Two days after Gaster helped fix Vrinda's scarf.
Gaster is outside pitchforking some hay into a wheelbarrow to rush over to a neighbor's house for their livestock. Ever since the city people came to this small town, Gaster has wondered what living in the city is like. No shoveling animal crap, no pitchforking hay, maybe some really really good food, some actually clean clothes… Farm life is hard and he's never questioned city living before, but now he can't help but let his mind wander. And yet the second he thinks about the HUMANS that live there too, he shakes his head and is thankful for this life he has. It's gotta be easier than the drama lights and speed of the city. Blech! How did Vrinda and her group deal with it? Gaster thinks he might have run away at some point.
With enough hay in the wheelbarrow, Gaster rushes off to the neighbor's house. The neighbor thanks him and gives him a small slice of pie that they'd made. Gaster declines and insists that he needs no reward. But the neighbor persists and Gaster ends up walking home with a piece of pie on a green and cream colored plate. It's a sweet rhubarb pie FILLED with magic. Ah he cannot WAIT to eat this.
"[[Gaster!]]" A girl voice comes in wingdings. Gaster looks around and he spots Vrinda waving at him from a few houses down. He didn't realize how close her house was to his until just now. He waves back. Vrinda runs over to him with a big smile and jumps in front of him.
"[[Gaster, guess what! I finished plowing my side of the crops! Can I show you please please pleeeeease?]]" Her smile is huge and Gaster can't stop a flood of positive feelings crashing into him. He nods and returns the smile. A thought passes through and he decides to act.
"[[SURE. IF YOU DID A GOOD ENOUGH JOB THEN I'LL SHARE MY SLICE OF PIE WITH YOU. HOW'S THAT SOUND?]]"
Vrinda's eyes shoot up a little surprised. She knew Gaster was capable of being nice, but for him to offer a share of his pie that he worked for? That's unusual. But she accepts, confident in her work.
"[[You're on.]]" The two return to Vrinda's house and Gaster sets the plate down before they go to the back yard that is now just crop field. At first Gaster can't tell where Vrinda's personal crop is exactly… Vrinda watches Gaster search and it only makes her happier.
"WELL WHERE IS IT?" Gaster says, deciding to stop speaking in wingdings. English is faster.
"HeeHeeHeeeee! So you can't tell! I did such a good job that you can't even tell!" Vrinda folds her arms with pride and she swings her red scarf over her shoulder with sass. Gaster looks at her with a chuckle and he realizes that she's got a new dress on today. It's a very pretty blue with tiny white dots all over it. He nearly comments on how nice it looks on her, but he stops himself. He can't just blurt out compliments to this girl, her head will explode from all the hot air.
"PSH. I'LL FIND THEM." Gaster steps down from the two step patio and walks around the crops. He DID help make most of these after all. After a few seconds of looking he points to a back row of crops facing the wrong direction from the others.
"THESE LINES ARE YOURS."
"Awww How did you figure it out?" Vrinda rushes over to him and stares at her little 5x5 foot square section.
"ONLY A MORON WOULD MAKE A CROP THIS SMALL. ARE YOU GOING TO EAT JUST ONE KIND OF FOOD YOUR WHOLE LIFE?"
"You're so mean! I don't know how big crops are supposed to be Wingdings. Did I do a good job or didn't I?" Vrinda says, folding her arms again but in a pouty way this time.
"I GUESS FOR THE SMALL PATCH YOU DID THEY'RE PRETTY GOOD. BUT IF YOU WANT TO EAT MORE THAN JUST CORN FOR A MONTH THEN YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO MAKE THIS BIGGER. EVEN FOR ONE MONSTER A SECTION LIKE THIS WON'T FEED THEM FOR VERY LONG. YOU'LL HAVE TO MAKE SEVERAL MORE OF THESE TO—"
"Listen dingbat is it good enough for a couple bites of your pie or isn't it?" Vrinda interrupts. Gaster looks at her and chuckles at her expression. She's adamant about that pie. So Gaster just rolls his eyes and shrugs.
"YEAH IT'S GOOD ENOUGH FOR A COUPLE BITES OF PIE." He turns around and Vrinda follows him back inside.
"HOW DID YOU EVEN TRIP AND RIP YOUR SCARF ON JUST THAT SMALL SECTION? DID YOU ACTUALLY USE A BIG GIANT PLOW TO MAKE IT?"
"I didn't think there was any other tool to do it with. It's called a PLOW for heaven's sake of course I used it! Gosh I just can't do anything right can I?"
The two sit down at the table and Gaster spots that she's actually genuinely upset…. Is he being a jerk again? He can't tell. City girls are complicated!
"I MEAN…. UH… WELL… YOU JUST AREN'T USED TO THIS UH… THIS KINDA LIFE STYLE I GUESS?" Is that supposed to make her feel better? Will that work? He's sure it won't. As expected, Vrinda slumps in her seat. Gaster stares at her and he CAN'T BELIEVE how upset her sad face makes him. He must make it go away before he feels too much more. He stands up and rifles through the drawers until he finds the utensils and grabs out two forks. When he comes back he takes Vrinda out of her thoughts by holding one of the forks out to her and smiles.
"I THINK FOR WHAT YOU DID IT WAS PRETTY GOOD. YOU'LL LEARN QUICKLY I'M SURE."
Vrinda looks up at him and then at the fork… then up at him again… and gives him a small smile. She takes the fork and sits up.
"Thanks… I'm sure it looks terrible to you since you're really good at doing that sorta stuff. But! I'm not looking for pity or anything… I mean maybe a little, but not that much. I HATE asking my parents for help because they've already done everything for me you know?... I guess it's just hitting me that I really have been a spoiled kid growing up. I don't know ANYTHING! I can't sew, I can't cook without burning something, and I can't plow my own crops right, and I don't know how to fix lights or anything!"
"HOLD ON A SECOND, WHERE DID THE FIXING LIGHTS COME FROM?" Gaster asks curiously as he stabs the tip of the pie and stuffs the piece into his mouth. GOD he loves rhubarb pie it's so sour and sweet all in one bite. Vrinda gets a piece with some crust on it and then nods her head to a stand up lamp sitting on an end table. It's pretty fancy. Metal base and shaft and then a fabric cover.
"Mom insisted we take this stupid lamp with us when we were leaving. She packed it in her suitcase with all the love and tenderness she could and the thing ended up breaking anyway. The bulbs we put in it are all perfectly fine and the cord is fine too. We even tried using magic to make it work again, but it just won't go back to normal. I tried to take it apart but I couldn't see anything wrong, so I just put it back together and sat it there. I'm hoping that the lamp will just sorta…. start working again."
Gaster looks at it and he thinks he knows exactly what's up. Fancy lamps like that are extremely uncommon in this town, but Gaster has had to fix a few of them.
"HUH. THAT'S A RIGHT SHAME THERE. IT'S A NICE LAMP TOO. BUT I HAVE A FEELING IT'LL START WORKING AGAIN SOON." He takes another bite and finally takes a good look around the house. Nice place. This house in particular stopped being used when the old monster who lived here before finally just turned to dust one day.
"ANYWAY, ABOUT YOUR CROPS. I'LL SHOW YOU HOW TO MAKE SMALL PATCHES MUCH FASTER. THE ONLY THING IS PRINCESS, YOU HAVE TO GET DIRTY."
Vrinda stabs the pie with determination and stuffs a rather large piece in her mouth.
"Listen Gaster, if you call me princess ever again I'll stab this fork right into your hand." Gaster chuckles and raises both hands. They each have a hole in the center.
"GOOD LUCK WITH THAT." Vrinda seems mildly amazed, but she's quick to reign it back and return to her "irritated" face.
"Either way, how could I possibly get filthier than using that disgusting plow?"
"YOU'LL HAVE TO USE YOUR HANDS. YOU'LL HAVE TO USE A SHOVEL AND YOUR HANDS TO GET IN THE DIRT AND DIGS HOLES. AND THEN YOU GOTTA WATER EVERYTHING AND THAT MEANS YOU'LL GET MUD ALL OVER YOU. THINK YOU CAN HANDLE IT? PRINCESS?" Gaster says with a sneer. Vrinda squints at him and takes another piece of pie and crams it in her mouth. She talks with her mouth nearly full.
"I can handle it just fine thank you very much. And I'll do it a LOT better if you DON'T CALL ME PRINCESS ANYMORE." She points her fork at Gaster and smiles. Gaster thinks he likes this girl. She is not at ALL like a typical lady of this time is supposed to be. Elbows on the table, pointing at people with utensils, talking with her mouth full… Vrinda is right, she is NO princess. And it's nice to see that instead of a prim prissy snob, she's just a kid who's being forced to learn this new way of life.
Eventually the two leave the house and gather up Gaster's friends to play some games. The other kids are a little wary around the city girl. On top of that, they're all wondering why Gaster is actually hanging out with her all of a sudden seeing as how he wasn't too fond of her when they first met. But either way, the group accepts Vrinda into the games. She seems to be nice.
A long three hours passes and they play all sorts of games and have a LOT of fun. Vrinda is accepted into the group as one of their own.
The owl monster kicks the ball they're playing with into a very tall and lush tree. The ball doesn't come back down.
"Woops! Oh no! I'm sorry guys…"
"DON'T WORRY, I GOT IT." Gaster runs over to the tree and lifts his hand. It glows purple and a very large disembodied hand with a hole in the center floats up into the tree. Vrinda watches amazed. She's never seen this sort of magic before. He can make solid things with his magic? And it's a BEAUTIFUL purple… She stares. The others notice her staring with absolute wonder and give each other all grins. They know what's up.
Gaster's magic hand grabs the ball and begins to bring it down. It drops it into Gaster's real hands and then disappears. When he turns around, both of his eyes are dimming down from purple to white. It's here that Vrinda knows that Wingdings Gaster is a powerful monster. She hasn't "CHECKED" him yet because usually they're no need to since Monster's don't really fight each other. Gaster walks back with the ball, but stops when he hears one of his friend's fathers calling for them.
"Uh oh. Looks like I gotta go guys. Dinner's ready. See ya!" The friend runs off and the others wave. One by one, each monster has to return home until it's just Gaster and Vrinda left.
"Gosh. That happened fast. Is it normally like that with them?"
"YEAH. WHEN DINNER'S READY, YOU GET HOME OR YOU DON'T EAT. AT LEAST THAT'S HOW MY PARENTS ARE ANYWAY. WHAT ABOUT YOUR PARENTS? THEY GET HOME PRETTY LATE RIGHT? WHAT DO THEY DO?" Gaster walks to a nearby tree with Vrinda and the two sit down. It's not even getting dark though. And yet it must be nearly 5 o clock PM.
"My parents have taken up jobs at the town hall. Before we moved here they were office workers. So now they're kinda back in their element. They're still getting used to not having to actually stay in the office until 6. Even if they finish work they just stay there." Vrinda shrugs and leans against the tree. She sighs and smiles.
"But that just gives me extra time to hang out with you and your friends! Everyone was so nice to me once they got used to my presence. I-… I didn't have many friends before I moved here. The ones that I DID have… I guess I feel like they were using me and my parents to get what they wanted. A lot of them were human so it really shouldn't surprise me."
Gaster looks over at her and gives her a playful light elbow to the arm.
"SORRY ABOUT THAT. BUT NO MATTER HOW MANY YOU DID OR DIDN'T HAVE, YOU'VE GOT US NOW. AND WE'RE CERTAINLY NOT HUMAN. WE WON'T EVER BE LIKE THAT TO YOU."
Vrinda looks over and up at Gaster with a big happy smile. It takes her a second, but she starts to feel a warmth in her chest… No, don't be silly. It must be how warm it is outside. How nice the breeze is and how nice the wind sounds, or how peacefully quiet it is out here compared to the city. It's certainly not Gaster that's making her feel this way… Is it?
"Thanks. I know you won't. Ah, uhm… could… could we maybe hang out more? I've never had another skeleton as a friend before. It's really-… it's really nice I guess." She looks away, unable to believe that she just blurted such a thing out. Just outta nowhere!
Gaster stares down at her shorter form and can't describe how happy he is that she said that. But he must maintain his composure. Stay cool Gaster. Deep unnecessary breaths!
"SURE." Is all he can manage. "Sure"? That's it?
"I'D LIKE THAT A LOT ACTUALLY." He finishes. The two smile at each other and then they sit there in silence for nearly 20 minutes. Just being in each other's company is nice enough in this perfect weather.
The next day, Vrinda finds her mother's lamp working.
()
Three months go by and everyone has settled in nicely. Things are back to normal for the original residents and oddly enough, things are even better. The city monsters had some good friends from the city bring them magic food ingredients, some more electricity items, some comfortable chairs and even a few gramophones. They've become more popular than ever to the humans. New vinyl records have begun to come out as well. Vrinda invites Gaster over to her house so they can dance when her parents aren't home. They move all the furniture to the walls and swing each other around in the living room. It's great fun. Many times the entire group of friends will go over and have their own little dance parties.
After one of these dance party nights, Gaster and Vrinda decide to take a walk. The only light they get is the light from the moon and stars. It's a warm summer night and Gaster knows exactly what he wants to do. He's going to show Vrinda his special stargazing spot.
"You are a terrible dancer Gaster!" Vrinda laughs. Gaster rolls his eyes and takes her hand, giving her a spin. The hem of her yellow summer dress spins beautifully. When the spin is over, she leans into Gaster before righting herself. It's quick and normally neither one would note the action as anything but a misstep. But the two know it was more meaningful than that.
"WELL EXCUSE ME FOR NOT TAKING DANCING CLASSES. YOU CAN JUST TEACH ME CAN'T YOU? THE 'PROPER' WAY TO DANCE?"
"I could if you really wanted me to." She doesn't let go of Gaster's hand.
"THAT'D BE NICE I THINK. HEY UH, I WANTED TO SHOW YOU SOMETHING. THINK YOUR PARENTS WILL GET MAD IF I KEEP YOU OUT FOR A LITTLE LONGER?"
"Hm… I don't think they'll mind." Vrinda knows they MIGHT mind, but she doesn't care. All she wants is to stay with Gaster.
"GOOD THIS WAY." Gaster leads her by the hand and he tries to hide his face as much as possible. He doesn't want Vrinda to see how wide his smile is and how purple his cheeks are. Vrinda stares at their hands. She's very aware of Gaster's body language by now and she can tell that he's excited about something. And she can't wait to see what he has in store for her.
They leave the town all together. Not too far, but not close enough for anyone to see them. Gaster summons a large magical hand. There is no hole in the center. Vrinda finds this unusual. She didn't think Gaster could make a hand without a hole in it!
"STEP ON." Gaster helps her up and then he stands on the hand as well. It lifts slowly into the air. Vrinda wraps her arms around Gaster's ribs in shock. He laughs and puts his arms around her so she'll feel a bit safer.
"DON'T BE SCARED. I DO THIS ALL THE TIME."
"I should hope so. I think my parents will get mad if they see a pile of dust." She jokes.
"WELL IF THAT HAPPENS IT'LL PROBABLY BE TWO PILES OF DUST ANYWAY." Gaster jokes back. The two giggle.
They go higher and higher into the air until all around them is just stars and nothing else.
"THIS IS HOW I LOOK AT THE STARS AND THE MOON. IT'S QUIET AND THE LIGHTS CAN'T REACH UP HERE SO WE HAVE AN EVEN CLEARER VIEW… DO YOU LIKE IT?" Gaster asks. He peeks down at Vrinda who still hasn't released his ribs at all. But she stares up and gazes in wonder.
"It's so beautiful… I feel like I could touch the moon. I love it." The two stare into the sky and stay silent. The moment is perfect and any noise might ruin this amazing feeling. Vrinda rests her skull on Gaster's sternum. Both of them can feel their souls beating in time. It's powerful and undeniable.
"Gaster?" Vrinda says quietly. Gaster hums in response.
"What are you thinking about?" A gulp begins to form in Gaster's throat. He holds it down and just huffs a tiny laugh.
"[[YOU.]]" He says. His voice sounds sure. Surer than he thought it would sound. Vrinda shifts her head and she stares at Gaster.
"[[Look at me?]] She asks. Gaster looks down and can no longer hide his blush or glowing purple eyes. Vrinda's eyes both glow Yellow.
She reaches one hand up to Gaster's face and rubs her thumb on his cheek.
"[[WHAT ARE /YOU/ THINKING ABOUT?]]"
"[[You. I'm always thinking about you… Gaster… I… I love you so much…]]" Gaster can see that she's worried. She said something heavy and she's worried that Gaster may pull away. But he does not. He pulls her closer and puts both of his hands on her face.
"[[I LOVE YOU TOO VRINDA. MORE THAN ANYTHING. THE WAY MY SOUL FEELS WHEN YOU'RE WITH ME IS SO STRONG IT HURTS SOMETIMES. BUT IT'S THE BEST PAIN I COULD EVER ASK FOR.]]"
Vrinda laughs because she can't contain her happiness. It's bursting out and all she wants to do is melt together with Gaster. The two stare at each other and finally lean in and clack their faces together in a kiss. Neither was sure such an amazing, electric, warm feeling existed. But together they feel it. Loud and clear, resonating.
The stargazing ends and eventually after an hour the two return to the ground and walk back to the village hand in hand. Part of Gaster wonders if their parents will be mad with them since they're so young. Monsters live much longer than humans do if there's no interference. For humans in this time period, dating and even getting married at such a young age is normal. But Gaster isn't exactly sure that such rules apply to monsters. Either way, he sets those thoughts aside and thumbs at Vrinda's hand in his, just to remind himself that this really is happening. Vrinda giggles and Gaster looks down at her. She looks up at him and swings their hands a bit.
"[[I'm really glad, you know? That I was able to tell you how I felt. It was so nice to say the words to your face finally.]]"
"[[HEHE. YOU'RE BRAVER THAN ME. I WAS PLANNING ON TELLING YOU FIRST. I WANTED TO TELL YOU MY FEELINGS WHERE ONLY YOU AND THE MOON COULD HEAR THEM.]]"
"[[You romantic sap.]]"
"[[YOU LIKED IT, DON'T LIE.]]" The two giggle together and nearly dance the rest of the way back to Vrinda's home. All of their friends cleared out and went home. Vrinda wonders if they all know about her and Gaster. That maybe they have all along. They never say anything when the two go off alone.
Gaster helps her up the steps. She looks down at him and can't bring herself to let go of his hand.
"I guess-… m… I'll see you tomorrow, Wingdings."
"I'LL SEE YOU TOMORROW, VRINDA. I LOVE YOU." Gaster says with a smile. Vrinda covers her mouth and holds back an excited squeal. She nods.
"I love you too."
They finally let each other go and Vrinda goes inside. She leans against the front door and grips her dress at her chest. Today was the best day ever.
Gaster stands outside for a few extra seconds until he shakes his head quickly to dislodge himself from his spot and walk home. It's real. He didn't think it would happen but here he is. These feelings have been boiling and rising to the surface for a while now. It's sudden, he admits. But he doesn't care. This feeling is so right and he feels like a whole monster. When he figured out he loved her, it was then that he felt the empty space in his bones. In his heart and soul.
He walks into his house and doesn't sleep that night. He's so filled with positive emotions it totally hinders sleep. Gaster doesn't care. Thinking about Vrinda is much nicer than sleeping. Yet sleep takes him eventually.
()
Three years go by. Breaking the news to each of their parents went much better than either Gaster or Vrinda thought it would. They were fully supported. All of their friends knew the whole time that this would happen. But everything remains normal. Not awkward or weird or anything. The perfect situation.
At 18, the two get married and move into their own home together. They still help their parents and neighbors of course. So really nothing has changed much. Except everything. EVERYTHING has changed. Chores are so much fun to do now. They know that the other will appreciate what they did. All of the work is equal and exactly half. Doing dishes is easy, dusting is fun because they dance and let the windows open and play music on the gramophone, making dinner together becomes dramatic soap operas that they act out and then laugh at for their cheesy nature. Vrinda wraps her scarf around Gaster's neck and kisses him every chance she gets. Gaster loves it. Together they stargaze, watch the sun set and the sun rise often.
Seasons come and go. They two build snowmen together in winter and jump in leaf piles in the autumn. Flowers and crops are planted in the spring and then everything is collected in the summer. Their home has flowers at every window sill and in the middle of the table all the time.
Vrinda takes Gaster to the city once for a two week exploratory vacation. It's a long walk, but since neither of them have muscles they don't really get tired at all and make it to the city in just one day. Gaster is nervous and wary the whole time. Humans are strange and their technology is strange. And yet he takes a liking to the electronics and such. The library becomes one of his favorite places and in his free time he reads almost every single scientific book they have. Locomotives, light fixtures, how to build things. Gaster knows that this is what he wants to do for a living. Somehow, someway. Being a mechanic would be a synch! Being a scientist would be fun! Maybe he could help humans and monsters alike with medicine and cures for things!
Vrinda listens and watches with a big smile when Gaster goes on overly excited tangents about his big dreams. She supports him the whole time and says that she wants to go with him! Maybe she could be a nurse or something! And so Vrinda begins to study medical books. The science books that Gaster reads are pretty helpful too. Not a day goes by that the two aren't freaking out over how cool everything is and how awesome their lives are going to be together. Everything is perfect.
And then it all comes crashing down.