Frisk woke up and yawned, looking around to find Gaster.
"Good morning, mister-"
He wasn't there. Frisk hoped he didn't leave while they were asleep. Though he could have gone anywhere he wanted. The child put on their tiny slippers, walking around the room.
"Where are you?" They asked.
Then, Gaster showed up by passing through the wall. Frisk sighed, smiling at him. "Oh, there you are."
GOOD MORNING, FRISK. I WAS ONLY... WATCHING SANS AND PAPYRUS. THEY ARE ALREADY HAVING BREAKFAST WITH THE WOMAN.
"Oh, already? I hope I'm not late!"
Frisk was about to run to the kitchen until they stopped in the middle of the way, remembering the fact that Gaster was in their house.
"Um, mister Gaster?" Frisk called him, keeping their voice down. "Would you like to go to the kitchen with me? I mean, you can't really eat anything, right? But if you don't want to be alone, you can come."
OF COURSE. Gaster smiled.
Frisk went downstairs. Gaster walked (actually, he fluctuated) behind them. The two headed to the kitchen. Thankfully, Toriel was still preparing the breakfast table. Most things were there, though. Sans and Papyrus were waiting for everything to be ready. The taller skeleton noticed Frisk and gave them a big smile.
"GOOD MORNING, FRISK!" He said. "I WAS ABOUT TO GO TO YOUR ROOM TO WAKE YOU UP, BUT THIS TIME YOU DID IT BY YOURSELF!"
Frisk looked at Gaster. Nobody seemed to notice him. He sighed sadly.
"DID YOU SLEEP WELL?" Papyrus asked.
"Yes, of course."
The child sat on one of the empty chairs. They glanced at Gaster and gave them a fast smile before facing their friends and eating breakfast.
Gaster didn't say a thing during the breakfast. He was lost in his own thoughts while Frisk talked to Papyrus and the goat woman. Sans was still kind of sleepy and didn't really say much during the entire time. Frisk gave some small and fast smiles to Gaster when nobody noticed. He was still glad that at least one person acknowleged his existence. He thought he would be lonely forever stuck in the Void... However, he wondered if anyone would judge Frisk in case they heard the child talking to an invisible man... Maybe people would think he was an imaginary friend. The problem was that some people could be really judgemental.
He'd better talk about it to Frisk later. He wasn't in a hurry, though.
"Do you have any idea of how long you've been in the Void?"
Gaster and Frisk walked around the garden. The child was careful to not step on the flowers. Gaster didn't have to, as he didn't really exist. He could hear birds singing in the distance. That place was quite comfortable and relaxing.
Gaster sighed before responding. I CANNOT REALLY SAY FOR HOW LONG... THOUGH, WHEN THE ACCIDENT OCCURED, SANS AND PAPYRUS WERE STILL KIDS.
Frisk's eyes widened. "I see... and there's literally nothing in the Void?"
Gaster shook his head. DARKNESS IS MY ONLY COMPANY IN THAT DIMENSION. ALSO, THERE'S NO GRAVITY. IT FEELS LIKE YOU ARE FLUCTUATING IN SPACE, BUT... THERE ARE NO STARS, PLANETS NOR GALAXIES. IT IS COMPLETELY EMPTY.
Frisk stared at the flowers. They were trying to imagine how it felt like to be stuck in the Void. Gaster really wouldn't like Frisk to experience that horrible prison of loneliness and despair.
AND WHAT ABOUT YOU, FRISK? Gaster asked. He was very curious about Frisk's life with his sons and the woman, besides the fact that monsters were living in the human world now. HOW IS YOUR LIFE UP HERE?
"It's great, actually." Frisk said, smiling at the scientist. "Toriel is a great mom. Sans and Papyrus are amazing friends, too."
TORIEL...?
"Yeah, the... goat." Frisk said.
... OH, IS SHE... THE QUEEN?
Frisk nodded. "Yes. I never thought she had been one when I first saw her, though."
SHE IS SO... DIFFERENT NOW. Gaster murmured. He was kind of surprised, but at the same time, not really. He knew that he had seen the goat woman before. It just surprised him that she looked so different.
AND WHAT ABOUT KING ASGORE?
"They're still not together..." The child shrugged. "I don't think they would go back to be a couple, though. At least Toriel is friends with him now."
YES, I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED... THE WHOLE STORY INVOLVING THE FIRST FALLEN HUMAN, RIGHT?
Frisk nodded.
ANYWAY... WHAT ABOUT SANS AND PAPYRUS? WHAT ARE THEY DOING NOW?
"Papyrus is still taking cooking lessons, but from someone else. He's improving a lot. He will probably work at some restaurant in the future. Sans is a comedian at a place I forgot the name... but he still takes some breaks to take a nap."
Gaster shook his head, chuckling.
"Oh, and Toriel is a teacher now." Frisk added. "I study at the school where she works."
THAT IS NICE.
Frisk continued talking about other monsters - most of them Gaster couldn't quite remember, or didn't even know - and how they were doing in the human world.
"SANS, YOU ARE SLEEPING ALREADY?!"
Sans was napping on the couch right after breakfast. Papyrus, as always, was pissed at the laziness of his brother. He had a job and still took several naps during the day...
"pap, i'm tired..." Sans mumbled.
"YOU ARE ALWAYS TIRED!"
"awwwww, paps, please, five more minutes..."
"ALRIGHT!" Papyrus rolled his eyes, leaving Sans on the couch.
Toriel chuckled while she washed the dishes. Those two were hilarious, though they could get on her nerves sometimes. They could be really immature... Heh, they were brothers, after all. Toriel was getting used to it.
While washing the dishes, she could see the garden by the window. Toriel found Frisk walking outside. She smiled, but as she paid more attention to the child, she noticed that... they were talking... to themself? That wasn't strange. Toriel talked to herself sometimes. However, Frisk appeared to be... talking to someone. Like, they said something, waited for an answer and then said something else. They even laughed at some point. Toriel continued on washing the dishes while wondering if Frisk had a imaginary friend or something. That wouldn't be bad, clearly. Children usually had imaginary friends, even if they were older.
After finishing, some footsteps could be heard from outside. It was probably Frisk. She heard them say something. Apparently, it wasn't directed to her.
"I'm going to watch some cartoons, want to join me?" They asked. After a while, before opening the door, they said, "Oh, great! I bet you're going to like them!"
The child opened the door and seemed surprised to find Toriel in the kitchen.
"Oh, hey mom!" They said. Toriel noticed some nervousness in their voice tone.
"Hello, Frisk."
"Er... I'm gonna watch TV."
Before leaving the kitchen, Toriel asked: "Frisk, who were you talking to?"
"Oh, nobody."
Frisk gave her a nervous smile before going to the living room. Were they ashamed of having an imaginary friend? They shouldn't, in reality. Toriel would talk to them about it later. She still had to do some stuff on that day.
Frisk was heading to the couch but found Sans sleeping on it. He was snoring.
"Oh, Sans." Frisk murmured.
They looked at Gaster, who simply shook his head. The two jumped when they heard Papyrus's angry voice coming from upstairs. They heard his aggressive footsteps approaching.
"SANS! OH MY GOD, YOU TOLD ME YOU WERE GOING TO STAND UP AFTER FIVE MINUTES!" He yelled.
Sans's face was covered by the couch, so his response was in a muffled voice: "i know, i was about to do it..."
"IT HAS BEEN MORE THAN FIVE MINUTES, SANS! OKAY, THAT'S IT, I'M CARRYING YOU TO THE BATHROOM SO YOU CAN TAKE A SHOWER!"
Sans whined in protest. That didn't stop Papyrus to take him off the couch. "YOU LAZYBONES! I CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITHOUT A COOL BROTHER TO TAKE CARE OF YOU!"
Frisk and Gaster shook their heads, trying not to laugh. Frisk then turned on the television. Gaster was able to sit on the couch. He felt very indifferent about it, of course. It sucked that he couldn't feel the comfort of it. The child glanced at the kitchen, finding Toriel cleaning it. Frisk sighed, remembering that their Goat Mom questioned if they were talking to anyone. Frisk didn't know if they should tell her they had a new friend. They trusted Toriel, but they didn't feel really comfortable with revealing Gaster's existence.
Meanwhile, Gaster curiously watched the TV. The human TV was very different from the monster one. Maybe not that much, but they weren't the same. They assumed that the void scientist was enjoying it. He even laughed at some parts of a TV show they were watching. Frisk wanted to watch some cartoons, but they let Gaster have some fun; he probably hadn't naturally laughed in decades.
It was nice to see Gaster happy. Frisk wished to see him like that more often.
That Saturday was nice. Frisk spent a long time with Gaster. They either watched television or simply talked when nobody was near. When they weren't alone, Frisk would just talk to Papyrus, who cooked some spaghetti after taking Sans off the house. Gaster proudly watched his son cook for a while.
At the end of the day, the two watched the sunset together. Gaster was quite impressed with the beautiful view.
IT IS... VERY STUNNING. He said.
Frisk smiled. "I always watch the sunset, when possible. It's very relaxing."
Gaster nodded.
I HAVE NEVER SEEN THE SUNSET BEFORE. He admitted. I WAS BORN IN THE UNDERGROUND.
Frisk lost a bit of their smile. "How was your life before... the accident?"
Gaster sighed, taking a while to answer.
"O-Oh, sorry, you don't need to talk about it." Frisk said, regretting the question.
IT'S ALRIGHT, I WILL TELL YOU.
He sighed once again and began talking:
LIKE I SAID, I WAS THE ROYAL SCIENTIST. I MARRIED A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN AND HAD TWO CHILDREN. MY WIFE, UNFORTUNATELY, PASSED AWAY... THE ONLY GOOD THINGS I HAD IN MY LIFE THEN WERE SANS AND PAPYRUS. I HAVE DONE EVERYTHING TO GIVE THEM A GOOD LIFE, WHICH MADE ME WORK EVEN HARDER AFTER MY WIFE WAS GONE. BUT THEN I STARTED BEING SO FOCUSED ON WORK THAT I DIDN'T REALLY GIVE THEM MUCH ATTENTION. I BARELY SPENT TIME WITH THEM. WHEN I WAS IN A BAD MOOD, I USUALLY TOLD THEM TO LEAVE ME ALONE... I WASN'T A GOOD FATHER.
MY LIFE WASN'T REALLY THE BEST, IN GENERAL. I SPENT HOURS WORKING ON THE LABORATORY EVERY SINGLE DAY, MAKING SEVERAL EXPERIMENTS. IT WAS NERVE-WRACKING. IF IT WASN'T FOR SANS AND PAPYRUS, THOUGH... IT WOULD'VE BEEN WORSE.
Frisk could see he was about to cry.
I WISH I COULD HAVE BEEN A BETTER FATHER TO THEM. I PROMISED THAT I WOULD ALWAYS BE BY THEIR SIDE, EVEN AFTER BEING SENT TO THE VOID, BUT... I REALIZED THAT I AM WASTING MY TIME. THEY DON'T NEED ME ANYMORE. THEY PROBABLY WOULDN'T LIKE TO SEE ME AFTER EVERYTHING I HAVE DONE TO THEM.
"Don't say that! I think they would be glad to see you again." Frisk assured him. "I mean, you deeply cared about them and did everything to offer them proper conditions and-"
YES, BUT... I HAVE NOT GIVEN THEM ENOUGH LOVE AND AFFECTION. He sighed sadly.
Frisk sighed too. They had a feeling that Sans and Papyrus didn't hate him. They just knew it, but Gaster didn't believe.
"But... they never gave up on you, right?" They asked.
Gaster had a moment of realization. His eyes widened, but then the sadness and regret took control.
I DID NOT DESERVE, THEN...
"Gaster..."
Frisk then said something they never thought they would mention it ever again.
"I would've really liked to have a father who would do everything to give me a good life."
Gaster, curious, looked at the child. WHAT DO YOU MEAN?
"Toriel is my mom now, and she's the best, but... I've never had a father that cared about me." Frisk admitted. "You know... before I fell into the Underground. My real parents weren't... great. They were very mean to me, specially my father."
Gaster felt bad for them, as Frisk noticed it by his expression.
"Actually, they're the reason why I ran away from my past home." They said. "I fled to the forest and I found the Mount Ebott. I curiously explored it, but then I fell... It was the best thing that happened to me, to be honest."
I AM SORRY ABOUT YOUR PARENTS.
"It's okay. At least I found great friends and a fantastic mom." Frisk said, smiling, despite remembering their mean parents. "You are a way better father than my real one. You shouldn't say you're the worst."
Gaster didn't answer.
"You may have not spent much time with them, but I don't think Sans and Papyrus wouldn't be happy to see you." Frisk said.
BUT I MADE THEM FEEL LIKE THEY WERE ANNOYING ME... I SHOULD HAVE NEVER DONE THAT.
"I understand, but, just so you know... I think you already made it clear to them that you cared about them, which is why they were always there for you even if you distanced yourself."
Gaster stayed silent. He looked away and stared at the sun going down, thoughtful. The sky was getting darker already. Frisk looked at the stars for a while before talking to their new friend.
"We better go inside." Frisk said. "It's getting dark and Toriel's going to be worried about me."
He nodded, following the child, who was walking in the direction of the house.
Heh... I just wanted to write Frisk and Gaster talking, and you know... opening to each other.
I also had this sad headcanon that Frisk's biological parents were abusive and they were the reason why the child climbed the mountain. Sorry ;v;