((I've regained so much fucking faith in this fandom xD I really did want to keep this platonic, and yEY y'all wanted that too 3 I apologize in advance for this chapter seeming a bit romantic? A friend helped me out by writing a bit of it and I think they wanted it to be romantic...))
((There is a mention of a male partner who is currently unidentified. Does anyone have any requests as to who it might be so I can use a name in future chapters? This excludes Papyrus and Sans because they are Gaster's sons. *Kinkshames all you sinners*))
((I'm also sorry for any lack of updates this story may or may not have, as well as how rushed it may be. If I take longer than two weeks to update, feel free to PM me reminding me to do it… there's an extremely plot-heavy story that I hope you'll like coming out soon that I plan to write at least half of before submitting the first chapter 3 ))
After several minutes of silence, Frisk took the pot off of the stove and poured powdery contents of a packet into the bowl, putting a fork in it and handing it to Gaster. "It's… it's kind of hot, and it's only ramen, so, uh, enjoy, I guess…" They took a seat beside the monster again, staring at the floor. "Are you feeling better?"
Gaster set the noodles on the floor, finding them too hot to hold. He turned to face Frisk. Remembering how badly his injuries hurt, no longer distracted by his companion's emotions. He seemed to wince, and lifted a hand and slowly rotated it side to side.
"Oh… um, if you… i-if you aren't going to eat right now, would you mind if I saw where it hurts? I…" They looked away, acting ashamed, and their voice grew extremely quiet. "I w-want to make sure you're… that you're alright…"
Gaster looked taken aback, having heard Frisk's whispers. He forced a smile and mimicked pressing buttons in his palm. Quickly recognizing what he wanted, the human handed him their phone.
'I wouldn't mind, though I am doubtful that you are aware of how to heal my species."
"I can still t-try, can't I?"
"I never said you couldn't try."
"Okay, w-well, where d-do you hurt? Just m-make a list…"
"Ribs. Face, also headache. Neck. Chest, hips, legs, right arm."
Frisk frowned at the long list. "W-was all of that from me…?" They clenched their shoulders and wrapped their arms around themself, looking shocked.
"No, no! Many things have hurt me before… when I arrived into this world, I got hurt a lot. Not your fault, alright?" Gaster's gaze softened.
"Alright," Frisk sighed, a wave of relief rushing over them. "Just say something in your language thing if what I'm doing hurts, okay,? Just stay still."
Frisk gently got to their knees, facing the former scientist and reaching upwards, gently running a finger over a crack going from his eye to the side of his head. Gaster moved as if he was going to move them away from him, but didn't, and let them continue.
"This looks like it hurts really bad…" Frisk withdrew their hand slowly. "Can you lie down and take your shirt and coat off, please?" They weren't exactly comfortable with the idea of someone taking their clothes off in front of them, but Gaster was a skeleton. Who cares?
Gaster flinched, his face flushing a bright shade of green as he slipped off his jacket and shirt, groaning as he lay down, whole body aching. Frisk's eyes widened. Two of his ribs were broken off before they even got halfway across to where they were supposed to be, leaving jagged, raw edges. Others had cracks going down the middle, or had large chips taken off of them.
"...this… this must hurt really badly…" Frisk murmured pitifully, and their hand accidently brushed one of the skeleton's broken ribs and Gaster's reaction was instantaneous.
"StOp!" He demanded loudly, having screamed out in agony and now panted heavily. It felt like the very very fiber of his being was being clawed at with even a gentle though to a damaged rib- skeleton's bones were very sensitive, and even a small scrape could cause serious pain.
"Oh-oh, I'm s-sorry! I'm s-sorry!" Frisk immediately withdrew their hand. "Are you o-okay? W-what did I d-do…?"
Gaster, who was clutching the phone in his hand, typed something and showed the phone to Frisk. "Don't touch."
"I just w-wanted to see if I c-could help you… I'm sorry…"
"You can help. You just don't know how yet… do you have human medicines here?"
Frisk nodded. "Yeah… should I see if any of them work on you…?" They asked quietly.
"Yes… they may contain elements that are used in healing my kind."
Frisk nodded in acknowledgement and left, returning a moment later with different tubes and bottles of differing sizes in their arms. They rested them on the floor next to Gaster.
"I'll be gentle, I promise. Just tell me if you really want me to stop." Frisk gently pat Gaster's head and gave a rare, patient smile. "I'll take care of you."
The scientist felt himself relax at the sight of a kind smile and gentle reassurance. He nodded, shutting his eyes and leaning his head back.
"Uh, I suppose I'll start with antibiotic on some of the abrasions, I guess…" Frisk opened a small, white tube and squirted some of its contents onto their finger, hesitating for a second or two before pressing it onto one of the chips in one of Gaster's rib.
Gaster winced, though it wasn't because of pain- just anticipation. He was never fond of being touched unless he shared a strong emotional bond with someone, or it was absolutely necessary. He hoped that this was absolutely necessary.
"Oh! How'd… h-how did that h-happen to your arm?" Frisk gently applied the rest of the medicine and pointed to Gaster's right arm. It was bent almost entirely the wrong way. "W-wait, don't answer that… just stay still…"
Frisk gently took the scientist's arm. They were no doctor, but it looked either broken or dislocated… even if it was just dislocated, they were in no position to hurt him to pop it back into place. "I don't really have a splint, but I have bandages, I guess…"
The human reached towards the messy pile of medicines and pulled out a roll of ace bandages. "This is going to be a little bit tight, but… I think it will help it heal… that's what human doctors do to broken bones." Gaster nodded his approval and lifted his arm, letting Frisk gently wrap it up in a tight cast. "There!" Um, I… I think that's all I'll really be able to do for now… I… I'll do some research on how to heal bones, and then I'll be able to do something other than waste your time with human medicine."
Gaster smiled. "Thank you. I shall be taking leave of here when I am healed enough to avoid human authorities and survive on my own."
Frisk's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean, on your own? Don't you have a family?"
"Of course I have a family. It's just that… they're quite hard to reach from here. The reasons are so hard to explain I fear that I'll mislead you…"
"That's alright… I just want to hear more about your family, if you wouldn't mind? Did you have a wife? What about kids?"
Gaster's face flushed a bright shade of green, glad he could avert Frisk's gaze by typing on the phone. "I did have a wife… we had two beautiful sons… Papyrus and Sans." He chuckled nervously and looked to the side, as if shameful. "My wife and I got divorced, and she wanted nothing to do with me or my sons, so I got custody of them. Before we were… separated, I… I, excuse me, took a male partner… but, then… one thing led to another, and… I was apart from them for many years, so long I think they've forgotten me, and somehow I wound up here. I have my suspicions as to why, though…"
"What are your suspicions?"
"Long story short, a friend tried to return me to my family from where I was lost in, but I was transported here, instead."
"Hm…" Frisk knew they weren't getting the entirety of the story, but decided not to push it too much more. "Well… some time, do you think you can tell me about what you think? Maybe I can help you find your family! Maybe I can get you all reunited!"
"I'm sorry to say it's not that simple... Uh, if you'd like, I can type up a little summary of what happened in a while. Would you like that?"
Frisk nodded. "I'd like to know more. I don't want to sound rude, but I'm not accustomed to seeing… your kind, and it's human nature to be curious."
"I should know. I was my civilization's royal scientist, I conducted studies on human emotion and behavioral tendencies in my early years, but the project was cut off short when it was decided that there were more pressing matters to attend to."
"If you'd like, I guess that, uh, at some point I can tell you some things about humans… I think it'd help you out while you're living among us. If you'd like to know, I mean..."
"I suppose that it would be helpful, and the study was quite intriguing… yes, Frisk. That would be nice."
"I'd talk to you now, so you wouldn't get quite bored, but I have a lot of homework from school…"
"Homework?"
"Homework is like, worksheets that you take home from school to do in your own time and bring it back in, to prove you know the material."
"We don't have homework where I am from, but we do certainly have schools. What subjects are you struggling in?"
"Math, uh, and science… those two."
Gaster seemed to brighten. "I'm a scientist, so perhaps I can help? I educated a fair few youths that were looking to enter my fields of research when they grew older, so I'm led to believe that I will be able to help you, as well."
"That'd be wonderful! My science homework is the longest, so should we start with that one? We need to describe time dilation and how it happens…"
The skeleton twitched. "U-uhuh, yes, alright. Time. Lovely construct. Creative. Let's just get started, hm?"
Frisk, although confused by Gaster's sudden reaction to hearing about time, decided to ignore it. They dragged over their backpack and set it next to him.
Even though he isn't on , this is a shoutout to one of my best friends, Jake, that wrote nearly the entirety of this chapter for me when I was too busy with some schoolwork and being sick to finish it 3
