No Strings Attached
Chapter 1.
Was originally called "Void Teacher", but, with the added subplot I thought it would be best to change the title.
Frisk, with a small bunch of papers stapled together in hand, walked into the kitchen, where Papyrus was making dinner and Asriel was sitting at the table.
"Hey, Frisk," Papyrus voiced, "are you done with your homework, yet?"
"No." the human boy sighed.
He looked around.
"Where is everyone?" Frisk wondered, "I know Asgore and Toriel are at a faculty meeting, but, what about everyone else?"
"Well, Undyne is attempting to, how she said, "up her boulder suplexing game"," the tall skeleton explained, "and Alphys is assiting her, as for Sans, well, I have no idea what he's up to, he went somewhere earlier, didn't tell anyone where, and I have no idea when he's gonna be back."
"Oh," Frisk groaned, "but, I need help with my homework."
"Sorry, Frisk," Papyrus said, "if I wasn't making dinner, I'd help you...or at least try."
"It's fine," Frisk sighed, "I'll try to figure it out by myself."
The disappointed human child left the kitchen and went upstairs to his and Asriel's room; he dropped his booklet of worksheets on the floor and flopped down beside it, looking at it again in a fruitless attempt to understand the questions written after where he had left off. t was not long before he gave up and dropped his pencil in defeat.
"Nah...I just don't get it." the boy whined.
Discouraged, he pressed his face against the blue carpeting on the floor and, for over a minute, he lie there in silence.
"What id wrong, child?" he suddenly heard.
Frisk raised his head off of the floor and saw someone who before only appeared in his dreams, but, as of recent, seemed to be showing up at random, whether he was asleep or awake. Regardless, only he was able to see this visitor.
"Hi, Gaster," the boy responded, "what are you doing here?"
"I dunno, I just got that inkling that you were distressed, and then, here I am," the skeletal man voiced, getting down to the human boy's level, "so, what troubles you, now?"
Frisk pushed himself up onto his knees.
"Hmm, I'm just frustrated," he explained, "I'm almost done with my homework, but, I came to a part I don't understand and now I don't know what to do."
"Is that so," Gaster asked, "what kind of homework is it?"
"It's a packet of work papers, all different subjects," Frisk affirmed, "I'm on the last one, but, it's math...with word problems, word problems!"
The skeletal man looked as the human boy tapped the specific worksheet with a disinterested look on his face.
"Well, if you would like," Gaster offered, "I could help you."
"Would you?" Frisk responded, "Everyone else is busy."
"Frisk, you're the first person I've been able to interact with, let alone aid, in a long time," the looming skeleton expressed, "trust me, whenever you need me, I'll always be here to help."
Frisk smiled gratefully, then turned his worksheet so both he and Gaster could read it.
"Now, this first problem is your classic 'train A and train B leave the station at X time' question..." Frisk explained.
It was 8:30 p.m. when Toriel and Asgore finally returned from the school faculty meeting.
"We're home." Toriel announced as she and Asgore walked through the front door.
"Hi Mom, hi Dad," Asriel responded.
"Welcome home, your highnesses," Papyrus voiced, "you're just in time for dinner."
"That's nice, but, where is everyone?" Toriel responded curiously.
"Well, Undyne and Alphys have been in the lab all day," the tall skeleton affirmed, "I have no idea where Sans is or what he is doing, and Frisk was upstairs doing his homework."
He took the fresh pot of macaroni and cheese off of the stove.
"Well, I'll go tell Undyne and Alphys that dinner is ready." Asgore said.
"And I'll get Frisk." Toriel stated.
As she approached the staircase in the living room, she saw Frisk come to top step.
"Oh, there you are, Frisk," the goat woman voiced, "I was just coming to tell you that dinner was ready."
"Sweet, I just finished my homework," Frisk said, "so, I'm ready to eat."
"Yes, how did it go?" Toriel inquired, "I'm sorry I couldn't be here to help you, the meeting dragged on longer than I anticipated."
"That's okay, Toriel," Frisk replied, "I managed."
"Is that so?" the goat woman responded, "Well, next time, I'll try to be here, if nobody else is."
She hugged the human boy before they went to the kitchen, where everybody was already taking their place at the table.
Asriel looked up at the clock.
"Gosh, it's getting late," he voiced, "Sans'll miss dinner if he's no home soon."
"It is strange," Asgore voiced, "he usually doesn't stay out this late."
"I'm sure he has his reasons," Toriel said, "he's a grown skeleton after all."
"That does it," Papyrus huffed, "I'm going to try calling him again!"
However, just as he got up, they heard the front door open and shut.
"Hey guys," Sans called, "I'm home."
"Well, it's about time," Papyrus voiced irately, as his brother entered the kitchen, "where on Earth have you been?"
"Out." Sans stated.
"Well, what were you doing 'out' for so long?" his younger taller brother question further.
"Does it matter?" the short skeleton simply replied.
"He was just worried, Sans," Toriel voiced, "we're not used to you being out so late without further notice."
"Yeah, that was my bad," Sans said, "I got so caught up in what I was doing, time just got away from me."
He took a seat at the table.
"Well, at least everyone's home now," Asgore said, "let's eat."
As everyone dug into their food, a buzzing noise was heard and Sans reached into his jacket pocket, taking out his vibrating cellphone.
"Oh, Come on, you literally just got home!" Papyrus uttered, "Who would be texting you?"
"Don't worry about it." Sans responded, answering the text he had received.
He put his phone back in his pocket.
"So, heads up," the short skeleton affirmed, "I might be out again tomorrow, as for how long, I'm not sure yet."
"Are you serious?" Papyrus responded.
"What? You always complain about me being lazy," Sans retorted, "just be glad I'm actually doing something."
"But, what are you doing!?" the annoyed, taller skeleton questioned.
"Papyrus," Toriel attested, "no yelling at the table."
"Right," Papyrus replied, "sorry."
He saw his brother responding to another text on his cellphone, but, just as he leaned slightly closer in attempt to see what was on the screen, Sans snapped the phone shut.
First chapters are always iffy, hopefully it'll get better.