Asgore was very curious about what Gaster wanted to show him. He always loved seeing his inventions but there was something about the way he spoke on the phone...
He'd sounded, relived? And happy... definitely happy. Gaster wasn't really the kind of person to show emotions and most of the time spoke in a monotone. Whatever made Gaster happy was something worth seeing even at one in the morning.
He walked though the labs in silence, it was a really creepy place when no one was around, it was dark, ominous, quiet and there was a sterile smell, it seemed like a setting out of a horror movie. Asgore tried not to think about it as he made his way to Gaster's office.
Once he got there he noticed the door was ajar, so was the door to Gaster's personal lab, that was odd. Gaster usually locked the door if he wasn't inside and he never left any doors open.
Asgore decided to knock on the office door first as it was closer.
"YOU CAN COME IN, YOUR MAJESTY," Gaster called from inside.
Asgore opened the door and saw Gaster sitting at his desk. The normally well dressed doctor was a mess, he was fidgeting with a cigarette packet, his shirt was wrinkled and the top two buttons were undone, he wasn't wearing his tie, badge or lab coat. The tie and badge were on the floor next to him but he didn't see the lab coat anywhere. The missing lab coat was the weirdest, Gaster always wore it at all times when he was working, something must have happened to it. That made Asgore worry.
Asgore sat in the seat in front of the desk and looked at the folders Gaster had sitting there. It was his soul study research, Asgore had seen some of them before, Gaster had told him all about how he was trying to make an fake human soul but as far as Asgore knew every single attempt ended in failure.
"So, what was it you wanted to show me?" Asgore asked.
"YES, WELL, DO YOU REMEMBER MY ARTIFICIAL SOUL PROJECT?"
"I do, did you succeed this time?"
"SORT OF," Gaster handed him a folder and Asgore opened it to see a photo of a monster's soul in a capsule, it was white as all monster souls were but it was faintly glowing blue and yellow. "I THOUGHT THAT MAYBE IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND HUMAN SOULS I NEEDED TO STUDY MONSTERS', I TRIED TO MAKE AN ARTIFICIAL MONSTER SOUL BUT MOST OF THEM ENDED IN FAILURE AS WELL."
"But this one?" Asgore asked holding up the picture.
"I FIGURED THAT SINCE SOULS ARE BIOLOGICAL THAT MAYBE IT NEEDED DNA SO I USED MY OWN BONE MARROW AND MAGIC."
Asgore was impressed, this was definitely something huge. "That worked?"
"IT DID. I WAS GOING TO EXPERIMENT ON IT BUT..." Gaster trailed off.
"What happened?"
Gaster was hesitating which make Asgore all the more desperate to find out what Gaster had done. He hadn't seen his friend look so worried since he told him about his people and Asgore just wanted to help him feel better.
Gaster was about to explain when they heard a small cry.
Asgore's eyes went wide. There was no way... "Gaster? Is that a baby crying?"
Gaster shot to his feet. "I'LL BE RIGHT BACK," he said and left the room, leaving Asgore very confused and in shock.
Gaster ran straight to the lab and picked Sans up. He just had to start crying at the worst time, if he had just another minute to explain... Well, there was nothing Gaster could do about it now. Sans seemed to calm down quickly, he probably just wanted attention or found himself alone and got scared. The infant stared up at his father and wriggled to get comfortable, he seemed very content where he was and happy to be held.
Gaster took a deep breath before returning to his office, Asgore was still seated but turned when he heard Gaster enter. Asgore was on his feet as soon as he saw what Gaster was carrying. "Is... is that a baby skeleton?" He asked in disbelief.
"YES, THIS IS COMIC SANS, OR SANS FOR SHORT."
Asgore walked over slowly and looked down at the infant that was wrapped in Gaster's grey hoodie. "Is he...? Um, is his soul the one you made artificially?"
"YES, I NEVER DESIGNED IT TO HAVE A BODY OR EVEN BE ALIVE SO HE'S VERY WEAK. HE JUST STARTED TO FORM A BODY ONE DAY AND WELL, LONG STORY, SHORT, THIS WAS THE RESULT."
"Wow, how is that even possible...?"
"I THINK IT WAS BECAUSE I POURED SO MUCH OF MY OWN MAGIC INTO THE SOUL, I REALLY WANTED IT TO WORK. I WAS TIRED OF THE FAILURES. I ALSO INJECTED A LOT OF MY DNA."
Asgore didn't know what to say, he thought this was amazing. He looked at Sans who was looking back up at him, he appeared to be quite curious and lifted an arm up to Asgore who gave him his pinky finger to hold onto. Although Asgore was so huge and the baby so small that the tiny little hand couldn't really hold onto the finger, he still tried though. "He's very cute," Asgore stated.
Gaster let out a small laugh, "YOU THINK ALL BABIES ARE CUTE."
"True," Asgore managed to pull his eyes away from Sans and he smiled at his friend. "Well, congratulations on becoming a father!"
Gaster laughed awkwardly, it was weird hearing that, especially since just the other day he had planned on putting Sans in an orphanage. "THANK YOU, BUT I'M NOT SURE I'M CUT OUT FOR THIS."
"Oh nonsense! I'm sure you'll be a great father and besides this gives you an excuse to take time off every now and then! Or, well, it stops you making excuses of why you shouldn't!"
Gaster huffed at that, he'd argue but he knew Asgore was right, he'd actually have to take time off now. "I'M NOT READY FOR THIS," he admitted.
"Not ready? Why? Surely it took time for him to develop. But he is wrapped in your hoodie not a blanket... And why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"
"I... I WASN'T GOING TO KEEP HIM."
"What do you mean?" Asgore asked. Surly Gaster wouldn't have planned on killing the child... No, Asgore knew his friend would never to that, especially not when it was a skeleton.
"I WAS GOING TO GIVE HIM TO AN ORPHANAGE." Hearing that certainly relived Asgore. "I FIGURED THAT I COULDN'T CARE FOR A CHILD NOT WITH MY JOB, BUT I GOT... ATTACHED TO HIM. AFTER ALL I'M NO LONGER THE LAST OF MY KIND. I REALLY WANT TO KEEP HIM NOW."
"I see, but still why don't you have blankets or clothes for him? Even if you planned on giving him up you'd still need that."
"LIKE I SAID I WAS GOING TO TELL YOU BEFORE THE EARTHQUAKE, I'D JUST DECIDED TO KEEP HIM AND FIGURED I COULD USE SOME HELP, YOU KNOW FOR ADVICE AND GETTING SUPPLIES. I HAD TIME, SANS WASN'T MEANT TO BE 'BORN' FOR ANOTHER MONTH. THE CAPSULE AND HIS LIFE SUPPORT WERE POWERED BY THE CORE SO WHEN THE POWER WENT OUT... I THOUGHT I LOST HIM."
"Oh my... He seems fine now though... Very small but alright."
Gaster looked down at Sans, he did look fine, he was holding onto Asgore's huge finger as best he could in his small hand. He seemed to be intensely listening to them talk but Gaster was worried about what the determination had done to his soul, he'd have to get it out now that it'd done it's job. He considered telling Asgore about that but decided against it. He didn't want the King to worry.
"YES, I MANAGED TO SAVE HIM BUT HE'S STILL VERY FRAGILE. HE ONLY HAS ONE HP."
Asgore let out a shocked gasp. "Only one? That's... not good..."
"I KNOW, I'LL PROTECT HIM."
"Of course you will, you're his father, that's your job. Now, how about I help you out? Judging by the hoodie I'd say you really don't have anything for him?"
"I'VE MAKE A TEMPORARY CRIB AND I SENT OUT ONE OF MY FOLLOWERS FOR FOOD, OTHER THAN THAT I HAVE NOTHING."
"Right, I'll see what I can do. I think I still have some of Asriel's baby things, we never got around to getting rid of them once he outgrew them. You can have that."
"OH, YOUR MAJESTY YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THAT."
"I don't mind, it's not like I have any use for them, besides shops aren't open at this time."
Gaster knew Asgore wouldn't back down on that and besides he was kind of desperate right now. "THANK YOU, YOU'RE TOO KIND."
Asgore patted Gaster's shoulder with his free hand. "Don't mention it. Now, I really must ask you something."
Gaster smiled at him knowingly, "YOU WANT TO HOLD HIM, DON'T YOU?"
"Yes," Asgore said quietly.
Gaster wasn't surprised, he knew Asgore would want to hold Sans from the beginning. "JUST BE VERY CAREFUL, LIKE I SAID HE ONLY HAS ONE HP."
"Don't worry, I will be."
Gaster very carefully handed Sans over to Asgore who took him equally as carefully. Gaster couldn't help but laugh at how happy Asgore looked and Sans didn't really seem to care that he'd been handed over to someone other than his father, in fact he seemed to have gotten bored of listening to them and was falling asleep again.
"This really is amazing, Gaster. I really can't believe you did this."
"NEITHER CAN I. I REALLY CAN'T BELIEVE THERE'S ANOTHER SKELETON AND HE'S MY OWN SON."
"I am really happy for you. I take it no one knows about him?"
Gaster nodded, "I WOULD'VE TOLD PEOPLE BEFORE HE WAS BORN BUT..."
"It's alright, Sans is alright, you can tell people now. I'm sure Grillby and his family will be overjoyed to here the news!"
Gaster laughed. "THEY'LL PROBABLY ALL RUSH OVER TO SEE HIM. I HOPE BEING CROWDED BY FIRE ELEMENTALS WON'T MAKE IT TOO HOT FOR HIM."
"I'm sure it'll be fine. You should call them later. They're quite worried about you."
"I KNOW, I WILL."
Sans had now fallen asleep in Asgore arms, that was very fast but he seemed content and Gaster couldn't help but feel so happy, he loved his son.
"You'll have to take a couple of weeks off, you know," Asgore said, "you'll have to get Sans settled in and although I'd be more than happy to babysit for you, there will be times when I'm too busy. You'll have to look for a suitable sitter."
"I KNOW, I'LL TRY TO BRING SANS WITH ME AS MUCH AS I CAN BUT IF I'M DOING ANY KIND OF RISKY EXPERIMENT I CAN'T HAVE HIM AROUND. BUT EVERYTHING'S ON HOLD FOR NOW. I'LL HAVE TO MAKE SURE SANS IS HEALTHY ENOUGH BEFORE I FEEL SAFE TAKING HIM OUT OF THE LAB."
"And then you are taking a holiday. At least two weeks, preferably more. I won't hear any excuses, you are way overdue for a holiday."
"I WILL, I HAVE A LOT OF THINGS TO DO TO MAKE SURE SANS WILL BE ALRIGHT AND LOTS OF THINGS I'LL NEED TO GET."
"Good, now I suppose I better give him back to you. I'm going to get some things for him, I'll be right back."
Asgore handed Sans back to Gaster and left in an exited hurry, leaving Gaster alone with his sleeping son. Gaster carried him back to his lab and placed him back in the crib. He smiled down at his son, feeling even more relived, all his fears about telling Asgore really were pointless, in fact he hadn't seen the King that happy in years. Gaster felt rather silly for being so nervous about it all and he was really happy he had the support of his good friend. Although he really couldn't totally relax yet, he decided that he should probably try to fix the determination problem before it got worse.
Being very gentle Gaster used blue magic on Sans's soul so he could see it. It wasn't good, his soul was more deformed than it was before, it seemed to be slowly melting, it looked really goopy. It didn't have any effect on his body, yet. Gaster didn't know if it would but he wasn't about to find out. This clearly wasn't a good thing, he had to get the determination out but he didn't know how. He couldn't just stick a needle in and extract it that way, it'd take out other things that the soul needed and his son was far too delicate for that.
He'd have to isolate the determination but he couldn't damage the soul in the process.
He let go of Sans's soul with a sigh. He still had a little determination left over, he could study that and hopefully find a way to get it out of his son.
Asgore returned not long after he left, carrying a small crib and several bags. He noticed that the light in Gaster's office was off so he knocked on the door to the lab.
"COME IN."
Asgore walked into the lab and looked around. It was a mess, he saw the open capsule that Sans had been in, the lid on the floor. He noticed a lot of papers and various equipment scattered over tables. It didn't seem like a good place to keep a child but he knew it was probably just like this because Gaster had panicked, he was usually well organised.
Asgore was glad he'd brought a crib with a mattress, he had wondered what had happened to Gaster's lab coat but he wasn't too surprised to see that Sans was laying on it, still sleeping peacefully.
Gaster was hunched over one of the tables seemly experimenting on some kind of red substance. Asgore sighed and shook his head, he really thought Gaster worked too much.
"Gaster? I brought some things for you."
Gaster stood up and turned slowly. He looked at all the bags Asgore had brought and smiled. "WOW, THAT'S A LOT."
Asgore laughed. "Well you'll need it. Raising a child is not really easy you know. I'll help you as best I can."
They set up the crib as fast as they could and moved Sans into it. Gaster had thought that lifting Sans and moving him into a better crib would've woken him, it didn't, that caused Gaster to check his vitals. Sans was fine, nothing was wrong with him.
Asgore smiled down at the sleeping child. "What a deep sleeper."
Gaster nodded. "I HOPE IT'S NOT A BAD THING."
"It isn't," Asgore reassured. "Sleeping will do no harm. In fact if he's a good sleeper and doesn't wake a lot at night, you'll get a good nights rest as well. Asriel was a loud child, it was really hard to get him to sleep and he woke up and cried all night long."
Gaster just hummed in agreement, really not knowing how to respond to the King who had some tears in his eyes at the thought of his child.
While the King's words did reassure him, Gaster was still worried for his son, he'd probably always would worry about him.
After that they went through everything Asgore had brought for him; toys, blankets, clothes, bibs, bottles, children's books, advice books, Gaster was defiantly set.
Once everything was done King and Doctor sat watching over Sans as Asgore gave his old friends advice and tips until they both fell asleep from exhaustion.
Gaster was awoken in the late morning by quiet crying and once again he briefly felt confusion. He really had to get used to having a child.
He got up quickly and picked up his son with more confidence this time, after all Asgore had told him how to correctly pick up and hold a baby. Sans didn't stop crying entirely but it didn't seem so urgent now. Still Gaster didn't want his son to be crying so he picked up the formula again. He was most likely hungry.
He really was and stopped crying the moment it was offered to him. Gaster sighed in relief and sat down again.
He looked over to his right so he could see Asgore, who was at his blind side, he was leaning back in the chair, mouth open and snoring. Gaster laughed lightly at his friend and summoned a hand to shake him awake.
"Huh? Oh! Gaster, good morning!"
"GOOD MORNING, YOUR MAJESTY. I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU REALLY SLEPT IN THE LAB."
Asgore stretched and shrugged, "well, I was really tired."
"YOU KNOW THE PLACE STAFF WILL BE IN A PANIC, YES?"
Asgore groaned, "I know, I should probably go home so they don't send out a search party."
"THAT SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD IDEA. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE HELP WITH SANS."
Asgore stood up and walked closer to the baby and smiled again at him, Sans didn't take much notice, he was concentrating on eating. "I don't really want to leave yet."
"ASGORE, SANS WILL STILL BE HERE WHEN YOU COME BACK. YOU SHOULD GO BEFORE THE ROYAL GUARDS CAUSE THE WHOLE UNDERGROUND TO PANIC JUST BECAUSE THEY CAN'T FIND YOU."
"Right, right, I'll be back later. What do you want me to tell them?"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN? TELL THEM WHATEVER YOU WANT."
"They'll want to know where I was, I'll tell them I was with you but they'll want to know why. Can I tell them about Sans?"
Gaster shrugged. "I'M NOT GOING TO KEEP HIM A SECRET. I JUST DIDN'T WANT ANYONE TO KNOW UNTIL I HAD A CHANCE TO EXPLAIN. I DON'T WANT ANY RUMOURS TO BE SPREAD. BUT AS LONG AS YOU EXPLAIN EVERYTHING I DON'T MIND YOU TELLING PEOPLE. TAKE THE PRINT OUT OF MY RESEARCH IF YOU THINK IT'LL HELP."
Asgore looked happy about that, after all he was dying to tell everyone that his Royal Scientist had, had a child. "Alright, I'll see you later, Dr Gaster," Asgore said as he picked up the print out and turned to go home.
"I'LL SEE YOU LATER, SIRE." Gaster replied.
Left alone with his son again, Gaster had time to think. Things seemed a lot less hectic now that he knew what he was doing.
Sans finished his breakfast and Gaster put him back in the crib before going into his office quickly and grabbing some cereal to eat. As he ate he picked up his phone, he had even more missed calls and texts from Grillby's family.
He really needed to let them know he was alright but he knew that if he told all of them about Sans they'd all come running over and he wasn't up for being crowed by fires.
He went onto the group chat he had with the fire elemental family and spent a message. "I'M ALRIGHT, I WAS JUST VERY BUSY WITH SOMETHING. YOU CAN ALL STOP WORRYING."
It didn't take long for Grillby's mother to begin a long lecture about how Gaster had to contact them right away if something like this happened again. It was long, Gaster couldn't be bothered reading it all. Instead he sent a text to Grillby, if he was only going to tell one of them it was Grillby.
"HELLO, GRILLBY. COULD YOU COME TO THE LAB WHEN YOU HAVE TIME?"
A question mark was sent in return.
"I'VE DONE SOMETHING REALLY AMAZING BY ACCIDENT. WHILE TRYING TO MAKE A SOUL, I ACCIDENTALLY MADE A SKELETON BABY WITH MY OWN DNA AND MAGIC."
"What!?" Was the reply.
"I'll be right there, my bar was damaged so I can't open today anyway."
Gaster took a deep breath, he knew Grillby wouldn't be long, not when he told him just like that. It was so much easier now that he had told the King, telling everyone else was a walk in the park now.
Grillby was really excited to see what Gaster had done and he really wanted more information on how that was even possible. He was, of course, really happy for his friend, he couldn't imagine how Gaster felt, knowing that he was not alone anymore.
Grillby didn't knock on the door, he was too excited so he burst in instead. Normally Gaster would've been mad at his friend for that but he was in a good mood.
Gaster smiled at his old friend and pointed to Sans who had, once again, fallen asleep. "THIS IS SANS," he said.
"My god, you really did make a baby..." Grillby signed.
Gaster laughed at the flames amazement. "SIT DOWN AND I'LL EXPLAIN EVERYTHING."
Grillby listened to Gaster's story. He really couldn't believe it, a lot of the science stuff went over his head as always but he was still very happy for Gaster.
Once Gaster had finished his explanation Grillby signed happily, "congrats, this really is just incredible. We'll have to throw a party for you at my bar once it's fixed."
Gaster laughed and waved his hands to deny the idea, "OH, GRILLBY, YOU REALLY DON'T HAVE TO DO THAT.''
"If I don't throw one Mother will, you know that. And it will be much more over the top if she's the one throwing it. She won't even give you a choice."
Gaster nodded at that, "THAT'S TRUE... ALRIGHT THEN."
A small whine make them both jump, Sans had woken up, he yawned and stretched. He didn't start crying but he looked around for his father and made a happy sounding noise when he spotted him talking with a new person.
"He's woken up." Grillby pointed out.
The two men got up and stood over Sans who stared at the new person, he seemed to really be a curious kid. Gaster couldn't help but wonder about what he was thinking and, if he could speak, what he would say...
"DO YOU WANT TO HOLD HIM?" Gaster offered, Sans didn't seem to mind being held by strangers, he'd seemed very much at home with Asgore. Plus he looked really interested in the fire elemental.
Grillby shook his head. "Oh no, that's okay, you said he was really fragile, I wouldn't want to drop him or burn him."
"COME NOW, YOU WON'T BURN HIM AND YOU CERTAINLY WON'T DROP HIM."
"I don't know, I can't really control my heat that well if I'm really nervous."
Gaster sighed and touched Grillby's arm, suddenly, making the elemental jump. It didn't burn him though, it was warm, pleasant even. "YOU'RE GOOD. I TRUST YOU."
"Well, alright..." Grillby gave in, he did really want to hold his best friend's child but he was just a little nervous about it.
Gaster picked Sans up and handed him to Grillby who took him as carefully as he could, while he tried his best to cool down. Sans seemed to like the warmth, however, and settled nicely in Grillby's arms.
Grillby looked up from Sans and gave Gaster a wary look. He couldn't really sign with a child in his arms so that meant while holding Sans, he couldn't talk.
Gaster just gave him a reassuring smile. "YOU'RE DOING FINE, SANS SEEMS HAPPY."
Grillby relaxed a little and looked back down at the baby in his arms and gave a happy crackle of his flames.
Sans laughed a little at that and reached up a hand trying to touch Grillby's face but he couldn't quite reach so he began to babel incoherently instead.
"I THINK HE LIKES YOU," Gaster said with a smile, he was happy that his son liked both of his friends.
Grillby smiled at the child and without thinking he spoke for the first time in a long, long, time. "...I'm... glad..." His hoarse and unused voice surprised them both and they exchanged a look of shock.
After a moment of shocked silence Gaster laughed. "WOW, IF ALL WE HAD TO DO TO GET YOU TO TALK AGAIN WAS MAKE YOU HOLD A KID, I WOULD'VE MADE SANS A LONG TIME AGO."
Grillby rolled his eyes. "...Don't... get... used to... it... Once my... hands are... free... I'll go back... to talking... in sign language..." Grillby cleared his throat at the end, he hadn't spoke in so long that it almost hurt to do so and his throat felt dry and over used just by what little he had said.
"WELL, I'LL JUST HAVE YOU HOLD HIM FOR LONGER THEN," Gaster joked. "BUT SERIOUSLY IT'S GOOD TO HEAR YOUR VOICE AGAIN."
After a while Sans fell asleep again and Gaster decided it was time to tell the rest of Grillby's family and his Followers about Sans. He did so in a group call and before long he had people coming to his office to meet Sans. It was all very overwhelming for Gaster and it must be more so for the tiny babybones.
Gaster had then gone online to tell the rest of the Underground, only to find out that Asgore had done that for him, he'd posted some of Gaster's research and pictures and it seemed like everyone was talking about it and congratulating the Royal Scientist, they all seemed happy.
An artificial monster would certainly give hope to people, after all there were other species close to extinction, just none were as close as skeletons. It gave them hope that no other species had to die, if they could have children with only one parent. Of course the method was still experimental but Gaster did have hope that he could one day do it again.
Gaster didn't want to think about that right now. He happily took some new pictures of his sleeping son and posted them online, confirming the news and thanking everyone for their congratulations.