Rubbing his temples with both of his hands; and keeping a hold tightly on the cigarette in his right, Gaster turned his attention from the larger monster. His eyes training on the Rubik's cube on his desk. Partially from not wanting to give the monster his attention; mostly from the fact that the blaring lights were contributing to his self-inflicted headache. The larger monster's voice broke silence once more, and his massive paw rested itself on the scientist's shoulder.
"I understand that the outcomes are once again less than desireable, however-"
He was quickly cut off by Gaster, who sneered at the remark.
"'Less than desireable,' you say, and yet, the situation isn't even on the spectrum of 'desireable'. Asgore, there are two outcomes in this situation. And, where you think it might be a 50/50, I'm afraid with my lack of intelligent assistants, I'm getting nowhere and my odds are lower than billions."
The scientist paused his speech to take a drag of his smoke, a sip of his coffee, and draw a long breath.
"Don't be so droll."
Asgore, now with a name, had to pause. Reciting a sentence in his head to try and make sense of what the other was trying to tell him- he was kind of slow with this kind of stuff. All he knew of the latest experiments were the criteria and what had to be met; which would be why he circled things in red gel pen. He took a moment to carefully consider Gaster's position, and then extended his large paw towards their much smaller skeletal hand. His face endearing and kind.
"Please, Gaster, you're pushing yourself too much. Come, we will have a break- I will make some tea. You can smoke, I won't reprimand it-"
"I'm going to Grillby's. I want alcohol, and some 'me' time."
Asgore craned his neck backwards in astonishment, and then cocked his head to the side. At three in the morning? The large monster went so far as to turn around to pace and consider the skeleton's words, but when he turned around, he wasn't given as much as a minute to reply. Gaster disappeared; which he had a tendency of doing. Asgore merely shrugged, and took this time to tidy up some of the mess in Gaster's office. The skeleton didn't have enough time to do it himself, and would surely appreciate it greatly.
Meanwhile, the slender figure appeared just outside of the Grillby's bar. Pushing the door open with his full hand, and carrying his jacket in the other- his charcoal-grey turtleneck seemed almost black in the dim lighting. The fire elemental behind the counter glared him down; his eyes affixing on the scientist, before relaxing, and going back to cleaning the glass in their hand.
"If you're here to get drunk-"
The elemental started, but was soon cut off by Gaster throwing himself down into a stool, grumbling loudly. Gaster's face was usually cold, and stern, but Grillby was almost like a brother to him. One that he quite often would share his troubles with- in that element, Grillby was a brother to everyone, though. Only issue being, he was very confrontational, and not good with crowds. One person at a time, and one person only.
The skeleton reached out to take the glass that Grillby had filled in anticipation when they'd entered the bar, and pulled it to his teeth, allowing the liquid to pour into the pit of his ribcage. The stubbornness written on Gaster's face like a poem.
"I'm not going to get drunk, but I'm going to get a buzz and it's best you not argue with me."
The elemental chuckled, setting his cloth on the counter; on close inspection, they DID have an odd mouth of many holes from cheekbone to cheekbone, akin to a creature that's mouth may be stitched together. The rumbling in the bottom of Grillby's throat suggesting that he seemed to be rather amused.
"..and if I do argue?"
Gaster squinted in response to the elemental's retort, pushing his cigarette butt onto their arm to get it back to smoldering, and then puffing off of it. They rolled their skull back as they attempted to think of a comeback, fixed their glasses, and then downed another long mouthful of alcohol. Slamming the empty glass on the counter, and pointing his index finger right against the bridge between Grillby's eyes.
"I'll... do something to you. Come back later, the comeback department quit before it started."
They both tried to hold a straight face for some time after that, staring at eachother blankly, but it was only a matter of minutes in that they'd both burst out in laughter, Gaster letting out a rusty, hearty laugh, like it was coming through dusty and dry lungs.
Looking at eachother, the two took a moment to quiet down. Gaster taking another puff off of his smoke, with a smile still stretched across his face. His eyes flicked to the floor beneath the stool.
"The tests came back positive again."
Gaster stated, turning back to the glass on the counter. Grillby was swift to refill it, while his steady and firm expression didn't change. The smile had completely disappeared from before, and his tone took on that of a more therapeutic manner. One of a friend. Grillby's hand rested itself on Gaster's shoulder, giving it a gentle carress, before retreating into the kitchen.
"No, no- I don't need something to eat."
Gaster quickly affirmed, but Grillby insisted on doing what he was doing. He returned with a blanket, one that was obviously flame-retardant given the fact that it wasn't burning. He tossed it over the shoulders of his friend, and his gaze lowered, while he leaned over the counter. Grillby seemed very insistent, now.
"You're sick."
Grillby stated, standing upright once again, and then leaning against the wine rack to rest his aching back. Gaster seemed confused. How did Grillby know? It was true, after all- just last week he'd caught a cold. Gaster shuffled under the heavy blankets, tucking himself into it, before he averted his gaze. Just the fact that the other would know from barely touching him made him embarrassed, and his face became dusted with colour. Grillby smirked, and pulled the glass away from Gaster.
"You need to sleep. You got your buzz, you got your blanket, now go and take a long snooze, bookworm. You're harder on yourself than the vodka you fancy, and we can't have you getting a migraine again. You become even less productive when you overwork yourself."
Gaster grumbled, peering to his phone so that he could send a message to one of his colleagues. Alphys, his apprentice in robotics and engineering, and his second-hand assistant in the long-term project.
[WD_GASTER_76] : I'm terribly sorry. I've caught a cold and will be taking tomorrow off.
[ALPHYS] : and you know what, that's ok! lmao!
[WD_GASTER_76] : ...You're sure you can handle this project alone.
[ALPHYS] : yep! =^.^=
[ALPHYS] : although i may need to um...
[ALPHYS] : borrow your timetables! i'm such a clutz, ughhh
[ALPHYS] : i lost mine i'm so stupid
[WD_GASTER_76] : Enough of that, you're a brilliant mind. Sometimes it feels like you're just fishing for compliments.
[WD_GASTER_76] : Keys to my office are where they always are. It recognizes your hand signature if you prefer, though.
[ALPHYS] : umm! okay! thank you dr gaster..
[WD_GASTER_76] : ...
[WD_GASTER_76] : Don't mention it.
Gaster set his phone down with a disgruntled huff, and then stuffed it into his pocket. He took his stand, and moved his stool aside, looking at his colleague with eyes that could only described by two pissholes in snow. Grillby nodded, knowing Gaster was to depart shortly, and thus, he did. The skeleton gathered up his labcoat, and then disappeared through the door, leaving not a footprint in the snow.
