Gaster wasn't answering his phone.

Grillby knew this shouldn't make him nervous. Really. He… shouldn't be nervous. Sure, he tended to be nervous about just about everything, but Gaster not answering his phone shouldn't be one of those things. Gaster did silly things like this all the time really. Falling asleep at the lab. Accidentally working through lunches they'd planned to meet out at. It was just a symptom of being Gaster. The monster loved his work. Grillby was proud of him for it, really!

It's just… It had started snowing recently. Really it was a heck of a snow storm. Normally Snowdin stayed pretty tame in the winter. But with overcrowding being as it was, there was a lot of access magic in the air. The kind of magic that could, every once in awhile, whip up a gale of a storm. And Gaster had promised to meet Grillby that night for dinner. Just something simple, back at Grillby's house. Something to keep them warm while they watched a movie and talked about whatever grand schemes Gaster was working on. It was something they did at least once a week, just to spend some time together and laugh for a few minutes.

Gaster had even managed to text Grillby and say he was on his way this time! What a miracle that was.

But the walk from Hotland to Snowdin didn't really take… this long. In fact, it was just a matter of minutes if the ferry was running! But Grillby's time alone was slowly getting longer, and Gaster still hadn't shown up. And after the fourth or fifth call, he still wasn't answering his phone.

The wind was howling. The snow was flying about pretty fiercely. It was… actually kind of hard to see his neighbor's house through it. That kind of snow could be dangerous, even for monsters as hardy against the cold as Gaster was. This was soul freezing weather. Dust weather.

Now Grillby was getting worried. Forget nervous. He was worried. Gaster should've been here by now. And Grillby was pacing a hole in his floor waiting. Finally, a bit hesitantly, Grillby made his way to his door. He grabbed a long coat from a peg by the door, securely fastening every button in place. He slipped the hood over his head and tied it in place with a scarf around his neck.

Grillby sighed out a bracing breath, his hand hesitating on the handle of the door. He… shouldn't be doing this. This kind of snow was more than enough to snuff out his flickering light. But if Gaster really was lost out there…

A more optimistic thought laughed at how silly this would all seem in a few hours when Gaster was back at Grillby's house, having only been late leaving the labs.

Grillby stepped outside and was immediately hit with a gust of wind. It slammed the door shut behind him and almost sent him reeling off his porch. He sucked in a breath and coughed at how cold it was. It felt like shards of ice were sliding down his throat. Grillby grimaced. Snow was blowing everywhere. It stung at his exposed hands, burned his eyes. Grillby paused on his porch for a few minutes, shoulders hunched against the chilled wind, hands jabbed stubbornly in his pockets, just getting used to the terrible feeling of being outside. His whole body felt unnatural and prickling, the cold seeping through his coat and trying to cool his flame. Grillby sucked in another breath, wincing against the numbing cold that pooled in his chest, and started walking.

Thank heavens the snow wasn't as deep as it could've been. It was up to his ankles, and his boots kept it at bay.

Grillby trudged along as quickly as he could manage, every once in awhile having to stop and brace himself against a gust of wind. The last thing he needed was to be blown off balance and doused in three inches of snow. He passed no one. Not even the rock family dared the streets in this kind of weather. If Grillby didn't know any better, he could almost say he was the only monster alive in the whole Underground.

What a lonely thought.

At some point, Grillby got used to the feel of prickling cold and ragged wind, and managed to trudge his way more-or-less unhindered to where the riverperson perched on their boat. The monster always made Grillby subtly nervous - or maybe that was just the closeness to the river? Well… at any rate, they always seemed to speak in cryptic half-riddles that gave Grillby the distinct feeling they were keeping secrets. Even now they seemed unnaturally still, as if the gusts of wind had no effect on them or their boat whatsoever, even though the water around them pitched and thrashed with movement.

"Uhm e… excuse me!" Grillby called over the snow and wind, "Did Gaster pass by you recently?"

There was a long pause. Long enough for Grillby to get the creeping feeling he was being stared at, even though he couldn't even see the riverperson's eyes. Did they even have eyes? Come to think of it, Grillby had never seen them without their ominous looking cloak.

The elemental was on the verge of turning and walking away when the riverperson finally spoke.

"He walked," they said quietly, though their voice carried as if the wind wasn't even there to hinder the noise, "I saw him once, in passing."

"Oh," Grillby murmured, "Uh… thank you!"

Grillby turned to leave. He'd already taken a few steps when that trilling voice interrupted him again.

"It's cold out, especially after a walk through Waterfall," the called, "And those doors are quite far to be home. Tra la la!"

Grillby paused. Wh… what? What doors - ?

The elemental let out a spark of a gasp, oh. Grillby took off running, throwing a shaky 'thanks!' over his shoulder that was probably lost to the wind. Heavens above he was getting cold. His hands especially were starting to go numb, and he didn't even want to see the state of his flame there. They were likely already starting to go out. The cold and wet from the snow was seeping into his clothes. It stung, almost as much as the breaths that sent needles into his throat and chest. But he had to find Gaster.

Grillby darted down the road out of town, out into the forest where - thankfully - the trees seemed to break up some of the wind. The snow drifts here clung to the trees, and the path before him was a little easier to walk. And… Grillby could see footprints. Faint and small and shallow where the snow had tried to fill them in again. Oh lord. How had Gaster managed to wander all the way out here?!

And then Grillby saw him. Well really, at first he thought it was a tree. Tall and gangly and swaying with every twist of the breeze. It wasn't until Grillby got closer that he realized the dark black was that of a dark colored lab coat, and not the bark of the looming Snowdin trees. Gaster turned to Grillby as he approached, a look of tired deliriousness in his eyes.

"Oh…! Grillby!" he murmured, "Where are we?"

"In the middle of nowhere, that's where!" Grillby coughed past a breath of frozen air, "What are you doing out here?"

Gaster didn't answer. The lights of his eyes were dim and lifeless. Cold. Tired. And with the next push of wind he fell over. He would've collapsed into the snow if Grillby weren't there to catch him. And he was freezing. It felt like Grillby was holding ice. And… he very nearly was. Gaster's clothes were stiff with frozen water. It coated his bones and put a frost on his glasses. How long had he been out here?

With a grunt Grillby shuffled the skeleton into his arms, somehow managing to hold the monster upright with one hand while he hurriedly unbuttoned his own coat with the other. The cold stabbed at him as soon as he was exposed, made him gasp painfully. But Grillby hefted Gaster into his arms anyway, flickering determinedly as he held the skeleton's gaunt body close. Gaster's cold arms burrowed past Grillby's scarf to wrap around his neck. It hurt, sent cold shivers through Grillby's body. But Gaster sighed with relief when he felt the warmth there, and Grillby didn't dare move him.

With a painful huff Grillby walked. Slowly. Doing his best to fight against the wind and keep from falling over. Fighting past the stinging pain that was seeping into his chest, his neck, his arms, as everything around him fought to suck away his body heat. Grillby did his best to flush himself warmer and ignore it.

It felt like a small eternity before Grillby was shoving his way through the doorway of his own house. He wanted to just fall on the floor and bask in the comfortable feeling of his house but… he had to… take care of Gaster. And he did. Grillby tightened his grip on the skeleton and carried him upstairs to the nearest bedroom. With great care he stepped the skeleton through taking off his frozen clothes. Gaster barely responded through the whole thing, his gaze distant as if he couldn't even tell where he was. Grillby set him on the bed, swaddled up in blankets, and then bound back downstairs again. As he went he rubbed feeling back into his own hands, frowning when he realized they'd cooled all the way down to the hardened, rock-like core.

Grillby comforted himself by wrapping his hands around the tea kettle as he set it to boil on the stove. The extra, seeping warmth felt marvelous. And now that his hands were thawing he was becoming slowly aware of the rest of the cold around his body. His feet were going numb from where the cold had seeped through his boots, but it was the burning cool and wet of his pants and shirt that stung him the worst. And his chest hurt. His chest hurt terribly both inside and out. It felt like he'd… well… it felt like he'd been breathing in ice. Which he might as well have done.

When the water was boiling Grillby poured two cups of tea and dragged himself upstairs, wincing slightly with every frigid breath. That tea would feel good in his throat, that was for sure. Gaster was still curled up in the bed where Grillby had left him, eye sockets half closed as if he might fall asleep. He didn't move to look at Grillby when the elemental came in.

"Gaster?" Grillby asked cautiously, "I've got some tea here for you."

"Mm-hmm," came the incoherent answer.

"You should have some. It'll warm you up."

"I don't feel cold," Gaster answered, every word lilting together strangely. He sounded drunk. Or half asleep.

"Trust me, you're cold," Grillby said with a humorless smile.

Grillby had seen hypothermia before. He knew it when he saw it. Normally he saw it on the younger Snowdin teens who stayed outside way too long on cold nights. He'd had monsters bring friends to him for the sole purpose of keeping them warm. His diner had become a patch of warm safety in a frigid world. Even his own house had become a refuge once or twice, should some weary monster be passing by in the middle of the night.

Grillby always kept his door unlocked and the fireplace lit, just in case someone stumbled inside.

It was disturbing seeing it on his friend though. The disorientation. The subtle tremors. The blank expression. Gaster had been stuck in the cold for a while. And if he'd walked through Waterfall first…? He would've gotten colder all the faster if he were soaking wet. He must have been so confused he wandered past town. It would've been hard to see the house lights through the blowing snow and wind.

Grillby managed to coax Gaster into taking a few sips of tea before finally letting him lay down. Then Grillby wandered about his house, grabbing every blanket he owned and throwing it on top of the ones already wrapped around the skeleton's shivering body. Only then did Grillby finally start taking care of himself, sipping away every once in awhile at his tea while peeling off his dampened shirt and boots. By the time Grillby had found himself a dry pair of shorts in his mess of closet clothes, Gaster was asleep.

Asleep but still shivering pitifully. Grillby watched him for a few minutes, frowning tiredly. He didn't really know what else to do for Gaster. He supposed… he could move him down to the living room. Stoke up the fireplace a bit hotter. But such a small fire could only get so warm. Maybe Grillby could just…?

Well. This might be awkward in the morning.

Grillby slipped into the bed beside the shivering skeleton, snuggling himself in underneath the blankets. All except the first couple he'd practically mummified Gaster with. Grillby reached out and wrapped his arms around Gaster's shuddering form, pulling him close to his fiery chest. He burned himself as warm as he dared to while surrounded by so many flammable things, his fire pitching into brighter yellows, sometimes blues. He tucked his head close to Gaster's neck and waited. Waited for his warmth to seep in. He didn't need to be here for long. Just long enough to stop Gaster from shivering.

And Gaster did, slowly. His body relaxed into the blankets and the arms that held him, as if his body itself were melting and not just the ice that had frosted onto it. Both the tea and the warm elemental were bringing him back to life slowly, sharing with him a beautiful warmth that clung to every bone in his body.

Gaster awoke in the morning feeling the most heavenly, comfortable warm he'd ever felt in his life. He almost didn't want to wake up at all really. But his internal clock was telling him he'd slept in way longer than he normally did. And his sluggish mind was starting to move in spite of himself. Heavens alive but he wanted to stay asleep and warm. Warm wasn't a thing Gaster was too used to. He was used to feeling comfortable yes. But without any skin to really feel changes in temperature, all he normally felt was comfortable. He didn't feel particularly warm or cold, constantly stuck somewhere in the middle. But this? This was downright pleasant. Perfect almost.

A brilliant change of pace from the frigid he'd felt last night. That had been cold. More than that. It had been down to the soul freezing. He… he actually couldn't remember… how he'd…

Oh gods. Was he dead? That would just serve him right wouldn't it? He goes out for an evening to enjoy himself and doesn't even get to the 'enjoying himself' part.

Well… he certainly didn't… feel dead. Though he definitely felt like he couldn't move. He was practically cocooned in… well… blankets it felt like. Except he had no idea how he could be tied up in blankets when he didn't actually remember ever finding a way out of the snow. Everything in his memory was just kind of hazing together, one gigantic blur of wind and snow and…

Warm. Heavens he felt warm. There was only one thing in this entire world that ever made him feel warm.

Gaster blinked his eye sockets open, the lights of his eyes tiredly glittering to life. At first everything was blurred with sleep. But eventually he could make out the greyed shapes of pillows in the darkened room. Blankets were swallowing him up, cupped around his face so the top of his skull was barely exposed to the cooler air of the room. Looking down, Gaster could see strong, fiery arms wrapped around him, haloing the blankets that kept Gaster tied still in softly changing oranges and yellows. And now that he was awake enough to see, he could feel Grillby's presence behind him. The soft breathing as the elemental's chest pressed closer to his back. The subtle, tingling warmth that washed over Gaster's neck whenever the elemental sighed out a breath. The feeling of Grillby's forehead as it pressed against the back of Gaster's skull. And every inch of the elemental was exuding the most lovely warmth.

Grillby had fallen asleep keeping him warm.

Well. That was adorable. Gaster might have laughed at it if he weren't scared of waking Grillby up. Had Grillby seriously… wandered out into that storm… and dragged him back to Snowdin? He couldn't really… remember… but that had to have been what happened. Nothing else made sense, really. Unless Gaster had finally managed to get that teleporting thing working - which he highly doubted. If he couldn't do that coherently how in the world could he do it while delirious from cold?

A sigh shook Gaster out of his thoughts, and he felt Grillby shift beside him. Almost cat-like, Grillby slowly uncurled his arms from around Gaster's body, stretching and yawning into the back of his neck. Grillby grumbled something incoherent, something that probably made sense to him in his half-asleep daze but meant nothing to the skeleton listening. For a second he went limp again, and Gaster had to wonder if the elemental was still asleep. And then Grillby was moving again, gingerly sitting up and rubbing his face tiredly, casting light all over the dark room like a tired star.

Grillby grumbled something under his breath again, and this time Gaster managed to make out the word 'coffee'. The elemental stood, and then paused, hovering over Gaster, probably making sure he was okay. Uh… oh gods. Did he… pretend he was asleep? And not like he'd been awake for the past ten minutes? Uh…? Uhm…?!

Before Gaster could somehow embarrass himself, Grillby was moving again. He tucked the blankets around Gaster carefully, and then with a childlike, tired stumble in his step shuffled away downstairs. Gaster let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, his soul shuddering about nervously in his ribcage. He felt like he'd just gotten away with using a terrible hiding place in a game of hide and seek. Which was silly, of course. It's not like… him and Grillby hadn't slept in the same… general… area before. This just happened to be the first time they'd fallen asleep with one's arms around the other.

It… had been nice though.

Now that the elemental was gone, Gaster was already starting to get cool again. Not cold. Just that slightly uncomfortable feeling of less-than-warm that he was normally left feeling. He wanted that warmth back again. Dipping his head beneath the covers, he caught the dying feelings of it. The last bits of Grillby's warmth as they disintegrated into the blankets and mattress, and even into the skeleton's bones. The bed smelled like him, a soft smell like woodsmoke and honey. Mixed with whatever chemical reek Gaster was always bathed in.

He liked Grillby's smell better.

Gaster didn't know how long he lie there, feeling the dismal less-than-chill as the world around him cooled in Grillby's wake. Eventually it was the wafting smell of coffee, and the sound of pots and pans rattling around in the kitchen that roused Gaster out of the mopey half-sleep he'd sunk into. He disentangled himself from the blankets he'd been trapped in, realizing with a start that he was… mostly naked. Completely naked, actually. Did he even have clothes at Grillby's house? He didn't normally stay the night here. And what happened to the clothes he'd been wearing?

Not really knowing what else to do, Gaster darted towards Grillby's closet. Really he was hoping he'd find some article of clothing he might have left behind at some point. But… he came up lacking. Darn it. How awkward would it be if he just… borrowed a pair of Grillby's pants and a t-shirt? Did Grillby even own a t-shirt? The elemental was always dressed up so nicely, it had been ages since Gaster had seen him in anything less than a nice sweater or a collared shirt.

Of course, he'd just glimpsed Grillby shirtless. That was… casual…

Right! Clothes. He needed clothes. Gaster rifled through the back of the elemental's closet, finally finding some drawstring pants and a t-shirt hanging in the back. Gaster looked… frail and pathetic in clothes that were twice his size. But it was better than walking around completely naked, and he honestly doubted Grillby would mind. Well… he hoped anyway. With a soft sigh, Gaster stumbled his way downstairs. The house was dim, lit by the muffled half-light of Snowdin's day cycle that struggled to waft between drawn curtains.

In the kitchen, Grillby was setting to work tiredly cooking breakfast. He had eggs in a skillet, coffee was brewing and something else was in the oven. Gaster watched the elemental go through the motions of cooking, movements Grillby could probably execute in his sleep at this point. A little oil here, a little more heat there. Honestly it was kind of artful - even if the elemental was still in his pajamas, technically. Gaster had to admire it. The skeleton himself was lucky if he didn't burn water.

After a few minutes Gaster cleared his non-existent throat, earning a surprised spark from his friend. Grillby flickered a relieved smile though - if not a bit awkwardly.

"Oh! You're up," Grillby said with a quiet crackle of a murmur, "How are you feeling?"

"Uh… fine?" Gaster laughed, "I mean… as fine as I can feel I guess. What all happened last night?"

"You don't remember?"

Gaster rubbed the back of his head a bit nervously, thinking, "I mean… I remember getting lost. And it was really cold… all that snow just kind of kicked up out of nowhere."

"I should've called you sooner and told you to stay home," Grillby sighed, flickering a little dimmer, "It was a hell of a storm. Honestly you're lucky I found you. I can't imagine you would've lasted much longer out there."

Gaster smirked, "Well I'm fine now though."

Grillby smiled, flickering through relieved colors, "Good. Uh… go ahead and have a seat. Breakfast will be ready soon."

Gaster nodded, watching as Grillby turned back to his work. A… nervous feeling… was starting to build up in Gaster's soul. Soft and, almost longing really. He moved a step forward to sit at the dining room table and then stopped. There was something growing in his soul, a pensive sort of confidence?

Gaster said then what he later decided was one of the bravest things he'd ever said.

Gaster took another step forward into the kitchen, lanky arms wrapping around his own chest in a pitiful sort of hug. Then he murmured, "I uh… I'm still pretty cold though."

Grillby was already shuffling food onto plates when Gaster spoke. The elemental paused, casting a worried flicker in his friend's direction.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Gaster said with a nervous smile, "Guess it takes a lot to thaw out after that kind of thing, huh?"

Grillby walked over to him then, wrapping his arms around Gaster's shoulders, "Well, stay close to me then. We'll see if we can't keep you a little warmer."

Gaster let himself be led over to the table, Grillby's all-encompassing warmth seeping into every inch of his bones as they walked.

"Yeah… that'll help."

They parted long enough to eat and chat, Grillby sitting close beside Gaster, his warmth filling the room and his light washing every surface in pleasant oranges and reds. Then Grillby moved him to the couch, flipped on the television and snuggled up beside him, blankets in hand. Gaster thought his nervous soul might beat it's way out of his chest from how frantic it felt. If Grillby noticed, he didn't say anything about it.

The too spent the rest of the day snowed in Grillby's comfortable little house, watching the stupid movies they were supposed to watch the night before. But this time Gaster spent the evening leaning against the elemental's body, soaking in every inch of the warmth that sang in his bones. He loved it. It was beautiful, being this close. Feeling the comfort. Smelling the simple honey and woodsmoke. Lulling in and out of sleep to Grillby's voice as he listening to the bartender talk about one customer or another who had come in with their problems.

It was, for Gaster, a tiny piece of heaven. He could've stayed like that forever. Comfortable and quiet. His normal frenetic busy at ease. Lost in the quiet warmth that came with every in of Grillby.

And somewhere in his soul, Gaster knew Grillby felt the same.

I do not no why sometimes this text glitches out like crazy but it does and it makes me SO ANGRY.

Thanks for tipping me off that it did a thing!