard to lie to... and it’s not a bad thing to be honest to kids. What sort of things?”

“Things that only he would know.” Gaster looked down at the cup of tea and finally took it, pulling it a little closer and staring down into the liquid swirling inside the mug.

“I had never intended to tell him or you or anyone anything, but…” He was still signing along with every word he said, nerves running rampant. “Uh. It’s gonna sound pretty nuts.”

‘Things only he would know,’ well, that sounded ominous.

“I’ll try to give you the benefit of the doubt,” she said, trying to smile a little bit in encourangement.

Gaster was screaming internally as loud as he could. But… this was for the tiny little version of himself sitting huddled in the other room. Maybe it would help him. Maybe.

Maybe.

“My name isn’t Treb. It’s Gaster.”

Chxlxthx paused.

She looked at her guest.

And she looked at his hands. The gestures weren’t exactly the ones she was familiar with, but the shape of them was. The intent behind them.

“Go on,” she said.

“I’m obviously not YOUR Gaster, but I’m A Gaster. From… another timeline. It’s… sort of my job to go from timeline to timeline hunting for something. Sometimes I run into another Gaster. We’re not all the same, but… well. Life isn’t kind to us.”

He looked down at the tea again. “My machine always gravitates me to another version of myself.” He was lying, but only enough to make things simpler. “This was the first time I met a kid. I didn’t want to tell him anything but I slipped and called him Gaster and then I had to explain myself and that’s just a fucking mess because I can’t fucking lie to kids anymore and like fuck if I can lie to myself and-”

He was rambling.

He stopped.

He awkwardly drank tea he couldn’t taste.

“It’s okay,” Chxlxthx said, though she didn’t specify what, exactly, was okay. One vine came up and hovered beside Gaster’s shoulder. “May I?”

Whether she believed his story or not was irrelevant. He clearly believed it. He was clearly distressed by it. And whether he was really an alternate-timeline version of her son, it didn’t matter.

He was hurt, and he was familiar enough she cared about that.

Gaster instinctively shied away from her vine. “May you what?”

“Touch you,” she said, but pulled the vine back when he shied. “I don’t have to. But this is clearly rough for you to talk about. Some people like to have physical support. I…. ask first. But if you don’t want that, it’s fine, and I’ll just listen.”

“Oh.” Gaster laughed a little nervously again, “No, that’s… that’s alright. I’m fine. I’m a mess but I’m fine.”

He inhaled sharply, collecting his thoughts. “I’ve actually met an older version of him before. He’s a good friend. He grows up to be a nice man.” He looked at the monster across from him and offered her a smile.

She pulled the vine away more fully, nodding, but--smiled, wider than usual, at the mention of her boy growing up. “...that means a lot to hear.”

She wanted to ask more, but didn’t. Knowing her kid, he was going to be eavesdropping at the door the moment he realized someone else was in the house, and it wouldn’t do for him to hear how wonderful he’d grow up to be and feel inadequate to a self that didn’t exist yet.

“I’ll trust his taste in friends, then,” she offered the other Gaster another smile.

Gaster smiled a little as he looked into his mug. It was nice to think of his double. It was nice to think that he might be able to help this version of him somehow.

“I told him this, but Gasters are rare. I’ve been to a lot of different timelines and yours is only the second I’ve met, who’s another version of the only one I know. The universe is kind of against us, so I want to help. I don’t know if it will do anything, but…”

He trailed off and shrugged. “No harm trying.”

His eyes stayed trained on his tea.

Chxlxthx nodded again, listening intently. “So what exactly is it that you’re trying to do?”

Gaster laughed bitterly and put a hand over his eye, leaning heavily into it. “I don’t know. At first I was hoping to just slip away without telling him anything. I hadn’t been able to save the other Gaster from what always seems to happen to us. I thought the best thing to do was not tell him. To just leave.”

“But… I can’t. I know his future. I don’t know if I told you all everything if it would help or not.”

It might make it worse. It might cause them to worry about things that weren’t preventable. It might walk them right into the very things they hoped to avoid. You couldn’t go around worrying about the future more clearly than you worried about the present. At least, you couldn’t worry about a future you weren’t actively building towards.

“Just tell me what you told Gaster,” she said. “Nothing else. But I need to know what’s troubling him.”

Gaster drummed his fingers on his mug. “He wanted me to prove it. I didn’t know enough about his childhood beyond who his parents were. The only other thing he told me was that… he was the product of magic and a deceased human.” His one good eye looked up at the monster.

#mayem #a different way #goop #kid #young kid #sans #papyrus #undertale #RP log #semi #chxlxthx

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