Chapter Text
Gaster sat at his usual table in the campus cafe, laptop out while he typed away on his laptop, sipping his third cup of espresso. He paused and took off his glasses, brushing his dark hair out of his eyes, taking a moment to pull his thoughts together. It had been a really long week, maybe a quick break would do him some good. It wasn't like he actually wanted to stop though, he just knew burning out his brain would make this take longer, and he had a deadline to keep up with. For now, he could afford giving himself five minutes to just enjoy his coffee and decompress.
The professor's eyes wandered to the window as he sipped his espresso. Outside, autumn leaves fluttered on the steady breeze, eventually falling to the ground where they'd crinkle under the feet of those walking by the little shop Gaster sat in. Term would start soon, which meant it would be back to teaching physics to young adults five days out of the week, and eating a lot more take out. Of course, there was always his sons to look forward too.
His son, Papyrus and Sans, only a few years apart in age, would now both be attending the university where he was currently working. Sans had already been attending, and was working on his third year for his robotics degree. Papyrus on the other hand, would be a freshmen student, and studying culinary. The two of them had wanted to go on a trip together to celebrate Papyrus getting into the culinary program, and had left just the day after the school year had ended in late spring. They'd called and texted him frequently, sending a post card from all of their destinations, and Gaster keeping each one safe in his desk drawer at home. Now they'd be on their way back for the start of the school year, and staying with their father.
Truth be told, Gaster had been a bit lonely since his sons had taken off on their trip, which had been a strange realization for him at first. He supposed that all that time with his sons in the house with him had made him used to actually being around other people. Gaster had never really been one to have friends, unless you counted Alphys, who was really more like his research assistant.
The young woman was starting her fifth year, working on getting a Ph. D. in quantum mechanics, and had come to Gaster with the proposition of a project they could work together on. She'd been a bumbling, stuttering mess, nervous to speak to him, though that wasn't uncommon for Gaster to experience. He'd written many papers and published twelve books, their topics ranging from physics, to chemistry, mathematics, and robotics, and many sub categories. This had given him quite the reputation in his field, as well as around the university where he worked. Given that his tall stature and usual bluntness already made him off-putting for people, being one of the greatest minds of his field didn't help with how intimidating he could be to people.
Yet that didn't stop her, she'd powered through her nerves and managed to get her voice back, which he found impressive. He could tell just by looking at Alphys that she had a hard enough time speaking to just about anyone, and respected the mental hurdles she was putting herself through just to say what she wanted to him. Perhaps that's why instead of turning her away like he did with most, he sat and listened to her.
Alphys had apparently been a fan of his, and knew that he had long been working on a way to harness massive amounts of geothermal energy that would be much more efficient then the current power sources they used. She wanted to assist him with his research, even giving some of her own ideas on how they could test Gaster's theories with prototypes and through simulation. The young lady just so happened to be dueling in computer sciences as well, and had proven to excel with programs and software. All she wanted was a chance to study under him, and in return, she'd help him as best she could.
At first Gaster had been disbelieving, many had come to him before saying they could help with this long time project of his, but something about Alphys had been interesting to him. He'd sent her away, telling her he'd think it over and get back to her, just wanting a little time to consider. Alphys had left, thanking him for his time in a quiet stutter, but her expression looked incredibly hopeful as she left. The moment she was out the door, Gaster had opened his computer and typed her name into the search bar. Not only had Alphys peaked his interest with her bold offer and vest intelligence, but something about her name had been familiar, and he soon learned why, finding a story from a six years ago that he remembered reading about.
Mettaton, a big social media influencer that Papyurs adored, had been in a horrible car accident that had crushed his legs, and left him unable to walk. There had been no hope in him getting his legs back due to how bad the condition had been, that was until a close friend of Mettaton's had personally designed a set of prosthetic legs that gave Metatton the ability to function just as he had before. That friend had been Alphys, and she'd only been sixteen years old when she'd given her friend the ability to walk again.
Gaster remembered how he'd emailed Alphys to meet him in his office the next afternoon, and the conversation that had followed.
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.
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"Who needs arms, with legs like these?" Gaster read off his computer screen as Alphys sat down on the opposite side of his desk.
Alphys flushed, stuttering when she heard that phrase, "H-How do you kn-know that?"
"That's the catchphrase of that online creator, Mettaton, yes? He does a variety of things I believe, my son especially loves his cooking tutorials. I believe he'll be attending this university starting next year."
"Um...yeah..." Alphys fiddled with her glasses, messy dirty blonde hair falling over her eyes, a look of confusion on her face.
"You didn't tell me yesterday that you were the one who built those prosthetics for him. That's impressive work for someone so young, especially with how high quality they are."
Alphys blushed heavily from embarrassment, looking down at her lap, "I-It was nothing too hard-"
"You gave that boy the ability to walk again."
"H-He's my b-best friend."
"Still, that's incredibly impressive."
"I guess..." Alphys didn't sound so sure, still not looking Gaster in the eye.
"You possess an incredible intellect, Miss Alphys, that much is obvious." Gaster folded his arms over his desk and looked her up and down, "I don't see why you're so nervous. You must know how much smarter you are then others."
"I-I'm not r-r-really the k-kind to put myself o-on a p-ped-pedestal or anything..." Finally, Alphys looked at him with a sheepish expression.
Gaster smiled a bit, and that seemed to help her relax some, "A sense of humility, that's good to have when you're someone who wants to pursue a career in science. Tell me, why do you want to assist me in my research? You're obviously capable of pursuing a topic of interest to yourself, so why help an old man like me?"
"B-Because you're not j-just an old man!" Alphys insisted, her sudden change of tone catching Gaster off-guard, "You're one of the g-greatest scientists the world's ever seen! Your th-theories and research have helped ad-advanced the world of s-s-science, and it's u-understanding of the w-world! Getting to w-work under someone l-l-like you would b-be such an honor!"
It took a moment for Gaster to really be able to think of a response, which left Alphys worrying she'd upset somehow, which left her in utter confusion when Gaster broke out laughing. This girl was truly something else, and he admired that. In many ways, she was a lot like his sons, which made him think that he should introduce them to this woman at some point, he was sure they'd all get along great. Wiping a couple joyful tears from his eyes, Gaster calmed himself and fixed Alphys with a slightly crooked smile and glint of amusement in his eyes.
"Alphys, I think the two of us are going to work great together. I'll fill out the necessary paperwork with the university board so you can work under me. Perhaps after you graduate, we can be partners."
"Really?" Alphys asked with a growing smile.
"Really." Gaster held out his hand, "It'll be an honor to work with you."
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Gaster snapped out of his thoughts, and checked his watch, cursing silently under his breath. He'd allowed himself to get lost in his own thoughts and had gone way over the five minutes he'd originally planned to take a break for. He'd been sitting there sipping coffee and thinking for a solid twenty minutes, not even realizing that his cup had been nearly empty for awhile now.
"...this isn't going anywhere, anyways." He muttered, closing his laptop and pulling out his wallet. For now he'd just head home and get things ready for the arrival of his sons.
"Leaving already, Professor?" Came the voice of Muffet, the owner of this little cafe.
Since the cafe itself was just a small family business, Muffet worked alongside her sisters and their daughters, cleaning tables, working the counter, and making orders right along with them. Though she could be a little overbearing with advertising, her worth ethic was quite respectable. Though around the holidays, her prices could get just a tad ridiculous, and usually her sisters talked her into lowering to more reasonable prices. Despite that, she was one of the few people that didn't constantly get on Gaster's nerves, and he occasionally engaged in light conversation with her.
"I'm afraid I can't seem to get any work done today." Gaster paid his bill as Muffet brought him his recipe for the espresso he'd ordered, and he even gave a rather large tip. His tipping was probably one of the reasons Muffet seemed to like whenever he came around.
"Coming back tomorrow?"
"I can't. I'm picking up my sons from the bus station tomorrow."
"Ooo~ I almost forgot your boys were coming back for school." Muffet looked genuinely excited, "Make sure you bring them both around soon! I've got a couple new recipes I want Papyrus to try."
"Will do." Gaster smiled a little and nodded, "Have a good day Muffet."
As he walked out into the crisp fall weather, Gaster pulled the collar of his grey turtleneck sweater up a little bit. Unfortunately the sweater wasn't very thick, and his toffee colored skin was soon becoming a little red around his cheeks and nose. The cold nipped at his ears, and made him shiver hard enough to make his teeth chatter. His glasses soon became foggy, and he muttered a curse under his breath again.
Gaster's vision had always been bad, but due to an accident in his high school years that had ended with him causing an explosion while conducting a personal experiment, he was just about blind without his glasses. While they were fogged like this, the entire world looked incredibly fuzzy and blurred, and he could just barely tell he was going in the right direction. The scars on his face had also come from that same accident, and it was the one over his left eye that he rubbed as the chill in the air started to give him a headache. He was really starting to wish that the weather report had been accurate this morning, this day just wasn't treating him very well.
While he'd been rubbing the ache forming in his head, Gaster hadn't taken into account how he really wasn't helping his current problem with his sight. This led to him accidentally bumping into someone who'd been walking from the opposite direction of the street. Whoever he had ran into had been rather large, since they barely budged while he went tumbling to the ground, glasses falling off of his face and skidding across the ground. Thankfully, he'd manage to not land on his laptop, managing to hold the device securely in his arms and he landed on his side, head smacking the pavement. It may have seemed silly to risk injury for a laptop, but he used this laptop for a lot of his personal research, and he really didn't want to risk loosing anything he may have not yet saved or updated...also he just didn't want to go to the store to buy another one...he hated when he ran into store workers who always tried to get him to buy more than he'd originally come in for, and they usually managed to make him feel guilty so he'd buy something else as well.
"Oh my, I'm so, so sorry!" Came a deep, baritone voice from above Gaster. Though Gaster could hear them, his head hitting the pavement had left his head ringing, and he was pretty sure he now had a concussion.
The owner of the voice knelt down, helping Gaster sit up, "I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention, and I-"
Gaster held up a hand to silence him, and used sign language, signing a few words, "Fine. Don't worry."
Gaster had started speaking later than most, so his mother had taught him sign language to give him away to communicate with people, and it had stuck. He'd spoken in nothing but sing language, catching onto it rather quickly, until his seventh birthday. After that, he'd still speak in mostly sign language, the few words he did speak mostly spoken with his uncle, who'd he'd been incredibly close to, and the rest to his parents. It wasn't until he started middle school that Gaster finally began using verbal speech, finding he was tired of being picked on in school for it. His inability to socialize properly already made things hard enough, making him even further disconnected from the other children around him.
Though that didn't stop him from using sign language completely. Whenever he was overstimulated, he'd slip back into using sign language, finding it easier to communicate when he couldn't get his mind to work properly. Due to this, Sans and Papyrus were both very fluent in sign language, the three would even have entire conversations in sign language on regular occasions, the lack of voice and tone very helpful when it came to disagreements. Right now, head ringing and flaring in pain, his side feeling like it had been pushed on a large cheese grater, and his vision to blurry to even see the person trying to help him properly, Gaster was so overstimulated that he'd slipped into sign language without even realizing it, and quickly pulling away from the person's touch once he was sat up. He immediately felt like what he'd done was incredibly rude, and hoped the person wasn't offended, his thoughts starting to run to fast for him to really be able to think, which only caused him to sign faster, due to his throat feeling like it was closing up to tightly to let words out.
"My fault. I wasn't looking-"
"I wasn't really paying attention either." The words made Gaster's hand freeze, and his expression became shocked. It wasn't often he met anyone who knew sign language outside of his sons.
Gaster didn't say anything for a minute, then started signing again, "Apologies. Usually, people don't understand when I sign. It caught me off guard." He calmed a little, though he still didn't feel like he could manage words at the moment.
"It's alright, I understand completely." The owner of the voice seemed to notice how Gaster's gaze couldn't really seem to settle on their face, and then noticed Gaster's glasses on the ground, picking them up, "Are these glasses yours."
"Yes. They had fogged over. That's why I didn't see you."
"Yes, they look really cloudy. I have a handkerchief if you need it. The fabric should be soft enough for the lenses." The stocky, blurred figure in Gaster's vision put Gaster's glasses into his hand, doing their best not to touch him, noticing how it seemed to startle him earlier.
"That would be most appreciated."
"Here." They handed over their handkerchief, and Gaster quickly wiped down his glasses, handing back the cloth. When he put them back on, he first noticed the crack in the bottom of the right lens of his glasses, which meant he'd have to do something he absolutely hated doing...set up an appointment. The second thing he noticed was the tall, well built man in front of him, who's eyes were the first thing to draw Gaster's attention.
Such piercing eyes, like a stormy blue sky that were fixed directly over dark soil, which was the same shade as his own brown eyes. Gaster soon found himself studying the rest of the man's features, those his gaze kept coming back to the stranger's eyes. The man had the well earned tan of someone who frequented the outside, though it had paled a bit with the changing of the summer months into autumn. His hair was dirty blonde, with just a touch of silver near the roots, implicating that this man was around Gaster's age. He had his long hair pulled back in a bun, some loose strands dangling by his ears and over his eyes, with a short beard to go along with the hair do. The stranger wore an old pair of overalls, and had on a brain jacket with a soft, fluffy lining, though it didn't look nearly as soft as the man's hair.
That last thought made Gaster blush a bit, and he finally said, "Thank you for your assistance."
The man tilted his head in confusion, "If you can speak, then why do you use sign language?"
Gaster didn't respond for a moment, then said with a shrug, "I just do."
The man thought about it for a moment, then shrugged as well, "That's as good a reason as any, I guess. Anyways, I'm happy to help. Are you sure you're alright?"
"Yes I'm-" Gaster winced as a car drove by, the sound making his already overstimulated ears start ringing, which only made his head feel even worse. It was a miracle he wasn't bleeding.
"You hit your head really hard..." The man said with a worried tone, "I could help you get to the hospital-"
"It's fine." Gaster insisted, starting to get to his feet, "I'll just go home and rest. I've had worse."
"Are you sure you wouldn't rather see a doctor?" The man was getting to his feet as well, still giving Gaster a worried look.
"I'm fine, thank you for the concern." Gaster just really wanted to go home. He didn't think he could stand sitting in a hospital waiting room while his nerves felt like they were about to burn out.
"Would it be alright if I helped you get home at least?" The man pleaded.
Gaster was a little annoyed at first, but then he saw how the man looked at him again, and felt himself stop and stare at him once more. He...kind of resembled a worried puppy, which was sort of...cute? Was that the word that Gaster was looking for here? That was strange, Gaster didn't really find random strangers he'd bumped into on the sidewalk...cute, in fact he didn't even really acknowledge their existence. Having one look at him with such genuine concern was more than a little confusing...yet this man really seemed harmless, and it was his fault he was worried. He should have been paying attention where he was walking, especially when he couldn't see very much at all.
"I...suppose that would be alright..."
"Okay." The man gave a satisfied smile, seeming pleased to know that he'd see Gaster safely to where he lived. He was sure to just leave him be once they got there, right?
"It's this way." Gaster pointed down the street, holding his laptop under his right arm, "Just down the street and around the corner, then at the end of that street." His home was just a couple of blocks away from the university campus, so he usually walked if he wasn't going much farther than that.
"Alright then." The man walked just a little in front of Gaster, as if to keep him from running into anything.
"You really don't have to do this." Gaster said after a moment of walking in silence.
"I don't mind. Besides, I broke your glasses."
"Technically I did. I should've been paying attention to where I was going."
"Like I said earlier, I wasn't really paying attention either, so it's still partially my fault."
"...I can understand your logic." Gaster admitted. Saying it like that, he did start to understand why this man felt a need to make sure he got home alright. He seemed to have a stronger sense of responsibility than most did.
The man chuckled a little as they started to round the corner, "Is it alright of me to ask your name?"
"I...suppose not. Usually strangers ask names when they first meet." He cleared his throat, not noticing the curious look the man gave him at his odd behaviour, "My name is W. D. Gaster."
"Is W. D. short for something."
"Wingdings." Gaster said, used to people asking about the letters at the beginning of his name, "Most just call me Gaster."
"Well Gaster, I'm Asgore." Asgore stopped for a moment, just to hold out one large hand, "Asgore Dreemurr."
Gaster looked at the hand for a moment, then gave it a quick, firm shake, noting the other's strong grip, though Asgore was careful not to squeeze his hand to hard, "It is...nice to meet you, Mr. Dreemurr?"
Asgore couldn't help but chuckle as they started walking, finding the way Gaster sounded so unsure of that statement a bit amusing, "It's pleasant to meet you as well, Mr. Gaster."
"If that's supposed to be you teasing, I wouldn't try your luck." Gaster said, just a little annoyed, "And it's Dr. Gaster, or Professor Gaster if you don't mind. I didn't earn a Ph. D. in physics just to be called Mr."
"Professor? You're a teacher?"
"I'm a professor at Ebott University."
"Oh, I was just highered there to be the new groundskeeper."
Gaster stopped for a second, taking in the information, "I see..." He stopped, realizing they were right by his house.
"This where we part ways?" Asgore asked, looking up at the cozy, two story house, painted dark blue with black windows.
"Yes." Gaster said, stepping off onto the pathway leading up to his front door, "Um...I guess I should thank you."
"No need Doc," Asgore said with a gentle smile, "So I guess we'll see each other around more when the term starts."
Gaster hadn't been expecting for the conversation to last any longer now that he was home, and found himself once again unsure of what to do, so he just responded with whatever his brain thought to say first, "Yes, I suppose...you being the new groundskeeper and all." It took a moment for him to realize what Asgore had called him, and he crossed his arms and huffed, "Doc?"
"You said to use 'doctor' or 'professor'." Asgore said with an amused tone.
"Yes, but you said, 'Doc'."
"I think it suits you." Asgore sounded almost teasing, and Gaster found himself a bit flustered, wondering why the hell he felt so weird when this man he just met smiled in his direction. It made no sense to him.
"I'm going inside now." Gaster thought it best to end the conversation, still feeling incredibly cold, and wanting to get inside where it was warm.
"Alright, I'll see you later, Doc!" Asgore called over his shoulder as he turned and left, leaving Gaster standing there in surprise at the interaction. He didn't stay in that spot long though, he was still freezing his ass off and wanted to get to where it was warm.
"What an odd man."