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Boink! Life is Better With You Pt. 24

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Their first day of school came too quickly, and Doc was shaking.

He still shook. He still shook badly sometimes, but--he also could recover more quickly, now. It didn’t affect his magic. He considered that manageable.

He’d been living in his homeworld with the King for years, not the few days Gaster had survived there before the King’s death. Doc’s standards of recovery were… they were different than his friend’s.

So he didn’t know if he was sick at the idea of him being around children, trying to heal them, or if it was nerves.

Either way, he shook as they headed out the front door (hesitated a moment, but hid it well enough from the outside) and headed towards school.

Quietly, without asking, Sans nosed his way out the door and tottered behind them.

--

Gaster didn’t bother at all to hide his hesitance stepping through the door, his hand always lingering on the frame and his eyes not blinking as he passed through it.

He looked at Sans after catching him in the peripheral of his vision. “Sans? Wh-why are you coming? We’re going to work.”

Sans always came with them outside when they made small errands, but… they would be at school all day.

--

Sans gave a confident, confirming nod. He straightened up, front paws coming off the ground and slipping inside his hoodie pocket as his bones creaked and shrunk, and soon a small bipedal skeleton was trotting along beside them instead, clothed in a hoodie that swamped him like a dress, pulling a ziplock bag of popcorn out of his hoodie pocket, opening it, and popping some into his mouth.

“yep.”

--

Gaster blinked and glanced at Doc. “... Does this mean the challenge to make you like school is an actual thing?” He smiled.

--

Sans shrugged. Ate some more popcorn.

“nah. i’m just gonna find a new place to sleep, mostly. you stay in one place most of the day there, right?”

Doc was grinning, though, and nodded his head at Gaster’s question.

Even if Sans wasn’t exactly a registered student, that didn’t mean they couldn’t try to get him to enjoy school.

--

“Y-yeah. I have the same classroom as before. We won’t be g-going much of anywhere today. Doc will be sitting in and meeting the students mostly.” Gaster explained. He would be filling out paperwork in the meantime but that could be done in his classroom easily enough.

Being friends with the King got out a little wiggle room with things like that. They were both allowed to take things very slow and stay together for the first day. If things got intense tomorrow when they were separated they could always come to each others rooms.

“You know… e-everyone is going to want to talk to you.” He said, smiling down at Sans. “E-everyone wants to talk to the new kid.”

--

“hah,“ Sans said, zipping the popcorn back up and shoving it back in his pocket. “good thing i’m not the new kid.”

With that, he drew his fingers across his lips like a zipper and seamlessly grew back into his four legs, trotting along with his pointed skull held up and his tail sweeping the sidewalk behind him.

--

Ah well, he tried.

Gaster just rolled his eyes a little and shook his head, walking along with Doc and Sans to the school.

Passed the alley they had stumbled through the first time.

It was still early and the students wouldn’t be arriving for another few minutes, well enough time to get inside and get settled. Gaster approached the doorway, opening it and peering inside before stepping in and holding it for the others.

Inside was bright and cheerful. Cabinets housing trophies and photos lined the walls along with drawings and school projects.

The only problems were the doors. There were lots and lots of doors. Thankfully they would only need to enter one more.

--

...a lot had changed since he’d first stumbled out of that alley, so many months ago. Over a year ago?

Over a year ago.

...he couldn’t bring himself to regret much of it at all.

Sans came in first and immediately began exploring the area, shuffling around and poking his nose into every place it could reach, gleefully discovering the locations of all vending machines and the teacher’s lounge (and it’s fridge) after a bare few moments.

Doc came in last, glancing around slowly, taking it all in for the first time.

There were lots of doors, yes, but.. The hallways were bright and welcoming.

He wouldn’t ever mistake them for the castle’s stone walls.

He felt a little braver.

He turned to his friend and asked, “I guess, where to now?”

--

“S-Sans! Get out of the teacher’s lounge!” Gaster called after him as he watched the lumbering skeleton totter into a doorway he recognized before turning back to his friend.

“Just a few d-doors down.”

He walked along the hallway and stopped at his door, the front plastered with little cut-outs of beakers, atoms, and runes made by the children. Slowly he opened the door. Flicked on the light.

A quiet classroom filled with desks, one large one at the front with ‘Dr. Gaster’ on the nametag. Another, slightly larger desk than the ones the children used was sat beside it with the paperwork Doc would need to fill out.

“Here we are…”

--

Sans back tottered out of the teacher’s lounge a moment later, following the two further down the hall with a ketchup packet he probably hadn’t had before between his teeth.

Doc poked his head in behind his friend, looking around slowly and taking the room in.

He propped the door open securely. He’d brought a doorstopper from home, just in case the classroom didn’t have one, and it was paying off now.

“...it’s nice,” he said, glancing around at the small desks, at the wall decorations.

Sans came in behind them, took one sweeping look around the room, and meandered towards the large desk, flopping down on the floor in front of it and making himself comfortable for the long haul.

--

“That’s everything you have to fill out there.” Gaster said, gesturing to the desk, then looking down at Sans as he set his briefcase on his own desk.

“... They’re going to ask a lot of questions about Sans.” He looked at Doc, wondering what to tell them.

--

Doc looked over the papers a moment before pausing at Gaster’s question. “...the kids? Or the adults?”

One group’s curiosity would be satisfied much more easily than the other’s.

--

“The kids.” Gaster said. The adults would mostly be too polite to really ask.

--

“He’s your over-protective nephew,” Doc said, “He was very concerned after our ordeal and since he’s very strong and athletic he’s decided to hang around us in case we need help with anything. But he’s mostly there to be our moral support. And you know what, kids, you can help us too by working very hard and here’s a secret passphrase that helps us feel a little better, and if you toss a little food at Sans, you can help him stay strong too.”

(Sans wagged his tail slightly. He fully approved of this plan.)

--

Gaster smiled, “Okay. We’ll say that then.”

He leaned over the desk to peer at Sans. “I hope you’re ready for a lot of belly rubs.”

Nephew or not there was no mistaking he looked like a big dog.

A really big bone dog with sharp teeth.

--

Okay.

Okay, Sans admitted it.

He’d lost the bet.

School sounded great so far.

He gave the best grin his pointy teeth allowed and rolled onto his back to show he was extremely ready.

He wasn’t a dog, but damnit, you didn’t have to be a dog to like belly rubs.

--

Gaster smiled and looked at Doc before standing and setting about getting ready for class.

Today wouldn’t be much. Mostly answering questions of his students, talking with them about some simple things. Just getting back into the swing of things.

After a few minutes bustling could be heard from outside as the children began to file in and go to their classrooms.

The first student arrived, a young fish monster. “Mr. Gaster!” They beamed, rushing over towards the desk but stopping quickly at sight of Sans.

“Woah.”

--

Sans looked up at the sound of the intruder, cocking his head slightly at them before apparently deciding they weren’t anything to worry about and setting his head back down with a big huff.

Nothing to see here, kids. A big, dog-looking bone monster in a hoodie.

Doc watched from over his paperwork, smiling politely and not totally sure what to do, just stepping back so Gaster could handle it.

--

“Oh don’t mind him, Neme. He’s just here to bring me s-some peace of mind.” Gaster said, grinning.

The young fish monster bent down, peering at Sans closely. “... You got a monster dog?” They honestly weren’t sure what it was.

He laughed, “That’s my nephew.”

The girl blushed as much as she was able. “Oops. Sorry.”

--

Sans turned and gave her a toothy grin. It maybe looked a little menacing, but he quickly followed it up with leaning out and giving her ankle a gentle bump with his snout.

Doc smiled a little, adding quietly, “He looks scary, but he’s really not. He just likes knowing we’re both okay.”

--

“Oh.” Neme said, looking down at the strange dog-nephew.

“... Hi!” She beamed, reaching down to pet his head. “What’s his name?”

“Sans.” Gaster said, thinking back on the time when he had thought they would need to change it. When that had been their biggest worry. “It runs in the family.” He said before the other could question why he had the same name as his own son.

“Ohhh, okay!” The girl smiled.

--

Sans bumped his head up into her hand, making an agreeable noise and tilting his head to help guide her to where he wanted to be petted most. He warbled to her, the closest to a greeting he could get in his current form.

Doc nodded, smiling a little more easily as he watched Neme and Sans get along well.

“My side of the family didn’t get the naming memo at all, actually. It’s a little funny,” he said, thinking it might be best to introduce it since the child seemed to already know Gaster’s kids. How many people did, come to think of it? “He’s got a brother called Paps, too. He might be coming to join school here in a year or two.”

There. Easy enough. Just talk about them like normal kids.

...he hoped he wasn’t overstepping by talking to Gaster’s student?

Sans bumped her hand again.

--

“Cool!” Neme said, not looking up from petting Sans. As few more students filed in with similar fashion, all of them saying hello to their teacher and welcoming back before asking about Sans and petting him.

It was like bringing a dog to school. Kids loved dogs and whatever questions they had for their teacher about what happened was redirected to Sans, asking what his name was each time, why he was wearing a hoodie, and where he had come from.

Gaster was thankful for the distraction.

--

Doc watched quietly, letting Gaster handle most things while the students filed in. One or two kids he could handle, but anymore, and he was… very unsure what to do.

Sans, however, seemed to be in his element.

Any time a child got anywhere close to asking how his dads were doing, he would target that one next to bump with his nose, distracting them and spending maybe a little more energy than useful flopping over and pawing at things.

He also had an uncanny sense for where the kids might be keeping their lunches, and while he had absolutely no intention of taking their food, it was always a great way to make one run off squealing and laughing.

All in all, a good way to kick off his new tenure.

(Because as far as Sans was concerned?

He had just become tenured.)

--

The first class was easy enough. It was full of young kids who just wanted to ask questions, a lot of them being redirected to ask about Sans, but a few did manage to sneak in about how he was doing, or that he didn’t look very well.

All in all he looked great compared to how he had been nearly half a year ago, but… well, compared to before?

Yeah. He looked pretty terrible.

The bags under his eyes never went away, his hands had a small tremor, and he still stuttered even if it was mostly under control. His posture had changed drastically too, hunched and a little unsure of things.

But that was okay, because it was still better.

The students settled in their seats still asking questions for another while before Gaster started asking them questions about how they had been doing and what they had learned in his absence. Today there was no lesson plan. He was just… reacquainting himself with his students.

--

Doc settled in with his paperwork, filling it out quietly behind Gaster’s desk and listening to the students talk.

This was… different from what he was used to.

...not just about school. About being a healer.

He was pretty sure this wasn’t how most healers in this world entered a schooling system, either, but, all the same, here he was. Listening to the ones who would in all likelihood one day be his patients, talking about their parents and their pets and the things they’d done since they last saw their teacher and the caves they’d seen and the songs they’d heard.

He’d never gotten that before. Not beforehand. Not during the war, where he’d patch them up and send them off again, either healed or in bags. Not like in the castle.

Nothing like in the castle.

….he’d never really been able to know most of his patients before, except when he was a kid in the butcher’s and their regulars would come in with a gash up their leg, asking to be sewn up, since butchers already dealt with so much meat--human or pigs, all the same in the end. And they’d give them a beer and sew him up and let them sit in the corner the rest of the day groaning with their friends while they recovered a bit.

The only thing since then had been those handful that first helped him learn what would one day be his specialty.

And now kids.

He listened, and tried to remember their names.

--

After answering most of their questions himself and getting the more painful stuff, for the moment, out of the way, he glanced back at Doc to give him a warning before turning to the class again.

“As s-some of you may know my cousin Doc will be one of the new nurses here soon. He might be n-new to the area but he isn’t new to tricky little kids trying to fake sick!” Gaster grinned and tapped his nasal bone. It was a lie, but he wanted to give his friend a little head start. Kids could be manipulative and tricky when they wanted to be and plenty tried to fake one thing or another to get sent home.

“S-so no funny business. He’ll see right through you.”

--

Doc looked up at the sound of his name and gave the kids a hesitant smile and a wave, but didn’t say anything else. Not sure what he was supposed to do at this point. Hopefully that was all the input that was expected of him?

--

Doc had been mostly ignored by that point save for the occasional question, but this had been Gaster’s element and he had taken most of them. Now he was letting his friend take the heat.

He needed to know about his patients, after all.

“Where did you live before moving here?”

“Are you married?”

“Why’d you move to the capitol?”

“How old are you?”

--

He looked flustered, and wasn’t very good at hiding it. Fear, pain, anguish? Clamped down in an instant. Small children taking an interest in him? Oh dear.

“The, the other side of Ebott,” he said. “I’m not, uh, not married, but I’ve got two kids. My cousin was lonely and I needed some help raising my two, s-so we decided we’d move in with him. I-I’m twenty-nine,” he said, managing a nervous smile by the end.

--

More questions were flung at him before Gaster raised his hands to settle them. “Quiet, quiet. Class is almost up and you’ll need to head to the next one so you can ask him if you ever run into the halls, alright?”

The children started to busy themselves gathering their things and a moment later a smaller bell rang to signal the end of the period. As the first set of students filed out Gaster smiled to Doc.

“Good job.”

--

Doc smiled back, breathing out a sigh and letting his shoulders droop a bit.

“...how many more of that?”

Sans got up once the kids filed out, shaking himself a bit and stretching, looking over to see if the Gasters needed him for anything.

--

“Only a few.” Gaster said, smiling, “Different age groups. There’s one more set of young ones before we get the older kids. Those might be a bit more of a handful.”

He gave Sans the go-ahead that he was fine if he wanted to wander around.

--

Sans just wandered the classroom again, poking around in places he hadn’t really seen fully yet and such.

Doc nodded. “And the older kids?”

--

Gaster frowned a little, “... Some might be nosy. A few are bad eggs. Just not very nice kids.” He shrugged, “I’ve dealt with them since they were very young so I… sh-shouldn’t? Have any problem…”

That was then though and this was now.

--

Doc nodded, reaching out to put his hand on his friend’s shoulder reassuringly, missing the way Sans perked up a little at that information.

--

Gaster smiled at his friend, then looked at Sans. “W-what is it?”

--

Sans shook his head and came trotting back to his place at the front of Gaster’s desk, not much longer before the first of the next group of students arrived.

--

The next group was young, perhaps a little younger than the previous group. It carried on very similar to the one before; asking if they could pet Sans and how Gaster was doing and who Doc was and how he felt.

Gaster deflected any uncomfortable questions just like before, asked them how they had been while he was gone recovering.

Each class lasted an hour or so before the bell would ring.

--

This class passed a little easier, now that Doc knew what to expect. He told his lies and smiled to the kids when he was mentioned, and watched as Sans fell into his usual doze in front of Gaster’s desk.

It almost felt manageable.

--

The next class was where things would perhaps get complicated. They were older. Teenagers.

Gaster sat behind his desk and smiled at them as they came in. They didn’t flock to pet Sans like the others, a group of girls tiptoeing around him to get to the one side of Gaster’s desk and talk to him.

“My mom told me what happened. I can’t believe you fell into the abyss!”

“Are you sure you’re okay to teach? You look really tired.”

“Is that your cousin?”

--

Teenagers were something Doc had absolutely no experience in.

Where he was from, you were a child, then you were an adult.

There wasn’t a strange in between stage where you were supposed to be…. Neither, but not both?

He glanced towards Gaster when the question landed on his counsin-ness, and hoped Gaster’s experience with these kids would be enough to take care of it.

Sans’ legs curled a little tigher underneath him.

--

“Y-Yes that’s my cousin Doc. He’s going to be starting as a nurse s-soon.” Gaster said, watching as more students filed in.

“Did you make, like, a service dog or something?” One asked, glancing down at Sans.

“No, that’s my nephew.” He said, voice a little more curt than it had been with the younger children.

“Oh. Oh I’m really sorry.” The girl blushed nervously, trying to hide behind her friends.

--

Sans made a sound that was unmistakably a cackle. Doc sighed and shook his head, giving an apologetic look to the nervous girl.

“It’s okay, he does it to himself at this point. He’s just very protective after everything that’s happened.”

--

After that the trio of girls started on more light-hearted topics, mostly asking about Doc and his boys.

“Mom says your kid looks just like Papyrus did when he was little.” One said, looking over at Doc.

--

Doc nodded, “Yeah. We all have a strong resemblance. Gaster and I look very similar, too. It might be a skeleton thing.”

He hoped that brushed it off simply enough. And no one questioned why one of his sons was a quadruped or shapeshifter.

--

The girls nodded, having sort of been thinking that but… y’know. Didn’t want to be racist.

Their gossip switched over to completely unrelated things and they eventually made their way to their desks as the rest of the class filed in. It was only then did Gaster stand and walk around to the front of his desk, leaning against it, legs bridging over Sans as he waited for the students to settle.

“S-so… I’m sure you guys have some questions. I’ll try to answer some of them.”

Just get it out of the way.

--

Sans made himself a little smaller, curling up a little tighter so Gaster wouldn’t have to worry about bumping him or anything. Though, with his bulk, he was still pretty large.

The kids shifted a little glancing towards each other, before one finally raised their hand and asked, “What was it like down there?”

--

“Dark.” Gaster answered simply, “N-no light reached down there. Dark and c-cold.”

He hated lying to his students, but… he wasn’t about to let anyone outside of his very close circle of friends and family know what had really happened.

--

Doc looked down, fidgeting with his pens and keeping quiet. Sans stayed where he was.

A little murmur passed through the students and they shifted again, all clearly curious but not wanting to be the next who asked.

--

Gaster looked out at the rest of the students, arms still having a sort of constant tremble as they folded in front of him.

“I’m s-sure most of your parents have already talked about it with you, so there probably isn’t much I can a-add. All that matters is we’re f-fine now and recovering.”

Hopefully that would be well enough for them to leave it alone.

--

“So are you gonna stutter forever?” a monster from the back called.

Sans sat upright.

--

Ah yes. There it was.

“M-maybe.” He said, giving the child a pointed look and a frown. He gripped his hands together to stop them from trembling more than usual. “It isn’t as b-bad as it was when we made it back.”

--

“But why would just being in the dark for a while be that bad?”

They’d barely gotten the sentence out when Sans began to growl.

--

Gaster’s frown grew. He let Sans growl, didn’t stop him from that much. It brought him a little bit of comfort.

“N-near death experiences have effects like stuttering and sh-shakes.”

He wasn’t wrong. It just wasn’t the right near-death experience. The King probably hadn’t been ready to kill either of them, but… but maybe what he did was even worse.

At least death came with an end. Intimidation and manipulation through torture could go on forever.

--

Doc stared down at his desk. Didn’t dare lift his head.

Sans kept glaring the student down, but whether it was his glare, the growl, or Gaster’s words that finally made the kid shrink, he didn’t know.

He didn’t care.

So long as it was understood.

--

Gaster waited a few more moments before sighing and continuing on.

He didn’t make sweet smalltalk with these students, not after that. Instead he asked them what they had learned while he was gone, where he would need to pick up where he left off.

Even if he was really only working two days a week to start.

--

The students mumbled their answers, and very slowly, Sans laid back down.

Rested his head on his paws.

Watched them all.

Doc quietly began scribbling on his papers.

He couldn’t wait for this class to end.

--

It would feel like it lasted a lot longer than the others just because of the tension in the room.

Gaster tried his best to lighten the mood. Tried to smile.

Looked a little more tired and beaten than before, couldn’t hide it as well as he might have before all of this mess.

Eventually the bell rang.

It signaled the end of the day and the students would file out.

Gaster didn’t sit back down on his desk yet, watching as they left, telling them he would see them tomorrow.

--

Sans spotted the one who had asked the uncomfortable question.

Stood when they stood.

Trotted towards him, only hesitating when Doc called out to him, then continuing forward anyway.

--

“Sans.” Gaster said sternly as well, then frowned and looked at Doc before pushing off his desk to follow.

“Sans.” He said, a little more stern.

--

Sans stopped, grumbling a little, then shuffled onto his hind legs once there was no one else in the room but his dads, him, and the kid staring at him with wide eyes as he shrank and his angles grew softer. As his forelimbs grew into hands.

“i’m just gonna ask why he thought that was even okay to ask. since uncomfortable questions are clearly perfectly okay.”

--

“Just let it go, S-Sans.” Gaster said, eyeing the kid who had asked him that question in the first place, daring him to question why his nephew had just shapeshifted or anything that was happening, really.

He didn’t say it was okay what the teen had asked, because it wasn’t, but he didn’t hold grudges over his students.

--

Sans frowned as much as his skull structure allowed.

“i’m not gonna fight him, geez,” he said, eyes unamused. He looked back over at the other kid. “just think about other’s feeling’s some more, alright, buddy?”

It wasn’t really a threat, but he sure hoped it stuck in his mind for a while.

--

It probably would, if not just because he had witnessed a shapeshifting skeleton saying the words.

Only after the boy had nodded and excused himself did Gaster sigh and let his head hang.

--

Sans slunk back down to his preferred form and curled up next to Gaster, head knocking against his leg while Doc walked around the desk to get a bit closer.

“...you going to be okay?”

--

“Y-... yeah.” Gaster said, reaching down to pat Sans’ head. Didn’t really look at either of them.

“Just… f-feeling a little self-conscious, is a-all.”

He still wasn’t comfortable with his stutter, but he had gotten to the point where he could ignore it for the most part.

--

Sans just stayed where he was. Letting Gaster pat him. Hoping being nearby was helping some.

Doc just nodded and reached out to rub Gaster’s shoulder.

“....not the worst first day, though, right?”

--

He smiled a little.

“Y-yeah… It wasn’t too bad.” His eyes finally lifted to look at Doc. “It will get b-better.”

It had been getting better pretty constantly for months.

--

He smiled back faintly, reassured by the words.

From his perspective, any direction in this world was up--but he wanted his friend to take part in that too. He wanted to be able to enjoy it, the safety. And the reassurances helped.

“Yeah. Yeah, it will. Want to drop these papers off and go watch the news with our kids a while?”

--

“Th-that sounds nice.” Gaster said, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before standing straighter and rounding his desk to grab his own paperwork.

He would finish it at home.

--

Doc nodded and gathered up what he’d managed to finish. They dropped it off at the proper are, Sans shuffling languidly behind them and occasionally letting out wide yawns.

He’d nose doors open before either Gaster could reach the handles. Give lazy half-lidded warning glances towards anyone who looked a little too long towards them.

All in all, they had no trouble dropping the papers off and exiting school.

--

The rest of the year was… good.

Gaster never did stop stuttering. Never did stop trembling, but he stepped through doorways a little more confidently once he had developed smaller, portable machines with Doc.

Everyone was required to carry one at all times. It was only slightly larger than a phone, so it wasn’t too much of a hinderance.

Gaster took up teaching full time again. His sons never did leave the capitol after that, both of them getting jobs of their own and sticking around to help raise their alternate selves and make sure their dad was alright.

He still had nightmares.

Sometimes he had to call out of work for bad days and sometimes nothing was needed to trigger them. He would just wake up in a panic and be unable to calm down. Sometimes he would be doing something as simple as making dinner and just burst into tears or shake so badly he couldn’t hold a knife.

He had stopped caring where he slept as long as he didn’t sleep alone. On the worse nights he would sleep with the younger Sans, leaning over him and resting against him in a similar way he had with Endogeny back in his friend’s world.

It lessened the strange phantom burning sensation that sometimes came at random.

--

Doc would never leave the world he was born in.

Not really.

He carried it with him in a quiet way. In the little fear he felt each time someone snuck up behind him. In the phantoms he saw out of the corner of his eye. In the quiet anticipation of the day a child would one day come to his office, maimed beyond repair, and someone behind him with a low voice saying he could improve them and help all monster kind advance. In the way he endured each time the canine unit of Snowdin appeared on the news, and how he just couldn’t laugh off their sweet bumbling the way he knew most monsters affectionately did.

He would always be a stranger. But he would always be a guest.

It got a little easier to watch Asgore approach him, over time. So long as his shirts were floral and his demeanor easy, so long as Asgore never touched his shoulders, never touched his face, Doc could smile up at him and ask how his flowers were doing, if it would be alright if Sans and Papyrus could come over and look at the sun.

Sans never formally entered school.

He also never really left it.

While Doc grew comfortable in the nurse’s office, where he only ever had to speak to one person at a time, Sans found a place at the foot of Gaster’s desk, quietly accepting the title of service-nephew as the understanding slowly spread that he was there for days when Gaster needed someone to lean on him, or growl at kids who were behaving just a bit too cruelly.

He wasn’t really about letting cruelty stand.

He also wasn’t really about standing.

So most of his days, he spent lying down.

Eventually, school grew routine enough and he grew comfortable enough that he would, in fact, sleep most of the day. There was a bowl in front of his napping place with a little paper sign beside it (in his own handwriting--something which most kids didn’t believe, since he didn’t really appear to have thumbs, but a few smart cookies pointed out you didn’t actually need thumbs to write--) that said, “will stop snoring 4 food.”

(he didn’t snore on test days and when the subjects grew tough. And he knew when the subjects would grow tough. He’d memorized most of the stuff by now. He wasn’t that mean, no matter what the kid who’d first insulted Gaster’s stutter might say.)

His cellphone-sized dimensional travel machine, unfortunately, did not agree with his hoodie pocket. It refused to stay in, and after a few very rapid drops and one broken machine, the Gasters had--woe--strapped it to his neck.

He’d been a little insulted.

His elder version had been the only one who could really soothe that indignity.

The older Sans had figured out how to strap a bottle of ketchup and straw to the collar.

Needless to say, Sans had grown rather content in his life in the science classroom, giving the lazy eye to anyone who wondered aloud how a skeleton got a quadruped nephew, and napping.

And when Papyrus started school, fully integrating himself in their new world?

He would be right there underfoot to be tripped over constantly, so his little brother would never be alone.

--

If anything the horrors they had gone through only strengthened Gaster’s friendship with Asgore. He understood why Doc was so nervous, had eventually been told that wearing anything other than his robes helped, and always made sure they were given plenty of warning before he stopped by.

Never once did he touch Doc like he did with Gaster.

He would drop by now and then to take the two young ones for a day at the castle, a day to be treated to tea and cakes and the occasional new toy while frolicking in the one room where the sun could shine and natural flowers could grow.

It did wonders for his mood.

Asgore smiled a little more. Stood a little less hunched, enjoyed life a little more now that he didn’t feel so alone. Now that the castle occasionally had the sounds of playful children again.

Things would never really be perfect, but they would be good.

Younger Sans and Papyrus would grow up with two loving fathers, a pair of brothers always looking out for them, and a big fluffy uncle who loved to spoil them when they went for visits.

Gaster would get to be with his own two kids far more often than he had before. He cherished their company and Asgore’s tenfold, and he would be nothing without Doc helping him through the worse days and being there to talk to and smile with on the good.

--

There were days when Doc fell asleep to nightmares.

(But every morning he woke among friends.)

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