#mayem

Papyrus looked between them but still looked confused. Gaster approached and sat on the arm of the couch beside his son’s head. “It’s nothing you did, kiddo. She’s right. Don’t worry about that.”

“Skeletons aren’t the same in this world. Old monsters react to them a similar way to I react around humans.”

“SCARED?”

“Yeah.” Gaster said, “Really scared.”

--

(Gaster said nothing, and looked away.)

“They’ve gotten used enough to Gaster that they let him be for the most part,” Semi said, “But… Gerson must have been taken by surprise. He… he wants to protect the underground. He just doesn’t realize skeletons aren’t a threat.”

“If I’d known he was in the Capital, I wouldn’t have let you go out,” Chxlxthx said, coming forward enough to place a hand on Papyrus’ shoulder. “I’m so sorry this happened to you, dear.”

--

“IT’S OKAY. LIKE YOU SAID, YOU DIDN’T KNOW.” He smiled at her. “I’LL BE FINE, REALLY.”

Gaster smiled and rubbed his son’s head. “From now on we’ll just teleport everywhere and be really careful.”

Papyrus angled his head to look up at his dad. “WILL YOU PROMISE YOU WON’T KILL HIM IF SOMETHING HAPPENS?”

He tensed, but it only lasted a moment. Gaster laughed, “Wow. You’re really making my ‘do not kill’ list long. Stop being such a good influence or I’m going to lose my title of biggest asshole.”

“I promise.”

--

Chxlxthx’s face fell.

“...I’m not sure if teleporting will be enough.”

She glanced back at Semi and her Gaster, still small and silent and--

“...you said you had to fix your machine before you go?”

--

Gaster’s face fell too. He didn’t like the sound of that. “... Yes.”

--

Chxlxthx looked apologetic. So apologetic. She hated this. She hated saying this, but--

...safety. Her baseline was safety. This was the best way.

“...how soon until it can be repaired?”

--

Gaster looked at Papyrus, then at the kid nestled in his father’s lap, then down at Sans before he returned Chlxthx’s gaze. “With Sans and myself working around the clock I would say a few days.”

His tone had become serious. He knew what that meant now. Papyrus couldn’t help but him and Sans could, and he didn’t need to sleep.

--

Chxlxthx nodded again. “It would be best if you began as soon as possible. We’ll help how we can with shelter and food when we can, but--please don’t misunderstand me. This isn’t out of anger. This is about keeping everyone as safe as possible.”

She glanced back at her boy, not wanting to face the three members of her newly-extended family. “Gerson will report the sighting of a skeleton to King Asgore and Queen Toriel. They accept Gaster because Semi and I push back against them, but we’re the first place they’ll come when they hear there’s an unaccounted for skeleton in the underground. I’m sure you can understand how well it would go if you were found with us.”

--

He nodded, “I understand. It’s alright. Don’t feel bad.” Gaster looked at Papyrus, who looked like he was blaming himself. A hand went to his head.

“Is there anywhere we can put Papyrus for the time being?”

--

“There should be a spare room at the shelter we can hide him in, if that’s okay with him,” she said, looking at Papyrus. “It’ll be noisy and you won’t be able to go out of the room or make much sound in case one of the kids hears, but no one’s going to come looking through there.”

--

“THAT’S FINE.” Papyrus said, trying hard to sound chipper. He failed pretty horribly.

“If anything happens just contact me through this.” He moved the communicator down to his chest before pulling it out and handing it towards Chxlxthx. “Press the button and it will transmit to Sans. I’ll be beside him to hear. I can be there in a second to get him out so you two aren’t suspect.”

--

Chxlxthx nodded.

Semi looked up a moment later. “Give it to me. I’ll stay with him. Besides. We don’t want anyone coming around while I’m injured. Papyrus can teach me some signing while we’re together, too.”

They both looked over at Gaster and Papyrus again for their approval while their own boy curled down a little closer.

He didn’t want his dad to go.

But he’d be okay.

It wasn’t the first time they’d had to go help other monsters.

--

They both nodded and Gaster handed the device over to Semi instead.

Sans had already stood up and gathered the bag that Papyrus had brought with him. If his brother was in danger he was clear to work his bony ass off until they could get him to safety.

--

Semi took the device carefully and held onto it. Then, with a sigh, he looked down at the little skeleton clinging to him and untangled himself from the grip. “I’ll be back soon, kiddo.”

Gaster reluctantly moved away, wrapping his arms around himself instead and still not meeting anyone’s eyes. He made a sharp gesture down the hall towards his bedroom and skittered off a moment later, closing the door behind himself.

Semi sighed and slowly got to his feet, limping heavily to one side as he approached the couch. “So. When do we head out?”

--

“THE SOONER THE BETTER, I GUESS.” Papyrus said and Gaster stood.

--

Semi nodded and shared one last look with Chxlxthx before settling as close to Gaster as he thought he had to. “So, um, do I just tell you where to go, or how does this work?”

--

“The easiest is through coordinates, but I can guess if you give me a distance and direction.” He turned, very slowly lifting his injured son as gingerly as he could.

--

Semi nodded and began giving the best directions he could recall, and an approximate distance to the front gate of the shelter, if nothing else.

--

Once Papyrus was secure Gaster hesitantly put out his hand for Semi to take. “Forewarning, this doesn’t feel pleasant I’m told.”

“I’ll be back and we’ll get to work as soon as I drop him off.” He said to Sans, then took a step forward. He lead the dragon through a rip in spacetime, the feeling cold and like tiny hands were gliding all over you from head to toe.

They stepped out not too far away from the gates of the shelter.

--

Semi shuddered as they traveled through the cold, but persevered well enough. He needed a moment to look around and get his bearings before pointing out the shelter and one of the darkened windows along the outside wall. “Can you get us into that one? Third from the left? Or is this the closest we can get?”

He wasn’t sure of the limits of this Gaster’s magic and wanted to be certain.

--

Teleporting two people was rough. If his soul had been in the state it was before he wouldn’t have been able to do it. He took a moment to push his body up. "Yeàh͟."̸ He said, his voice becoming distorted.

He teleported them again, getting them into the room.

--

It wasn’t very big, but it had a bed and some lights, and was a fair distance away from any occupied room, and that was what mattered.

Semi helped Papyrus to the bed as best he could with his own injuries and looked over at Gaster a moment later, speaking softly. “Are you alright?”

--

After making sure Papyrus was in bed his entire body rippled. His mouth went tense before his face started to melt a little, his clothing doing much the same. Things started to lose detail.

"̥̩͍I̢͉̥͇̰͈̬'̱̟̹̙̭̯l̸͖͍͚͉͇̜l̛̰̖̤ ̺̬̹̀b͟e̲͈ ̘̖f̢̯̮̦̝̣̭͍i̜̗̭̖̻͚͟n̙̱̤͚̞̹̲͢e.͘"͠He mumbled and looked at him. "̧͕J̡͔͚̹̦̩us̬͕̱̖͎t̕ ̵̝͈u̸̪̘̣s̵̞e̼͙̯̲̗̻̺ ̲t͜he͏̹ ̖̳̫c͓o͡m̤̰̤̫͈m͉̻͕͜u͖̰͚͙͕͉̤͡ni͡c͚̳̠͈̥̮at̶̰̩̘o̜͟r̸̤͉̩̬̹̺̜ ̼͖̗̩̼͞i̗̰̬͢f̳͔ ̮̲̥̞̯͖ͅy̰̦͎̝̻o̡͖̮ṵ͉̖́ ̠̘̺͞n̯͘ȩ̦̱͓̦̼̘éḏ̝̟͕̬

̳̖͎̬̳̙a̬̦͖n̪̝y̺͘t̙̹̜̥h̟͕͙͇i̫͖̟͘n͚͔g̳̺̠.̫̣̝̦͍̥ͅ"̙͔̬̬͈ͅ

He looked at his son and patted him on the head again, "͉̖̤̤̺I̮̭͎t͇̤̤̗̭́ ̧͔͎͉͍̠̖̺i͡s̨̼̬͔n'̦t̴͉ ̳͍̭͚̰̼y̸o̺͠ṵ̪̹̜̯͈͔r̩͎̩͔͎̜͕ ̩f҉̜a҉̺̣͇̹͈̗u̘͕̦͎͠l̻͈̥t͇͙̩͡.͈̞̦̙̞̞̳ ͕̺̻̭̕E̦̥̖̻̤v̮̟͖̳̫͞ͅe͢r̯͙͓͎̤y͕̟̘̦̯̹͘th̝̞̲̖̝̫̦͘i̖̜̺̜̩̪̭͡n̜͚̬͢g̨̜̖̠͎̦̘̞ ̮w̼̲͓͓̮͝i̠l̮̖l̴̳̺̙ ̷̣̲b̗͉̗̥̖͈̕e̵͇̖̙̝ ̝̩̺́f̫̦̘̝̼̬ͅi̶n̶͉̠e̢͓.̥̟̱͖͓̤͝"̝̖͇͡

Papyrus frowned, but nodded.

--

Semi nodded as well and watched Gaster speak with Papyrus quietly. When it seemed he was done, Semi looked up at him again and told him, “Take care. Be safe, “ and hoped Gaster really would be.

--

Gaster nodded and turned, teleporting out of the room and back into the living room where Sans was waiting. As soon as his foot tried to take a solid step it crumpled and his entire lower half turned into a puddle. He braced himself against the floor.

“shit.” Sans walked over to him and took his hands to try and help him up a little better.

--

Startled, Chxlxthx moved forward as well. “Are you all right?”

--

"̻͚̣͚͇̟̙I̦͈̯'̙̱̥͉̻͇m͓̜̘̱̹̞͔ ̥̰͝f̮͍͔̦̞̳i͉̘̳̠̹ͅn̤e̳͇̳͖͍.͔̻͕ ̝I͈͔̝ṭ͓̺'̭̀s̠ ҉̞͎͙͇̝͖͚j͈̖̱͈̬̱͞u̴͖͙̲s̲͇̜̭͔̝̳t̬̰ ͏̮̙̝t͏͙͙͍̳̠iŗ͎͓̻͙̩̟̜i̹͚̹͈n͔̮͕͈̟̭͜ģ ͔̯̪͚̕t̠̹e̶̘lẹ̼͡p̣͙o̮̠͍̩̼͇͍r͝ti̮̘n̗g̺̲̳ ḿ͍͈̝̟ú͇͎͈̣̼ḷ̛͇̯͇t̹͎͈ip̤͈̬͡l̢e̖̻ ̦͙̙̰̹̪͠p͍͕̲͓̟͖͝ͅe̠̹̙͎̼͙ͅo̪͖͓͈̝͞p̨̻͍͓le̲̯̭͠ ̞͍̰͟m̱̰͉̯͈̬͘u͔̟l̴̪̪̟̻t̙i͙̯͙̬͔̦̫p̥͍̭̳̲̥̯l͏͔͎̟͕͇e̢̘̮̼̹ ̸͈̳͓t̀i̙͉̯m͞ͅe̡͍͇s͙͈.̟̘̲̯̮͇͇"̙͘ Gaster mumbled,

taking his son’s hands and pooling himself underneath to give himself a base to glide on. It was embarrassing having no legs. He felt like a slug.

"̠̙͢ͅT̳͎̙̫̤̦̭h̴̫͚͔e̹̯̞̳̙̺ ̭̖͍t̹̹͚̝̩r͚̯̭̬͢a̶̬̗͈͚̥ͅn̞̥̝̻s̢͈̦̖ͅl̡a͖͇̲̙͇͖t͏̖̪̱̫i̤͚̱̱̥̘͎̕o̖̗̙͇n̶͉̺͇̱͉s ̬̝Í̭̫͍̲ ̼͓̹̱̳͇̣m̝͔̺͕̠͝a̬ṋ͞a͓̩̲̥g̨ẹ̱̲͖̦d͉̫ ̗̘͚̪̪̜̭́t̗̭o̝͉̤ ͚̹̜̩f͚͙̠̜͙̝͘i̪͔̥ͅn̖͓͍̻͞i̖̯̖͕̣̖s͏̖̦͍ͅh̨ ͈͚a̧̫͖̮ŗ̰̙̫̱͚e̺͙̤̱̝̙͝ ̣͇̣͓̞͉o̫̬̦v͟e̢r̦͔̣̫͙̮ ̢̪̭̲̺̮t̮h̦e͔̥r̜̦͙͎͇e.̫̙̮͖̥͕́ͅ Ţ̟̦̗h͚͙̘̟a̸͙͙̘n̰̲̗̼k̞̰͕̭̰͈̘s̺͙̩̪̗̤ ͕͖͘f͓͙̥̼̙̖o̮͈̩̥ͅr̸̬̖̬ ̷e̡̱̳̩͙ve̬̥̩̼̱͢r̻̮̬͓y̳̱͉̦t̝̹̜h͕͟í̹͚̮n̸̜̞g̸͙̫͙̖̘.҉͕"́ He then

looked down at Sans. "̜R̪͎̥e̩̱͠aͅdy̮͇͔̳͍?̸̟̺̻͙̫̼̘"

--

Chxlxthx nodded and stepped away. “Thank you,” and waited for them both to be on their way.

“If you need something, let Semi know. He’ll find a way to contact me.”

She still felt bad for having to send them off like this, but it was for the best.

--

Gaster nodded and took his son by the hand, leading him through another portal and to their machine at the junkyard.

They would waste no time getting started.

--

Chxlxthx stayed and bore through the monsters who, as predicted, came on request from the Dreemurs to ask a few questions and look around. She’d had a chance to clear out most of the house and hide the notes and any other suspiscious things that had been left behind by having guests around, and didn’t let Gaster out of her sight the whole time the strangers were in their house. No one would get close to him without her notice.

Semi did his best to keep Papyrus entertained in the meantime, keeping his mind off what had transpired earlier that day and what would undoubtedly be a few long days to come.

--

Papyrus was abnormally quiet a lot of the time and he slept more than usual, knowing that doing so would help his recovery. He didn’t like to be split up from his family and he still blamed himself a little for what had happened, despite everyone telling him otherwise.

Thankfully the nap the day before allowed Sans to work throughout most of the night with his father. As goopy as he was he could still use his hands and busied himself repairing as much as he could as fast as he could. It would take a few days at the very least and Sans would have to catch a few naps here and there, but it would happen all the same.

--

Chxlxthx tried to carry on as usual, checking in at the shelter in the morning and using it as an excuse to visit Semi and Papyrus, bringing them some food and double-checking Papyrus’ injuries, as well as giving him another healing session. The injuries had been serious, but all things considered, they were healing up nicely, especially with the amount of rest he was getting.

Gaster was supposed to go with her to the shelter, but that had not gone through.

Instead, around midmorning, a fully formed mouse of a Gaster blaster lowered from the rooftop of the building beside the junkyard, struggling under the weight of a bag full of snacks and carefully packaged leftovers.

--

Gaster was the first to notice, his eyes darting up to spot the tiny mouse skull struggling to lower the care package. He reached up to take it and then looked up.

He hadn’t formed his legs back yet, considering them a low priority even if it hurt his pride to admit so.

--

When Gaster noticed his double looking up, it took a little effort to not shy away from the attention. Still, as his mouse skull dissolved, he signed down, hoping the gesture was clear enough from where he was perched on the edge of the building, Mom with Pap and Dad, taking care of them. Everyone okay. You okay?

--

‘We’re okay.’ Gaster signed back, ‘Shouldn’t you be with her? Is this safe?’

--

Going back now, Gaster said, But wanted to bring food.

He looked a little embarrassed at being caught without permission, and a moment later disappeared over the rooftop again, careful to stay close to the center where he couldn’t be spotted from the streets below.

--

He smiled, but didn’t have enough time to sign a thank you before the kid vanished over the edge. Gaster moved back over to Sans, letting him to all the goodies before going straight back to work.

--

That was about how the days passed. Chxlxthx and Semi kept Papyrus comfortable as his injuries healed, and Gaster would slip away occasionally to make sure Sans and Gaster were kept supplied with home-cooked meals and status updates on the third part of their trio.

The handful of ‘police’ monsters were definitely more prominent than they had been before, and there was certainly a tension in the streets, but Gaster kept close to his parents and never strayed out except to visit Sans and his double for a few brief minutes.

They would come back, some day, Gaster told himself.

He’d been promised more books. And the tension wouldn’t last forever. So it would be fine to come back.

He kept telling himself that, and could only hope it were true.

--

A few days later and Sans’ voice came through the device that they had given to Semi. “hey. we’ve got everything in order over here. is it safe to come pick up pap?”

--

Semi looked up, startled, and fumbled with the radio. “Uh, yes, it’s fine. Come whenever.”

--

After a moment space ripped open and Gaster slid out. He still had no feet. Or legs.

--

Semi was a little startled by his appearance, still having thought of him as that monster-shaped void that had been welcome in his house.

When he arrived, Semi sat up a little straighter and said, “I’m sorry it happened like this.”

--

Gaster just sighed and shrugged while helping Papyrus stand. The few days of rest had done him well and he was a surprisingly fast healer. “I’m sorry too. Remember everything I told you.”

“Tell him I’ll try and find some of those books he likes and sneak them in.”

--

Semi smiled at that. “He’ll like that. And, really. This will calm down eventually. Once things are a little less hectic, it’d be good to see you all again.”

He paused just a moment to give Papyrus a careful hug. “See you later, kiddo. I really enjoyed talking to you these past few days.”

--

“YOU TOO. STAY SAFE.” Papyrus smiled at him and Gaster gave him a nod before he lead his son slowly through a portal and to the machine.

--

Gaster wasn’t around to watch them leave.

He was in the living room. Curled on the couch. Oblivious, and having never said ‘goodbye.’

--

Gaster felt really bad about that, but… they had to leave. It wasn’t safe. He would find those books and come back. He hoped the translations were enough for now.

They would end up back home and make their way to their house before every one of them, even Gaster, crashed.

He decided he wouldn’t tell his double.

--

The translations helped. They were a starting point, and that was more than Semi and Chxlxthx had access to before.

The translations helped. Chara arrived. Semi insisted on taking Gaster to the castle to meet them, rather than keeping their distance, as they might’ve in another timeline.

There was an earthquake. There was a crack in Gaster’s skull.

And there was a new end to his story, somewhere else, because someone had interferred.

--

Time worked weirdly when you were travelling between different times, or dimensions, whichever you would like to call them. Gaster never told his first double about his second, but he did decide to visit the kid again. He had found the whole series of those books he liked.

This time around he hadn’t brought Sans and Papyrus. It was too dangerous. It had taken a lot of convincing, but eventually he had won over after making a device they could communicate with similar to the one he used with Kidster.

The machine zipped through the void… and crashed into a hallway.

--

The hallway was wide enough and made of wood, so it probably didn’t do quite as much damage as the usual streets or reinforced walls did during landing, but the flip side to that meant that the hallway… lost the fight pretty badly.

Gaster stayed very, very still, pressing himself further into the crevice of the hall that hadn’t been torn apart.

He had a strong feeling the transportation majors were responsible for this, and he was absolutely going to kill them.

--

The handle on the door wiggled before Gaster threw it open and poked his head out. He looked at the damages and then over at the older yet younger Kidster.

His eye narrowed, “This… is a scene that has played out three times too many.”

He should really do about making something to chose where he landed.

--

“You!” Gaster said, jaw dropping and pointing at the other.

He only had one crack in his skull, and his hand holes weren’t quite as large as his doubles--and they were still jagged, uneven, gaping things, unlike the smoother holes his elder self had.

His voice was scratchy and weak, as if he were still relatively new to it.

--

“Me!” Gaster grinned and raised his arms up in excitement.

--

“Oh my god,” he said, not sure what else to say, and looked over the damage of the hallway. “You can’t land this thing.”

--

Gaster stepped out and assessed the damage as well. “... Yeah. I.. I need to fucking do something about that.”

An awkward pause.

“How much foot traffic does this hallway get?”

--

“A lot more than it usually would, after a crash like that,” Gaster said. He shuffled away from the wall and gestured for the other version to follow him. “....think you can get that inside my room so it isn’t stolen or anything?”

--

“Will it even fit in your room?” Gaster wondered, “I probably know a few places I could store it.”

He stepped inside it and pulled out a tiny chip that was needed to keep all of it running before storing it in his chest.

--

“Got a double-as-a-single,” Gaster said, then amended. “....as a medical suite. Uh. But yeah, if there are other places, that might be a good idea. I don’t really want people looking into my room and finding that.”

--

“Yeah one second.” Gaster turned and teleported away, going to the more barren parts of the underground in this world he knew of before deciding on one and teleporting back.

“This is going to take a lot out of me, so… I’ll be legless after this.”

Ugh.

He opened another portal under the machine and followed it through to the other side. There was another couple of minutes before he teleported back, his lower half little more than a base he slid around on. He turned and looked at the absolute mess he had made of the hallway.

“Perfect.”

“Let’s hide.”

--

Gaster grabbed his wrist and tugged him into a door… right in front of where the machine had left a massive rut in the floor.

Apparently, he’d been trying to get into his room when the crash occurred.

Once in his room--a sparse but spacious area--with the door shut and locked he opened the window and turned to his double and asked, “Can you make it to the roof, maybe? There’s an area hidden from sight.”

--

This was already such a far cry from the kid he knew it almost startled him. He was dragged into the room and then looked at the open window. “Sure. Meet you up there?”

Goopey or not, teleporting wasn’t hard when you were only teleporting yourself.

--

He nodded a moment later and was out the window. The area he’d mentioned was a small outcrop with a wall and roof brought together by unfortunate architectural planning, protecting it from sight while also being difficult to reach for most people.

He waited for the other Gaster to arrive.

--

A moment later and space ripped open, Gaster stepping out beside the other. He wasted no time grinning down at him now that the chaos was done with. “So! How’ve you been?”

He hoped his parents were alive. He hoped everything was okay. He hoped he hadn’t really fucked this kid’s life up.

--

“Um,” Gaster said, “Busy. I guess? That’s a pretty broad question. You?”

--

“Same old shit. Although-” He paused and reached into himself to pull out the collection of books, each one having a similar creepy drawing on the front to the one he had let him borrow all those years ago.

“-I guess you might be too old for these now.” He smiled a little awkwardly.

--

He was a little startled, but took the books carefully, eyes still wide. “Oh. Wow, geez, uh… thanks. I haven’t had time for much light reading lately, I’ll…”

He was distracted looking the books over, unused to surfacer books without water stains or blotted out pages.

He hesitated looking at the book that was his own so long ago. His hand shook a little.

“...I, uh… can, can you not pick the time you come out at, I guess?”

--

Gaster frowned a little sadly and settled into a sort of ‘sit’ with the base of his body.

“No. Every timeline moves differently. Some faster, some slower, some both. It’s… impossible to track, so far.”

… He had a feeling little had changed. He dreaded the worst. “... Are you holding up okay?”

--

Gaster smiled a little ruefully. “...I’m guessing that’s heading me off asking if you can send me back to them, huh?”

He put the books back in order and settled them on his lap, holding them carefully. Tightly, but carefully.

“I’m doing okay. Better than I could be doing.”

--

Gaster sighed sadly and hung his head. “I’m sorry, kid.”

It hadn’t mattered in the end.

--

“It’s… fine,” Gaster said. It wasn’t fine, but he had no idea how to respond, even after years of condolences.

He kind of wished they would just stop at some point.

“Really. I’ve been… I miss them, but I’m okay.”

--

He nodded, “Did the translations help?”

Gaster hoped the kid had at least been able to tell his mom he loved her.

--

Gaster nodded. “Yeah. Once they knew where to start, they… well, it wasn’t really perfect, but it was a lot more than before. It made learning things a lot easier, too. Once we figured writing out… it was a lot.”

He was smiling faintly.

“Thanks.”

--

Gaster smiled a little too. “Good. I’m glad I could help, even if it was just a little.”

--

Gaster nodded again. “Yeah.”

He went quiet for a moment, listening to the sound of people discovering the ruined hallway and trying to knock on his door to see if he were inside or not. He sighed. “Chara’s going to have a fun time trying to contact me with that huge rut, haha…”

--

His head very slowly raised, eyes widening. “What. Chara? Chara’s alive?”

--

Gaster looked a little startled. “...yes?? Wh-why?”

--

Gaster looked to go deep into thought. Hadn’t Gaster said Chara died when he was young? Right? Was he wrong? He was having a hard time remembering. Isn’t that… why he stabbed himself?

He honestly couldn’t remember. The smaller details were still lost on him, it wasn’t something they talked about at length.

“Wh-... Uh… Sorry, but, how did you get this.” He pointed to his own large crack in his skull.

--

“Oh, um,” Gaster lifted his head and ran his fingers over the crack carefully. “...during the earthquake I got… I got buried under the rubble. I couldn’t get my magic up in time to make a wall…”

--

Gaster paused to put his hands over his eyes and rub them a little. “Sorry, just… wasn’t expecting differences like this. I might be confused with the other timeline. It gets… hard to track, as you can imagine.”

He still wasn’t sure if he was remembering correctly. Maybe he wasn’t. “So. Chara. A friend?”

--

A bit more hesitantly, now that he knew the other was looking for differences, Gaster nodded. “Yeah. Dad took me up to meet them not long after they fell down here…”

--

Gaster opened his mouth to speak again but stopped himself. What if Chara was older? What if they lived? What if they never died? What if, in this world, the anomaly could never invade because Chara never left it?

It could mean this world was safe.

“I’m sorry. I’m being pretty insensitive right now, but… I have to know. How old is Chara?”

--

At this point, Gaster was just sort of going along with it. The insensitivity was still better than the terrified sympathy others gave him.

“My age, about. I think they said something like twenty?”

--

“Twenty!?” Gaster couldn’t stop himself.

Holy shit. HOLY SHIT. This… this world could be safe. It… it could be safe!

He swallowed hard and put his hands over his mouth. He was trying hard to not show it, but he looked…

… Extatic.

--

Gaster wasn’t really sure what was going on, or why Chara’s age would cause that kind of reaction, but he couldn’t really help it.

He laughed.

--

Gaster just… started to laugh too. This was amazing. He didn’t know if he had anything to do with it, but… this was completely and utterly amazing.

“I can’t believe it. I just… I can’t believe it. I’m sorry I’m sure this looks fucking ridiculous.”

He didn’t really realize that he was crying. It was just more black goo, but it seeped from the edges of his eyes and down his face.

--

“I had to hide the existence of an interdimensional traveler for my whole childhood, this isn’t ridicu….” He noticed the tears. “..lous… are… are you okay?”

--

Gaster leaned forward a little, unable to stop himself. “If… If Chara lives… then maybe this timeline will be safe from the anomaly I’m tracking.” He looked up at his double. “They usually die young. Them and the prince cross the barrier and die shortly afterwards.”

“If Chara is alive. If they live… this timeline might be safe…” His head hung. “I mean… they might die later in this timeline. I don’t know. But… this is already…”

It was an improvement. He didn’t know if he had anything to do with it, but it was an improvement.

He was still crying.

--

Gaster, if he’d been able to pale, would have done so. He closed his mouth tightly and listened. “...the buttercups. Is that how it was supposed to happen?”

He glanced away and back again. “...what would’ve happened to the undergound if they’d died??”

--

Gaster nodded, “The underground goes into despair. The Queen would have deserted the King after he declares war. He vowed to steal the soul of every human that fell into the underground and become a god to enact revenge.”

“Somewhere, in some timeline, Chara died as they usually do. But… they became something evil. They’ve been possessing the seventh child to fall into the underground and using their body to completely destroy timelines.”

“I’ve been tracking it for… a very long time. Trying to stop it. But if Chara is alive in this timeline, maybe it’s safe.” He smiled and his tears had finally stopped. “Maybe you don’t have to worry.”

--

Gaster took a moment to process that, and eventually emerged with a very intelligent, “Oh. Wow.”

He didn’t know what else to say. He hadn’t been entirely clear on why his double was dimension hopping at all, all those years ago, and he had long started believing they would never return. And now he was back again, handing him a copy of books he’d been attacked to a decade ago, and telling him this sort of stuff that happened…?

...He really didn’t know what to say.

--

Gaster laughed again, putting his head in his hands. “I’m sorry. This is just… a lot to take in for me. I’m sure it is for you too.” He inhaled deeply and looked at his double, smiling.

“So tell me what you’re up to now.”

--

“Um,” Gaster said, needing another moment to get onto the new track of the conversation. “I’m trying to get a degree so they’ll take me on at the royal lab, maybe. That’s honestly what’s taking up most of my time right now. I want to remake the… I want to find a way to make the underground more secure, and maybe contact the surface.”

--

Those were already goals different from the other double. “Remake the…?” He questioned, eyeing him.

--

He shifted a bit, glancing away. “...the earthquake caused a lot of damage because almost no buildings in that area were built to withstand vibrations like that. It was an older district. And then there’s the water levels and toxicity in waterfall, and..either we contact the surface and it goes well, or we remake the underground so we can actually survive down here. Either way.”

--

That definitely sounded familiar. Gaster nodded and grinned, “You can do it, don’t worry.”

--

Gaster smiled a bit back, “Thanks. I’m… trying to do it without getting strings pulled for me. The current royal scientist is still really against humans, even with Chara here, but he’s got some personal roots back in waterfall that I think I can get on his good side with, you know?”

--

Gaster nodded and rolled his eyes, “I think I know the fucker you’re talking about, yeah.”

--

Gaster raised what would’ve been his eyebrows. “...do I want to know?”

--

Gaster hesitated. He wondered if he told him it would stop Sans and Papyrus from existing. But… the way they treated Papyrus. It was either tell him and, maybe, never get to experience the love of his sons. But at the same time if he didn’t there was a chance Papyrus would be put through hell.

It wasn’t a choice he wanted to make.

“... No. Probably not.”

--

“...okay,” Gaster said, letting the topic drop.

He’d find out if he was going to find out, he supposed.

--

Gaster fell into a comfortable silence. He was still so happy to hear Chara, his eternal nemesis, was alive. It was strange.

He found himself looking at the other Gaster and just smiling dumbly.

--

He tried to glance over a few times, but always ended up finding his double’s smiling face and having to cover his own expression.

It wasn’t that smiling was an extremely foreign thing to him, not in this timeline, but watching the other doing it so constantly was cracking him up for some reason.

Finally, he gathered enough of himself to ask, “Are you staying long this time?”

--

He laughed a little, “What? A Gaster can’t be happy?”

“I can stay for awhile. The boys know where I am and we can still communicate easily.”

--

He nodded, grinning back a bit. “All right. Well, I don’t know how exciting it’ll be hiding in my room for a while, but hopefully college isn’t that boring for you.”

--

“It will be nice just to have a break.” Gaster smiled, “I can help you with what’s probably incredibly easy schoolwork.”

He laughed, “I used to be so against cheating in alternate timelines.”

--

Gaster snorted, “There’s no point if you tell me answers.”

He leaned back against the wall. “Cheating?”

--

“I’d still make sure you understand them.” He pushed himself to a stand, or more of a stand than before.

“Another Gaster once tricked me into spilling all my beans. But I’m glad I did.”

--

“Why? What happened?”

--

“It was the first Gaster I met, so I was terrified the same thing would happen. I told him not to build a time machine and he said he was going to, so I ended up giving him the plans to it so the same accident wouldn’t happen.”

“... Then ended up giving him the plans to the CORE. And helped him build it.”

“... Cross-dimensional cheating.”

--

“The CORE?” Gaster asked.

It sounded like his double was just really bad at keeping secrets, if you asked him.

--

“It powers the entire underground with geothermal energy. You might make it.”

Gaster no longer cared about letting his doubles in on that secret.

--

Gaster nodded thoughtfully, pulled out a pen and paper, and scribbled out a note on the corner. “So, where are my blueprints?”

--

“Where’s your fucking degree?” Gaster laughed.

“Nah I’m kidding. I don’t even have any degrees myself.”

--

“You don’t have any fucking degrees,” Gaster said, his laugh sounding like he’d really stopped caring anymore. “What’s the world coming to.”

--

“That just makes everything I do illegal, which automatically makes it more fun!” He waved his hands about.

--

Gaster shook his head. “How did anyone ever think we’d be good influences on each other.”

--

“Excuse me, apparently I’m a wonderful influence on other Gasters.” He pointed at him, “And other Gasters are a wonderful influence on me. We’re just that fucking amazing.”

--

Gaster shook his head again, laughing. “Well, to be fair, my experience is definitely that if you throw a bunch of fucked up people together, about half the time, they do somehow come out better, so you may be on to something.”

--

“Damn right I fucking am, I’m a goddamn genius.” Gaster pointed at him, grinning.

--

Gaster rolled his eyes, thinking maybe his double needed to calm himself a little. “I’m guessing it’ll be safe to head back to my room, now. You want to go? Or you can show me how you’re apparently talking with your kids across dimensions?”

--

There was little that could calm Gaster when he was riding a success-high.

“With this.” He pulled out the device, a replica of the one he used with his double. “You press this to send out code. Morse code. It’s a series of beeps. Conversations are limited, but it works.”

--

“Oh, that’s cool,” Gaster said, reaching out before he thought better of it.

--

Gaster didn’t mind letting him see it, handing the device over. It was simple, little more than a few lights and switches with a speaker on the front. “I gave one to my other double too. We’re… sorta each others safety net in a way. I wanted to make you one too, but things got pretty intense pretty fast.”

--

“It’s fine. Yeah, they, uh… was your Papyrus okay?” He took the device, but glanced up at his double instead of inspecting it closer. “...he was really upset, even though it was Gerson.”

--

“... Yeah, after awhile. It took him some time to come to terms that it wasn’t his fault. He wanted to stick around and help out. He healed fine. Pap is a strong kid.”

--

“Good. I’m glad. ...we were worried about him for a while,” Gaster said, fidgeting a bit with the device in his hands.

--

As he messed with the device a red light came on and a loud buzz emitted from the speaker.

Gaster’s eyes widened and he reached to take it back. “Oh. Oh shit. I have to go.”

--

“Um, okay,” Gaster said, hurriedly giving the device back to the other Gaster. “Are things okay??”

That was a stupid, stupid question. Things were clearly not okay.

He asked, regardless.

--

“No. That’s the alarm for the anomaly. The thing I’m hunting.” He quickly sent a few confirmation signals back and the red light and noise turned off. “The boys must have found it.”

He looked at his double, guilty for leaving so quickly for a second time. “It was nice seeing you again, kid. If only for awhile. Take care of Chara, alright?”

--

“Y-yeah, I will,” Gaster said, having a little trouble with the quick exit, but--but still. It was going to be okay. “You be safe though, okay?!”

--

“I will. You be safe too. Take care of yourself and don’t do anything too stupid.” He grinned at him before turning, vanishing through one point of reality to come out beside his machine. Despite it’s rough landing it was in perfect condition. He had installed those bumpers.