Tripping Through Space and Time

by Nanenna

Grillby decided to visit early post-industrial Earth for a calm, relaxing, short visit. Instead he finds a monster who is clearly just as out of place as he is.

Based on this post: nanenna. tumblr post/ 172970052255/ mercy-run-saturnwonder
Specifically Mercy's comment. So this fic is dedicated to Mercy_Run, hope you like it! And while it is inspired by Dr. Who, I just can't see Grillby as anything like the Doctor, so I made several references to Dr. Who but no direct ones.

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Grillby straightened his bow tie one last time before opening the door and stepping out. He turned to take one last look at his craft, disguised as a door in a wall. Huh, must have landed right between two buildings to pull that off. Grillby looked forward again just as he started walking, which was good because otherwise he would have walked right into a pair of flappers.

"Pardon me, ladies."

They only giggled in response, Grillby took that as his cue to continue along the sidewalk in the opposite direction. He had been aiming for the late 19th century, but early 20th was close enough. Perhaps he'd take in a show or go to the park and people watch for a while. He seemed to have landed in a large city, there would certainly be plenty of people to watch. One such person walked by: a skeleton wearing an old, beat up, leather bomber jacket over a pair of rumpled slacks carrying a plain cardboard box. Grillby frowned, something about that seemed very odd. He turned and started following the skeleton.

After a few twists and turns, the skeleton started walking down an unpopulated side alley. Grillby chose that moment to catch up and start a conversation.

"Hello."

"hey," The skeleton replied and glanced his way.

"You don't belong now."

"what?"

Grillby pointed at the jacket, specifically the patches on the shoulders, "You don't belong now."

The skeleton made a show of looking him up and down, "and yo look like a bartender at a garden party."

"Wow, rude."

The skeleton shrugged, "so i take it you don't belong either."

"No, I'm just visiting for a lark."

"know anything about interdimensional transducers?"

"Enough."

The skeleton shrugged, "good enough for me. c'mon, i'll show you what i'm working on. name's sans, by the way. sans the skeleton."

"Grillby."

Sans responded by nodding. They walked in silence for a bit as Sans wound through more back alleys. "you're not much a one for talking, huh?"

"I find it more interesting to listen."

"you really are a bartender, aren't ya?"

Grillby shrugged, it was an easy way to blend in with post industrial society. Sans ducked through a broken fence with a "Condemned" sign attached to it. On the other side was a garage with one side of the building collapsed in on itself, weeds were growing up through the stones and pavement. Sans confidently walked towards the side still standing and opened a door. When he got closer Grillby realized the door was missing its knob altogether.

Inside Sans was already setting down his box amongst a pile of other boxes, tools, scrap metal, and what looked to be mechanical parts. Off to one side was a tarp covering something large.

"here she is, my pride and joy." Sans pulled the tarp off to show of a twisted, melted, deformed metal frame with burnt out electronic components laid out neatly around it. "when she's done she's supposed to be my thesis. i was doing what was supposed to be a dry run, make sure everything was connected and working properly, instead i ended up taking an unplanned trip."

"So you're stranded now?"

"yup."

"For how long?"

Sans scratched his chin, "eh, been a couple weeks."

"You didn't have an emergency beacon on you?"

"oh no, i got it right here and it works fine… probably. never had to test it before."

"… Why didn't you use it?" Grillby stepped closer to look over the wreckage.

"this is supposed to be my thesis defense, she won't be good for defending much if word about this little snafu got out." He pet the wreckage affectionately, Grillby raised a brow. "i thought maybe i could scrape together the resources to fix her up enough to get home at least but uh…" he looked down at the pile of supplies, "things are a little primitive now."

"I suppose I could give you a lift."

"really? thanks, that's real swell of ya."

"Swell?"

"cut me some slack, i didn't exactly get a chance to brush up on the local slang before landing here." Sans began carefully pulling the tarp back over the wreckage.

"Judging from how your craft looks, you're lucky you landed at all."

"any landing you can walk away from is a good one." He gently tugged the tarp this way and that until he was satisfied everything was appropriately covered. "so, where's yours?"

"This way," Grillby led Sans back outside and through the city. They walked in companionable silence, Sans with his hands shoved deep into his jacket pockets while Grillby considered the situation Sans had gotten himself into. "Here we are," Grillby opened the door and walked in ahead of Sans. He stopped near the control console and turned around with arms outspread.

"oh wow, this is so vintage. she's what? mid 24th century? right when time travel at all was cutting edge technology and dimensional tech was just becoming common use." Sans wandered in further and started running his hands over the walls. "you don't see old gals like this still out and kicking."

Grillby couldn't help bristling, "She's not that old."

"oh? when are you from then? when i'm from something like this could only be found in a museum or someone's private collection. granted, they're hard to decommission safely. too much dimensional technology crammed into too small a space, heh."

"Well… that is…" Grillby looked away, he didn't want to admit to having stolen Clarence from a museum.

"so where's the rest of the crew?"

"Crew?"

"these things are designed to be driven by six people. they were brute forcing their way through time back then, after all. and this thing's basically a cruise ship: big and unwieldy. so there should be at least five others with you, right?"

"I uh… installed an autopilot."

"someone came up with an autopilot for temporal craft?" Sans ducked below the center console and began removing the nearest panel.

"Stop that, you don't know what you're doing!"

"relax, i'm from late 25th century, something as old as this is easy peasy."

"I just told you I've made alterations, I don't want you mucking about in there."

"alright, alright, no need to get so heated up." Sans put the panel back on and stood up. "so if you got an autopilot you must have added some way to input coordinates. hopefully the universal system is still in use."

"Of course, what's the point of having a universal system if it can just fall out of use?" Grillby flipped a switch and a holographic GUI popped up.

"what good is a system that doesn't keep up with new discoveries and technological advances?" Sans sauntered over to where the GUI had popped up and pulled his phone out of his pocket, after he unlocked his screen his own holographic GUI popped up. He scrolled through apps until he found the one he wanted, selected the desired coordinates, modified them slightly, then with a flick of his finger sent it to Clarence's screen. "there, how's that work?"

"Perfectly. Now just sit back, relax, and I'll have you home in no time." Sans obligingly stood back to lean against the wall in a slouch as Grillby walked around the console to flip switches and press buttons as needed. The effect was lost on someone who knew what an inconvenient necessity it really was.

Sans winced as a rhythmic screeching filled the room, "you left the breaks on."

"It… it ensures a steadier landing."

"it strains the engine is what it does."

Grillby did one more round of the console as Clarence cooled down, then walked over to the door and opened it. They had landed in someone's front yard, presumably Sans's but Grillby wasn't about to make assumptions. He stepped out and looked back to see Clarence was disguised as a small windmill, the kind found on miniature gold courses.

"sweet, right on the front lawn. c'mon, i'll introduce you to the folks." Sans sauntered up to the front door, which opened for him as he approached. "hey guys, i'm home."

"SANS, THERE YOU ARE! WHAT HAPPENED? WEREN'T YOU JUST OUT BACK IN YOUR LAB?" A very tall skeleton with broad shoulders came running down the stairs.

"had a little hiccup."

"KNOWING YOU THIS SUPPOSED 'LITTLE' HICCUP WAS ACTUALLY A HUGE DISASTER." He gave Sans an annoyed look.

"HE'S RIGHT, WE BOTH FELT A DISTURBANCE." An even taller skeleton, this one with a slimmer build and cracks in his skull, came walking into the room. "NOT DETECTED, ACTUALLY FELT THE MAGICAL BACKLASH."

"okay, so i was trying to do a dry run, just make sure everything was connected correctly and all the circuitry was in working order. but uh… apparently i forgot to double check something? because it quickly turned into a wet run?"

"OH MY GOD, WHEN DID YOU END UP, BROTHER?"

"the 1920s."

"AND YOU DIDN'T ACTIVATE YOUR EMERGENCY BEACON BECAUSE…?" the skeleton with the cracked skull asked in a very stern voice.

"because this kind stranger happened to be in the same time and place and offered to give me a ride." Sans pulled Grillby further into the room to show him off. Grillby wisely decided not to mention the couple of weeks Sans had been in the 1920s before he decided to visit. "grillby, this is my bro and my dad. everyone, this is grillby."

"HELLO, MY NAME IS PAPYRUS." Sans's brother held his hand out for an enthusiastic handshake.

"DR. GASTER," Sans's father offered a hand with a hole in it for a much calmer handshake.

"D-Dr. Gaster?" Grillby asked in shocked disbelief. "Oh goodness, it's… it's an honor, sir." He couldn't help the giddy smile that spread across his face, fortunately his flames made his expression hard to read. This must be fate, to be meeting the Dr. Gaster, the man who was the very reason there were autopilot systems at all, let alone one backwards compatible enough for a boat like Clarence. Strange, the history books didn't say anything about him having children.

"AH, HEARD OF ME, HAVE YOU?"

"YOUR REPUTATION PROCEEDS YOU," Papyrus added gleefully.

"WELL, WE WERE ABOUT TO SIT DOWN TO DINNER, YOU'RE QUITE WELCOME TO JOIN US."

"i was kinda hoping to just grab some supplies and head back…"

"NONSENSE," the Dr. Gaster insisted, and Grillby just didn't understand how Sans had the guts to contradict him. "WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU ATE? DON'T THINK YOU CAN JUST PRETEND YOU WEREN'T STRANDED FOR A WHILE, I CAN TELL WHEN YOU'RE LYING TO ME."

"AND," Papyrus added as he grabbed Sans's shoulders and started steering him through the house, "IT'S GOING TO TAKE A WHILE TO DO REPAIRS, ISN'T IT? YOU SHOULD DO THEM ON A FULL STOMACH, WE'LL HAVE A SECOND DINNER READY FOR WHEN YOU GET BACK."

"fine, fine, can't argue with you two." The humor in Sans's voice softened his otherwise flippant words.

"YOU WEREN'T INJURED, WERE YOU?" Papyrus stopped and started turning his brother this way and that as if suddenly realizing that unexpectedly tumbling through space and time in a broken, half built space/time manipulation craft might be hazardous to one's health.

"nah, i'm fine. made sure all those safeties i came up with were installed first." While Sans was talking, the Dr. Gaster bustled about getting another plate of dinner ready for Grillby. "i told you both, i'm gonna revolutionize temporal travel. safer, easier, more efficient…"

"AND DESPITE ALL THAT YOU STILL CAN'T BUILD THIS PROTOTYPE IN THE SCHOOL LABS, WHERE YOU'LL HAVE ACCESS TO BETTER MATERIALS AND TOOLS, AND HAVE A NET OF SAFETIES ALREADY BUILT IN?" He quirked a brow at Sans before motioning for everyone to sit down and start eating.

"you know the school's policies on building anything using dimensional technology, let alone the complete ban on anything temporal without a ton of levels of clearance i can't get right now."

"IN OTHER WORDS: IT'S TOO MUCH WORK SO YOU DECIDED IT'D BE EASIER TO JUST BUILD IT AT HOME AND TAKE IT IN TO SHOW OFF AFTER IT'S DONE." Papyrus glared at Sans, admittedly the gentlest glare Grillby had ever seen. "YOU LAZY BONES."

"what can i say?" Sans asked with a shrug. "i'd have to build it myself either way, doing it at home just skips a lot of tedious, pointless red tape and means they can't confiscate 'school property' when i have one little snag. this roast is really good, dad."

The Dr. Gaster dropped his head into one of his hands, "YES, THAT'S ALL TRUE. BUT WHAT'S ALSO TRUE IS THAT IF YOU HAD TAKEN THE TIME AND EFFORT TO DO THIS THROUGH THE PROPER CHANNELS YOU COULD HAVE HAD SOMEONE HELP YOU LOOK EVERYTHING OVER TO MAKE SURE 'LITTLE SNAGS' LIKE GETTING THROWN INTO THE WRONG CENTURY NEVER HAPPEN TO BEGIN WITH." He sighed deeply. "WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH YOU?"

Papyrus cleared his throat, "PERHAPS WE SHOULD DROP THIS OLD ARGUMENT FOR ANYTHING ELSE? FOR INSTANCE: I HAD A WONDERFUL DAY TODAY!" The rest of dinner was filled with amiable chatter as Papyrus and the Dr. Gaster talked about their day, Sans politely talked about his friends and classmates rather than the last two weeks/hour he had lived. Grillby most listened, he enjoyed having such a normal meal with such domestic conversation.

Once everyone was done eating Papyrus began to gather up the dishes. Grillby picked up his and started to head for the sink, but Papyrus interrupted, "YOU'RE OUR GUEST! AND EVEN IF NOT, WE ARE GRATEFUL TO YOU FOR HELPING SANS. HE LIKELY WOULD HAVE BEEN STRANDED IN THE WRONG CENTURY FOR WEEKS BEFORE FINALLY USING HIS EMERGENCY BEACON."

If Sans flinched guiltily, everyone else had the decency to ignore it. Instead, he began heading to the back of the room where light was streaming in around floor length curtains.

"Do you need help gathering everything?" Grillby asked.

"nah, don't worry about it. alph upgraded my phone with her latest dimensional prototype, a portable box. it's super useful."

"ANOTHER EXCUSE FOR HIM NOT TO PUT ANY EFFORT INTO ANYTHING." Papyrus put his hands on his hips and huffed before continuing to gather up the dirty dishes.

"SO I TAKE IT FROM YOUR REACTION THAT YOU'VE HEARD OF ME?" The Dr. Gaster asked as he led Grillby into the living room.

"Ah, I probably should not have said that, there are rules about interacting with histo- uh… with the past."

"YES, THE CURRENT RULES MOSTLY ONLY ALLOW FOR OBSERVATION, BUT I TAKE IT YOU'RE FROM A BIT FURTHER ALONG?"

"A bit…" Grillby inclined his head in agreement. When he said nothing more the Dr. Gaster moved onto a different train of though.

"SO, WAS THERE ANYTHING YOU WANTED TO TALK ABOUT?"

"Oh yes, please. Just…" Grillby trailed off as he tried to think of a safe subject. With grown children surely anything that happened shortly after he finished school would be acceptable. "How did it feel to have your theories on why temporal craft do not simply crash into each other while traveling vindicated?"

"OH GOODNESS, I DON'T KNOW THE FIRST THING ABOUT TEMPORAL MECHANICS."

"You… you don't?" Grillby felt his flames sputter and cool. How could this be?

"CERTAINLY NOT, YOU'D HAVE TO ASK SANS ABOUT THAT. HE HAS SEVERAL THEORIES, THOUGH I DON'T UNDERSTAND ENOUGH TO KNOW HOW INTERESTING THEY ARE. NO, MY DOCTORATE IS IN METAPHYSICS, NOT QUANTUM PHYSICS."

"So you're not Dr. C. S. Gaster?" Grillby's flames cooled further, he must be an awful shade of red now. He hoped he didn't start smoking too.

"OH NO, I'M DR. W. D. GASTER, C. S. GASTER IS MY SON."

"the s stands for sans, in case you're wondering."

Grillby turned to find Sans leaning against the half wall separating the living room and the dining room.

"nice to know i'm gonna manage to pull through on the doctorate i'm in the middle of, wasn't so sure i'd get my thesis defense finished on time. or maybe i'm not and gonna have to defend it with just words." Sans shrugged and moved closer. All Grillby could think was a single curse word repeating on loop. "too bad i didn't get to hear more, i bet you said some interesting things to dad."

"I THINK IT BEST IF I KEPT OUR CONVERSATION TO MYSELF," Dr. Gaster chuckled and winked at Grillby.

Grillby was too busy screaming internally to notice.

"well, i'm all ready to go, whenever you're ready…"

"You're Doc-er… C. S. Gaster. And I… but you… holy cow! I broke so many rules!"

"hey, i already told ya this craft i'm building is for my thesis. my doctoral thesis, so finding out i'm gonna actually get a doctorates isn't any kind of surprise. unless i'm supposed to fail out of school in disgrace, still revolutionize time travel, and then be given one of those stupid honorary degrees." Sans paused at the look on Grillby's face, then burst out laughing. "oh man, i kinda actually hope that's how it goes now!"

Grillby cleared his throat and tried to get his flames back under control. "Still, no matter how you look at it, I'm interfering with historical events. I shouldn't have even given you a lift."

"hey, does anyone in the future know about this little hiccup at all?" Sans paused to wait for Grillby to answer, which he didn't. "well, it doesn't matter. either this is preordained and both already happened and is going to happen again on infinite loop, or you actually are interfering and changed one itty bitty minuscule detail in some obscure memoirs or something, or maybe you're changing history books. apparently whenever you're from i'm famous enough to have fanboys." Grillby's flames heated up, he was sure he was glowing white by that point. "either way, in for a penny, in for a pound. let's go get my thesis defense patched up. bye dad, be back in a jiffy."

Grillby just nodded and let himself be led out to Clarence.