My Son!
This wasn’t how this was supposed to go down.
Obviously.
You were supposed to finish up your list, do what you could from home, and then head out without a glance back. Tooth didn’t deserve anymore of your bullshit adventures. No one did.
So sitting here in the library, a pile of books stacked on your lap, being pushed across the ground by a very chipper Tooth discussing possible theories on Determination and Soul Potential definitely threw you for a loop. You were still in debate on whether this loop was a good or a bad one.
It’s good. Definitely good.
It’s also kind of funny, if you think about it. Here, two years later, and you’re back in a library, researching the same shit you were back then, but in a completely different city, a nearly completely different body, with a completely different companion.
And a voice in your head, Gaster mocked, and you scrunched your face in response.
And a voice in your head. Not like you had it before, but now it wouldn’t ever go away.
I take offense to that.
No you don’t.
You released a huff of air as Tooth got you to a table; you lifted the pile of books from your lap, and spread them out on the table, choosing the most promising to be closest to you. Tooth sat across from you, grabbing a few of the books, and piling them in front of them in the same way. They looked at you with an encouraging look, and you smiled back. You could do this. It would just take some time. You huffed, and opened the first book, immersing yourself almost immediately.
...
Dud. Nothing that could be helpful, and some completely incorrect facts that made Gaster guffaw in your mind. You dropped it next to you, and picked up the next.
...
Dud. Same story, just written a little different. You dropped it on top of the first, and reached for the third.
...
The fourth...
...
The fifth...
...
The sixth...
...
“Maybe we’re researching the wrong thing?” Tooth pitched in. You looked up, and saw them in the same boat as you; they had about 4 books left from their pile: the rest were piled haphazardly on the floor. “We already know everything there is to know about Determination and Soul Potential Theory.” They mused, “It’s been practically proven already, but no one uses it for anything other than nifty knowledge and explanation of success... Maybe we should be examining something more closely related to you?”
You pointed at yourself and raised your eyebrows.
“Yeah, you!” Tooth said, pushing the books away and leaning forward. “Like. Why did YOU get Gaster in your head, ya know?”
I’ve explained this to you already.
Yeah. Yeah. You know. You lifted your hands, and quickly spelled out what you knew Gaster was about to say. Tooth followed your fingers for a moment, and then frowned. “YOu have to go slower, I can’t keep up with your lightning fingers,” They complained, and you slowed down. R-E-S-I-L-I-E-N-C-E. “Oh.” Tooth mused, chewing on their lip.
That was an odd sight to behold: a face only made of a mouth chewing on their lip. Heh.
You lifted your hands, and began to sign, but quickly stopped when Tooth frowned even more. Right. You had nightly lessons, so you were leaps and bounds past Tooth in learning this. You huffed, pulling out a piece of paper and pencil.
“I was worried that we wouldn’t get anywhere with Determination or the Soul Theory. I guess Resilience already coincides with the Soul Theory, but none of these books talk about the different abilities that souls could have; just the possibility that they could have abilities.” You scrawled, and then pushed the paper to Tooth. As they read, you pushed the book you had just finished reading over the edge of the table, onto the pile of books by your left wheel.
We already know you have an ability, Gaster spoke. You could TASTE the impatience in his voice. Instead of looking up Soul Theory, lookup Resilience.
“What if we looked up Resilience instead of Soul Theory?”
Goddamnit it was like you had a parrot. You rolled your eyes, huffing through your nose and pulling the paper back. “There are none,” You scrawled, “I already checked last night online. Zip. Nilch. Nada. None. Absolute-”
“Okay okay okay!” Tooth interrupted you by grabbing the paper from your hands and pulling it away from you.
We get it. There aren’t any. Gaster finished for Tooth, even though they couldn’t hear him.
“So,” Tooth paused for a moment, “We just... do our own research?” They provided. You paused, looking up at them, raising an eyebrow. “You know, like... Do the stuff that they did to figure out what Determination did.” They shrugged, and leaned down, searching through the reject pile of books. After a moment, they pulled one out, and placed it back on the table, pushing it toward you. “This one is the most recent account of the Determination Research that happened about 6 months after you went under.”
You looked at the book for a moment, eyes trailing to the author. You gasped; so did Gaster.
“Apparently, Dr. Serif began researching it extensively after a friend of his got extremely wounded. Did a full analysis and scientific study. The Ambassador worked hand-in-hand with him too.” Tooth explained, but you were barely listening to him. Instead, you ran your fingers over the front of the book in awe; Gaster was silent in your mind. The author, Sans Serif, was printed on the front of the book. He smiled at the camera, holding a red soul in his hand, the Ambassador of Monsters proudly standing next to him. “His research followed the path completely opposite of Dr. Alphy’s, actually. Instead of recreation, he focused on extraction and control. Proved the Multiverse Theory as true along the way as well.”
Sans. That was Sans!
THAT’S MY BOY! Gaster nearly screamed in your head, and you felt the most powerful wave of pride erupting from your very core. MY BOY WROTE A BOOK! You huffed in bubbly laughter, weird squeaking erupting from your useless vocal chords. Tooth looked up, mouth agape as you stared at the book in glittering wonder. You looked up at Tooth, mouth agape as you continued to laugh. You quickly finger-spelled, “SANS!” Which only brought a confused look from Tooth.
Right. Tooth never formally met Sans.
“I’ve met him!” You signed, keeping it simple both in your excitement, and for Tooth. “Friend! Son!”
“He’s your son!?!?”
“No! Yes!”
“What?”
“FRIEND! Gaster son!”
“Okay! He’s your friend, and... Gaster’s...son?”
“YES!”
“Oh my god.”
“Get book.” You signed, plopping the book in your lap, unlocking your wheels, and pushing away from the table. You turned, wheeling yourself to the front of the library, Tooth trailing behind in a bewildered haze.
_______________
_______________
“My son changed the WORLD!” Gaster paced back and forth, practically emitting light he was so excited. You laughed as you watched him, kicking your feet back and forth and just enjoying his fatherly pride. Gaster turned to you, and gestured to himself. “MY son! My SON!”
“Your son,” you laughed, agreeing with him. He paused, beaming at you, and then continued to pace.
“I can’t- I just- It’s my son! To think!” And suddenly, Gaster was sitting next to you, looking out into nothing just as you were. You jumped. “My son! Changing the world!” He gestured at nothing, fingers splayed and wiggling.
Oh my god.
He’s adorable.
You playfully pushed your shoulder into his, “Your son.”
“My son!” He repeated, sounding like an amazed, but broken recorder. He was standing now, pacing once more. You nearly fell over when he disappeared, but you caught yourself with a hand, looking up at him. You’d be irked, but he was looking down at you with glittering eye sockets, and he was practically quivering in excitement. You decided to roll with it, lying down on nothing and raising an amused eyebrow at him.
He seemed to realize his sporadic movements, and a blackish blush painted the bridge of his face. He looked away for a moment, and then found his way next to you, lying down. “I’m sorry,” he started, but you waved a hand.
“Your son proved the Multiverse theory, and found a way to control and harness time travel for the evolution of both Human and Monster kind.” You interrupted him, “You have every right to be excited.”
“MY SON!” Gaster shouted, hands shooting upward to the “sky.” You laughed, rolling on your side to face him, looking at his elated face. You had ‘lived’ with this man for over 2 years, but it wasn’t often that you got to see Gaster like this. He was normally so composed, calm, articulate. He was the one who would chuckle at your excitement. To see him so proud, so loud, so childishly happy....this was a gift in itself.
You could feel your eyes soften as you looked at him, and a peaceful smile settled on your lips. Two different ideas tickled in the back of your mind, and as Gaster turned his head to look at you, you humored them.
One: Gaster had to see his son. Not from your body, but face to face. Gaster had to hug his son, and tell him how proud he was in person, and you were willing to do anything to get that to happen.
Two: You loved Gaster. Truly, honestly, full heartedly loved him. You loved his smile, his wit, his excitement, his impatience and worry, his pouting anger, his snarky comments. You loved everything about him.
His own smile softened when you made eye contact, and his voice petered off as his arms dropped to his side. He reached forward a bit, and found your hand, entwining your fingers together.
Yes. You loved this man. Romantically or platonically, it didn’t matter: you were willing to die for W.D. Gaster.
“He could help you, you know,” Gaster squeezed your hand, pulling you from your thoughts. You blinked. “My son discovered Determination, found a way to measure souls with Determination Soul Traits, and track their movement through time, making it possible to halt negative time travel and stabilize the timeline.” He turned on his side now, so both of you were lying, facing each other.
This happened quite a bit in the two years you lived with him here; you’d just lie, facing each other and chatting constantly. You’d tell Gaster about your life before he possessed your mind, and he’d tell you about his life before he was ripped from time and space. It normally ended in him telling you stories about his sons, and you laughing at their silly antics and calling Gaster a great father. He would normally flush black at this, and either end the conversation, or tell you that you’d probably be a great parent one day as well, “What, with how patient you are with me.” The conversation would peter out after this, and one of you would normally cough, and retreat.
But now, it felt a bit different. The light fluttering in your chest and stomach whenever you had these conversations with Gaster had changed; it felt deeper now, like a soft candle burning steadily in your heart, warming your very core and making you feel... at home.
“Sans could probably do the same thing with Resilience.” Gaster continued, lifting your conjoined hands from by your side to between you and Gaster’s face. “He could help,” Gaster reiterated, the little lights in his eyes shimmering.
You believed him, and nodded softly. “I’ll try,” you promised, and he smiled, leaning forward till he could press his forehead to yours.
“My son!” He whispered, and you huffed again.
“Your son.”