This is a Valentine's short story in my The Man in the Void series. I really hope you enjoy it. Comments and reviews are welcomed! Also if you have a holiday you'd like to see me do, write a review and tell me what the holiday is!
Summary: February 14th. The worst day in human and monster history. How was she going to last through the day with two skeletons vying for her attention? Will her friendships last through heartbreak? Will Gaster get a chance to admit his attraction? But more importantly... Will Papyrus ever tell Mettaton he has a crush on the flamboyant robot?!
She woke up one morning and felt a stirring deep in her soul, looking over at miniature calendar that Papyrus had gotten her and the clock Sans had found in the dump—the tall skelebrother found she hated not knowing what day it was when she woke up from her time in the Circle jails and Sans knew she didn't sleep many nights from nightmares, a clock helped keep track of the time—and what she saw made a queasy feeling rise in her gut as she saw the date.
February 14: the worst day in all of history.
Sighing and throwing her blankets over her face, she considered going back to sleep. Sleep could always be the answer, couldn't it? She knew that Sans would agree with that thought... Just as she was drifting back to sleep, Papyrus threw the door open, carrying in a tray of breakfast foods. Pancakes and syrup piled high on the plate with bacon from her case were balanced on the tray with a cup of coffee and orange juice.
"SISTER! YOU MUST GET UP!" She groaned loudly, slowly taking the blanket off her face and slowly sat up, sitting her pillows behind her as Papyrus set the tray on her lap. "I HAVE MADE YOUR FAVORITES. USING THE COOKBOOK YOU GAVE ME!" She smiled a little, looking over at Papyrus.
"Aww... Thank you Papy." When he leaned down, she kissed him on the cheekbone, causing him to blush a pale orange and laugh. "You're such a sweetheart. Mettaton will be a lucky robot one day~" She teased, smiling a little more as he blushed even darker, moving to cover his face with his red gloved hands.
"STOP THIS TEASING. WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE IT?" He whined, causing her to laugh, patting the spot beside her. He reluctantly sat down, pouting as much as he could for a naturally smiling skeleton.
"I'm sorry Papy. You know I love you." She smiled and leaned against him, beginning to slowly eat. "Besides, no one could love you more than I do. Not even Mettaton. Gaster probably does." Papyrus smiled and stole a piece of bacon, humming a little.
"FATHER WANTED TO TAKE YOU ON A DATE TONIGHT. SANS TOLD HIM A BAD WORD THEN SLAMMED THE DOOR IN HIS FACE." She sighed once Papyrus said this, taking another bite of the fluffy pancakes. "I TOLD HIM TO CALL ME AND ASK FOR YOU. I CAN SEE HE REALLY LIKES YOU!"
"Yeah, I'm sure he does but... I know Sans doesn't. He's just trying to show up his dad... And I'm not going to be used like that." Papyrus frowned a little, looking down at her.
"HOW ARE YOU CERTAIN THAT SANS DOES NOT LIKE YOU?" She just shrugged, looking up at him with syrup on her lips before licking it off. "I AM FAIRLY CERTAIN IF YOU JUST GIVE HIM A CHANCE..."
"Papyrus, he doesn't like me. I don't think he'll ever like me truly. I'll probably just... Sneak out so he doesn't see me and spend my time in Waterfall or something..." She finished up the pancakes, sighing happily as Papyrus stole another piece of bacon. "You know you can have the bacon. I'm full. You made too much food Papyrus." He smiled brightly, picking up the tray after climbing off the bed.
"SHOULD I CALL FATHER? YOU COULD SPEND TODAY WITH HIM!" Papyrus suggested, causing her to smile a little. Ever since Asgore's Christmas party, she hadn't seen much of the Royal Scientist... Which she was a little saddened by. She liked spending time with him. He was kind of dorky—which she liked—and he was kind of cute for a skeleton.
"...Yeah... I'd like that. Thank you Papy. Just don't tell Sans." Papyrus smiled and nodded, leaving the room to allow her to get dressed for the day. She could faintly hear Papyrus and Sans talking, looking at the window before opening it and climbing out, dropping down off the windowsill to the snowy ground below. Luckily, she had grabbed her coat before sneaking out. She sighed and started off towards Waterfall, walking right past the Royal Scientist's house.
She heard the door open as she walked by and soon the tall skeleton was walking beside her, silent.
They got to Waterfall, the trek silent other than snow crunching under their boots. Finally, as they reached the crystal room, she stopped and sat down against the wall, waiting for Gaster to slowly ease down next to her. Finally, he did so, stretching his bad leg out in front of him. She just looked up at the crystals, sighing softly.
"...Do you miss the stars? I mean... I know you've been on the surface just recently... But do you miss them?" Gaster finally asked after a while of silence, causing her to look over at him. He was looking up at the stars with a saddened expression, almost frowning.
"...I do... I loved sitting on roofs and looking up at the stars... And laying out in fields just to watch meteor showers... no matter how cold it was..." He chuckled at that, laying his head back against the wall as she laughed a little as well. "That's probably why I was always sick." He laughed more, smiling now.
"When we... Were still on the surface, I loved looking at the stars... Asgore would probably say I spent most of my time staring up at the sky with my head in the clouds... He'd be right; he always is." She smiled a little, wrapping her coat around her and pulling her gloves up onto her hands. He looked over at her, looking down at her hands. "You always wear those..."
"Oh... Yeah Asgore wants me to... He thinks my hand might scare monsters down here. They don't have any reason to be worried; I'd never hurt anyone down here... Except Sans. But then it'd be just a slap." He snorted at that, looking away from her. "...I know he's just trying to hurt you by trying to get me... But no one understands what I went through... No one will ever understand..." He looked back at her, looking genuinely shocked.
"I... Assumed he liked you... That is why I've been staying away." She just shook her head, looking down at her hands. "What the actual fuck? He knows I already beat myself up for all the shit I've put them through; he doesn't have to pull you into it. You've done nothing to deserve this bullshit treatment." He pulled his phone out, thumbs tapping furiously at the keypad before huffing; she opened her mouth to speak but soon closed it, watching in amusement. "Of course, the little rat has me blocked."
"Dr. Gaster?"
"And of course Papyrus would answer his phone but he could tell I'm upset so he wouldn't give the phone to Sans so I could curse him to high heavens." There was more tapping as he growled, causing her to look up at him.
"Doctor Gaster."
"And Asgore wouldn't agree with my anger! Which I don't fucking know why he wouldn't. He raised the little shithead. Sans can't help but bring that up EVERY FUCKING OPPORTUNITY HE CAN."
Finally, she had enough, looking at him. "GASTER!" He stopped his ranting, looking at her. "It's okay... Calm down." He frowned a little, looking at her before shaking his head.
"It's not... It's not okay. He shouldn't use someone to get back at me. Especially someone like you... I know you've gone through a lot of stuff... And he shouldn't use anyone to make me mad or hurt me." She looked at him before slowly looking down at her hands and taking her gloves off to stretch skeletal fingers. When she arrived down here, it had only been her left hand but as she used her magic and trained with Papyrus, her right hand had slowly begun turning. "...You're a necromancer..."
She nodded, looking down at her hands. "Yeah... Have been for ages. Since I was five... When they found out I was one then... Stuff happened. That's all I want to say." He slowly nodded before standing up with a crack and a pop.
"Come on. Let me... Take you home. Make you some food?" He offered a hand, causing her to look up. "And even if you don't want food we can... Watch a movie or something?" His cheekbones turned a light lavender as she slowly took his hand, pulling herself up.
"Alright. But only because I really want to see the inside of your house." He laughed as she smiled, putting her gloves into the pockets of her coat before pulling it on. He moved to help her, causing her to blush a little which caused him to chuckle and offer his hand again. "Now how do I know you won't be sneaky and teleport us there?"
"...You got me." She laughed as he smiled a little, starting to walk back towards his house. "You've never been to my house before. I just realized that."
"Yeah. Sans won't even let me leave the house without a body guard. He said that 'that sick freak of a scientist might experiment on you.' I'm assuming he means you because Alphys is pretty nice." Gaster's face fell a little when she said this, frowning. "But I mean... I don't feel scared of you." He stopped walking, looking down as she looked up at him. "Doctor Gaster?..."
"You aren't scared of me?" He asked softly as she shook her head, smiling a little.
"No. You've given me no reason to be afraid of you and... I actually like spending time with you." She smiled and put a hand on his arm, looking up at him with a soft smile. He slowly nodded and smiled a little, starting to walk again as she looped her arm through his. His face was a light lavender as she smiled up at him. "And... I've got to admit... I like how you look when you blush. That's why I say things that make you blush."
He blushed even more at the admittance, his face turning a darker shade of purple as she laughed and shook her head. "That was very mean. Teasing me like that." He spoke, looking at her with a grin as she laughed even more. "Come on. Let's take a shortcut." She smiled and nodded, holding onto his arm.
"Alright fine. I guess a shortcut wouldn't hurt." He grinned and grabbed onto her before teleporting to his front step, opening the door for her. "Oh, such a gentleman~" She teased, smiling and stepping in after kicking the snow off her boots. She took her coat off, not even being able to hang it before he had grabbed it from her, hanging it and offering her his arm.
"Come. I want to show you something." She smiled and followed him, letting him lead her through the house. She barely got a chance to look around before he was leading her into a massive room filled with instruments of every kind. "I've been collecting these for years... I want to play you something." She gasped a little and looked at him, watching him sit down at the grand piano in the center of the room.
"Alright... If you want to play something, who am I to say no?" She smiled and sat down beside him, leaning against him as he began to play a beautiful piano piece. Gaster's fingers glided across the ivory keys while she closed her eyes and just enjoying the music he was playing for her. "This is beautiful Gaster... How did you learn to play?"
"I taught myself. I know how to play all of these instruments; I love music... It's kept me sane all these years." He smiled and continued to play as she sighed softly, relaxing against him. "I haven't played for anyone in years... Thank you for letting me play for you..." The song slowed down to a stop as she opened her eyes, looking up at him.
"Oh, I love listening to music. I'll listen to anything you want to play. I'd love to learn." He smiled brightly and began playing again, letting her lean against him. He played music for her for a long while, lunchtime coming around and going. By the time he stopped, dinner had come and she slowly stood, stretching.
"Let me cook you dinner. It was my fault that Papyrus couldn't cook you lunch and dinner." Gaster offered his hand again, smiling softly as she slowly took it, nodding. "What's your favorite meal?"
"My... Favorite?" He nodded, smiling softly as she looked down. "I really like Shepard's Pie but I don't know if the Underground has the stuff to make that." He hummed a little, frowning. "But you can make anything you like. I'll eat anything."
"How about macaroni and cheese? I can imagine you're quite tired of spaghetti." She laughed a little, looking down and nodding. She really was tired of spaghetti.
"It's a date then." His smile fell into a look of shock and she walked out of the music room, looking around the household that she could see. She eventually found the kitchen, looking around and humming softly. He quickly shook the shock off and teleported into the kitchen, grabbing her shoulders.
"Did you... Mean that?"
"Huh? What? Did I mean that it was a date? Um... Yeah I did... Consider this your first date with me." He practically lit up, picking her up and spinning around as he laughed and hugged her. "AHHH! What are you doing?"
"I'm just... I'm happy. I've wanted a chance with you ever since I first saw you and now... I get that opportunity. So thank you." She smiled and patted his cheekbone as he set her down, causing her to clear her throat.
"And... You know if you play your cards right, you might... Get a kiss." He lit up even more, grinning widely before whirling away to make dinner. After dinner was ate and laughs had from the jokes he told, he walked her home, Sans glaring out the window of his room. "Thank you Doctor Gaster. I've had... A lot of fun today. Thank you for being my Valentine."
"Please... Call me Gaster. And... It's still... Not over." He pulled a single silk rose out of his coat, handing it to her. "I'll love you until this flower wilts..." She blushed heavily, taking it from him before pulling him down to press a soft kiss to his teeth. He blushed a little and wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her closer. She pulled away after a moment, causing him to chase after her lips, a soft frown on his face.
"Thank you for the lovely time Gaster... We should... Do this again sometime. I'll get your number from Papyrus and text you?" He nodded and let her go, smiling as she walked into the house and waved before shutting the door. Papyrus was waiting for her with a wide grin.
"HOW WAS YOUR DATE SISTER-MOTHER?"