Gaster, the Royal Scientist, was a peculiar man. Somehow strange even by monster standards. He was tall and pale and constantly donned a long black coat. His eyes were like pits of tar with small pinpricks of light in them, and his hands were skeletal with two large gaping holes in them. Were his appearance abnormal enough, he also was constantly smiling. As such, he had quite a challenging time finding fellow monsters to work with him. Above ground, the humans feared him, and the monsters wary of him. Under the ground, monsters simply found him difficult to be around. Apparently his tendency to cause explosions made them feel uneasy.
And in all honesty, he was fine working alone. It was easier to focus when he was alone. It was only at the request of the monster king that he began to search for an assistant.
He stepped out into the main hall of his laboratory, musing to himself as his eyes flicked across the list of names. Normally he'd be avoided, but at the King's request, many monsters flocked to the call. Peering up from above the clipboard, he assessed the accumulated monsters. There were several bunnies, a cat or two, even a dog. A red bird, a man made of blue fire, and a lizard-like monster sitting in the corner.
The interviews didn't impress him at all.
A monster would sit across from him in a small room. Gaster would ask a question or two, and instantly watch them seize up. They'd begin to breathe shakily, fidgeting and trying oh so hard to look anywhere but at him. Gaster would fight back a yawn, say 'I'll inform you of the result later' and the monster would shuffle out. He was beginning to find the whole thing quite tedious as well as pointless when he found a monster who'd meet his eyes.
It was the lizard who was in the corner. He was maybe half of Gaster's height, maybe a bit taller. His scales were a lemon-yellow and he had a long, thick tail that twitched profusely. In front of his eyes sat a pair of rectangular spectacles which were constantly being readjusted. The apparel this monster chose was a simple sweater-vest and slacks. As he was a lizard with clawed feet, he obviously didn't care for wearing shoes. Most monsters didn't.
"So," Gaster started after the formal handshake, settling on the seat across from the lizard man "Might I have your name?"
"Marty," He introduced himself.
"Right then, Marty. Let's start with…" And thus Gaster asked his questions. But as the interview progressed, he found himself trying to stare Marty down. The lizard man seemed very adamant in making eye contact, not flinching at all at Gaster's dark smile. Actually, Marty seemed to have a perpetual scowl, as if everything Gaster said personally offended him.
Aside from a bit more tension, the interview went as normal.
The Royal Scientist flipped through his notes that evening, leaning heavily on one arm and listening to the sputtering hum of the few generators. He made them himself, out of spare parts that fell down into waterfall. But he was hardly proud of them. The most they could do was power a few flickering lights that hardly lit the room at all.
He sighed, sweeping his hand across the papers. Not a single one of them screamed 'assistant'. But only one of them seemed have left an impression on him. Marty. The lizard man with a perpetual scowl.
Gaster chuckled, figuring they'd make quite a pair if anything else. Like the Comedy and Tragedy icons of the humans.
He shrugged, stamped an 'ACCEPTED' onto Marty's resume (which he didn't read), and went to bed.