Chapter Text
It was a beautiful day outside, birds were singing, flowers were blooming, and on days like these, it was perfect weather to go to the beach. And that was exactly what a certain skeleton family had decided to do.
Frisk had just finished laying out the blankets and had organized the array of supplies she had brought with them. Her two children were eagerly pulling their Grand-dadster by his arms, excited to show him the beach for the first time and by the look on his face, he wasn’t impressed. Sans had already decided to lay down, arms behind his head with a smile on his face; soaking up sun on his non-existent skin. Uncle Papy was busy showing off his new attire, specifically designed for the beach, which only consisted of a pair of sunglasses, a loose fitted t-shirt, and baggy shorts. In his own words, he was completely ready for “ANY BEACH ACTIVITY THAT CAME HIS WAY.”
The mother couldn’t help but smile at the scene before her, it was nice to see her family together, enjoying a relaxing day at the beach. She sat down next to her husband, bringing her knees to her chest, watching as Elys and Arno were teaching Gaster how to build sand castles. However, the older skeleton was growing increasingly frustrated as he tried to scoop the sand into a pile but failing as the holes in his hands prevented him from doing so. It also didn’t help that he refused to change his clothes before coming and he was getting sand in very uncomfortable places.
Frisk had tried to tell him that his sweater and cloak weren’t “beach appropriate” but the stubborn skeleton had assured her he would be fine.
How wrong he was.
But, Frisk was a mother, and like all mothers, she always came prepared and always wound up being eventually right. She reached into her bag and pulled out a black hoodie along with some tan shorts and called for Elys.
“Would you mind giving this to your grandfather, sweetie?” She asked, handing the pile of clothes to her eldest daughter.
Elys smirked as she took the clothes from her mother, “He didn’t listen to you, did he?”
“No, but I think he’s learned his lesson.” Frisk answered with a smile.
Elys nodded and walked back over, tugging on Gaster’s sleeve to gain his attention. When the skeleton looked down and saw the neatly folded clothes in Elys’ hands, he breathed a sigh of relief, taking the clothes from his grand-daughter and nodding a thanks to Frisk, who only smiled in return. Gaster excused himself and left to go change, leaving Elys and Arno to continue building their sandcastles. Arno smiled proudly at his work, a simple sand hill with a leaf on top for a flag; Elys clapped at her brother’s castle but their Uncle was not going to let this pass as he towered over his niece and nephew with a serious face.
“TINY CHILDREN, THIS IS NOT HOW YOU MAKE SANDCASTLES. LET YOUR GREAT, UNCLE PAPYRUS SHOW YOU HOW ITS DONE.” Papyrus sunglasses shimmered in the sunlight, Elys and Arno looking at each other in confusion but quickly got out of the determined skeleton’s way as he pounded his fists into the sand. Piles of sand went flying everywhere, specifically right onto a sleeping Sans, leaving only his head viewable.
“THERE. THIS IS AN APPROPRIATE SANDCASTLE.” Papyrus claimed, hands on his hips, “YOU MAY GAZE AT THE GLORIOUS WORK, THAT IS PAPYRUS.”
A life sized replica of Papyrus now stood where Arno’s hill was, the look alike had one hand on his hip while the other laid against his side, hand laid flat.
“But Uncle Papy, that’s not a sandcastle, its just you.” Arno pointed with a frown, picking up the smashed leaf he had used for his hill.
“IT IS STILL MADE OF SAND, YES?”
“Yeah but-“
“THEN IT IS A SANDCASTLE!”
Elys couldn’t help but giggle at her Uncle, who was now forcing Arno to build a miniature version of Papyrus; but her laughter fell short when her Uncle turned towards her with a stern face, “YOU MUST ALSO LEARN HOW TO BUILD THE GREAT PAPYRUS!”
The girl tried to make a break for it but Papy had quickly grabbed her by the back of her swimsuit and plopped her down next to her brother, carefully watching how they made their SandPapyrus.
Gaster had finally finished changing, stopping by Frisk as he examined his new wear, not at all what he was used to, “Does this….look okay?”
Frisk held the top part of her sun hat down as she looked over Gaster, whistling in a flirtatious tone, “I see where Sans gets his looks from.”
The older skeleton’s face turned dark purple at her comment, not expecting such a response from his daughter in law. Then again, if Frisk thought he looked exceptional, it would explain why the women he had tried to talk to earlier for directions to the bathrooms were acting extremely giddy.
Gaster looked over to where Elys and Arno were, their faces reading signs of displeasure as Papyrus continued to make them start over each time they didn’t start their replica of him right.
“I suppose Papyrus is-“ Gaster stopped talking when he went to look down at Frisk, his vision, however, went to the sight of his oldest son, whose entire body was buried in sand, leaving only his head out.
Sans slightly turned his head towards his father, a wide smile plastered on his face, “heya… im sands.”
…
…
…
A pile of sand magically threw itself onto Sans’ skull, covering the rest of him as Gaster smirked, “Now, you are sands.”
Frisk shook her head in amusement, grabbing a shovel and calmly digging out her husband out who gave Gaster a thumbs up at his joke. The Grand-dadster turned his attention to his son and two grandchildren, smiling as Elys looked his way and mouth the words “help us”. He shook his head and walked over to them, Papyrus shouting in disapproval at the children’s mini hims’.
“HOW MANY TIMES MUST I SAY TO START AT THE TORSO THEN THE HEAD!?”
Gaster laid a hand on his son’s shoulder gaining his attention, “OH, HELLO FATHER, HAVE YOU COME TO LEARN HOW TO MAKE SAND PAPYRUS’ TO?”
“Actually, I was going to ask if you could set up that game you had been raving about.” Gaster responded, giving a wink to a hopeful Elys and Arno.
“YES! I MUST HAVE FORGOT WHILE TEACHING THE TINY HUMANS TO BUILD SAND PAPYRUS’!” The taller skeleton had then ran off towards the bags Frisk had laid out, pulling out multiple things before looking back and pointing at the siblings, “MAKE SURE THEY FINISH THEIR SAND ME’S…THE RIGHT WAY!”
Elys and Arno groaned again, Gaster chuckling as he knelt down and rubbed their heads, “Don’t worry, I had to do a lot of this when your Uncle was younger, so I have a bit of practice.”
Elys raised a brow as Gaster used his magic to turn the sand into exact replicas of the larger sculpture Papyrus had made, “There, cause he will come back to check, trust me.”
“How much stuff did Uncle Papy make you, make of him?” Elys asked.
The scientist stared off into the distance, a look of horror on his face as he recalled all the different Papyrus’ he was forced to make, “A lot.”
A cloud that had been blocking part of the sun had slowly moved out of the light, sending down a harsh set of rays, making Elys squint and whip out her pair of sunglasses to protect her eyes.
Gaster turned his head to the side, intrigued by the set of facial wear, “I saw Papyrus and Sans wearing those, are they like safety goggles?”
Elys pointed to the pockets in the middle of Gaster’s hoodie; he looked at her with a brow raised before humoring her and reaching into the slits, pulling out a pair of pitch black shades.
“Are these for me?” He asked, studying them.
She nodded, “I picked them out.”
Gaster smiled and thanked his granddaughter as he slid them on his face; the light of the day fading and making everything a little darker than usual.
“Interesting,” He started, “These are meant to shield your eyes from the sun?” He asked looking down at Elys who just shrugged.
“hey its fifty shades of gaster.” Came Sans, approaching his father and daughter with Frisk at his side.
Gaster’s face fell at his son’s comment, “Inappropriate, Sans.”
Elys cocked her head, “What’s fifty shades of-?”
“NOTHING! Don’t worry about it, sweetie!” Frisk had covered Elys’ ears and glared at her husband who nonchalantly took a sip of his ketchup.
“THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAS FINISHED PREPARING FOR THE GAME OF VOLLEYBALL!” Yelled Papy, bounding over towards the group, holding a white ball.
“Perfect timing, paps.” Sans said, trying to distract his wife’s wrath from him.
“YES! I ALWAYS ARRIVE ON TIME! NOW HOW SHOULD WE DO TEAMS?” Papyrus asked enthusiastically, looking between the three adults.
Frisk thought for a moment before walking next to Gaster and putting a hand on his shoulder, “I’d like for us to be on team, if you don’t mind.”
Gaster looked to Sans for approval, but his son only shrugged, “she’s gonna be my partner for the bone zone tonight so no biggie.”
“Sans!” Frisk exclaimed, embarrassed.
“WAIT, I DON’T GET IT! WHERE IS THE BONE ZONE? CAN I PLAY TO?” Papyrus asked excitedly at the thought of a new game.
“no, now come on paps.” Sans replied, pushing Papyrus towards the net.
Gaster shook his head at his son immaturity, memories of seeing the sign on Sans’ door making him shudder. He looked down to his grandchildren who were watching on with no emotion, “And what will you two be doing?”
Elys and Arno had thrown on a black and white striped t-shirt, with Arno holding a sketch board to keep points, “I’ll be referee and Arno will keep points.”
“Got it.”
Frisk then started to lead Gaster over towards the net, placing him on her right so he was facing Papyrus on the other side while she faced Sans. Papyrus held the ball in his hand, face reading determination as he stared down his opposing team, “READY!?”
Gaster raised a brow, “Ready for what?”
His question went unanswered as Papyrus slapped the ball at full force towards him; Gaster on instinct summoned a giant hand, catching the speeding ball with ease before he threw it back towards Papyrus. Papy went wide eyed as the ball slammed into his chest, knocking him onto his back with a “oof”, while Elys blew her whistle, granting Gaster and Frisk a point.
“that doesn’t count.” Sans said, giving his daughter a glare.
Elys smiled, “I’m a referee, what I say goes.”
“Brat.”
“I’m sorry son, I didn’t mean to throw it back so hard, are you okay?” Gaster asked, his hand reaching out in concern. Papyrus had finally gotten back to his feet, brushing off the sand on his clothes, and picking the ball back up.
“I AM FINE BUT FATHER YOU MUST USE YOUR HANDS FOR VOLLEYBALL!” Papy stated, gently slapping the ball towards Frisk who clasped her arms together and hit it back.
The skeleton caught the ball and nodded towards Gaster, “SEE!?”
Gaster stared blankly at his son, before holding up his hand and pointing to the hole in the middle of his palm.
“…NEVERMIND.”
“I don’t see why Gaster can’t use his magical…hands? What do you say, referee?” Frisk asked looking to her daughter.
The eldest sibling pondered before whispering to her brother, and looking back to the group, “Grand-dadster can use magic hands.”
“FINE! NOW LETS PLAY!” Papyrus shouted, serving the ball again.
Frisk took a quick step to the right, and passed the ball back over, it heading towards Sans. The skeleton had one hand in his pocket while the other held a bottle of ketchup, his face completely neutral as the ball came closer towards him.
“SANS HIT THE BALL OR THEY GAIN A POINT!”
Instead of using his hands to return, a blue light surrounded the ball, pausing in mid air and then tossed back to the other side, landing behind Frisk and Gaster.
“Better count that as a point, kid.” Sans threatened, taking a sip of his ketchup.
“We never said you could use magic, Sans.” Gaster retorted, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Never said I couldn’t either, dadster.” Sans replied, smirking.
Gaster looked to Elys for help but the referee shook her head and urged for Arno to give Sans and Papryus a point.
The scientist glared at his son, who had lowered his shades down to wink at his father, “s’matter, dadster? Gotta bone to pick with me?”
Papyrus groaned at the pun but Gaster ignored it, a smirk of his own forming as his good eye glew purple, two giant hands forming behind him. Still staring at Sans, Gaster spoke in a dark tone, “Frisk, serve.”
Frisk did as told and spiked the ball over the net, Papyrus quickly moving towards where the ball was headed and hit it back over, laughing as the sphere went towards the ground at high speed, “NYEH HEH HEH A POINT FOR-“
Suddenly a giant skeleton hand formed right underneath the ball, stopping Papyrus short at his claim for victory when the hand bounced the ball back in the air and another replica formed, pegging it over the net.
Sans calmly kept drinking his ketchup, waiting for the right moment before he disappeared from his spot; everyone looking around to find where he had gone.
“BROTHER?” Papyrus asked, kicking over a pile of sand, “ARE YOU IN THERE?”
Frisk to was confused as to where he had gone, checking all sides around her, “Sans?”
“Daddy poofed!” Shouted Arno, smiling wide as he pointed to the sky.
All four family members looked up to see Sans in mid air, still drinking his ketchup as the ball hovered in a blue light next to him. He waved at them, taking one last sip of his beverage, and thrusting his arm forward, the ball slamming straight down at a ridiculous speed. Frisk sighed, calmly taking a step to her left, barely dodging the oncoming sphere as it smashed into the ground.
Elys blew her whistle again, and Arno gave another point to his father’s team, Sans poofing back into his spot and giving his father another wink, “Give up, old bones?”
Gaster smiled, “Not yet. Frisk, if you please.”
“Why do these games always get out of hand?” She huffed under her breath, serving once again.
The ball aimed towards Sans again, the skeleton wore an arrogant smile as he wrapped the sphere in his magic and hurled it over. Gaster grew several feet, his height exceeding well over the net; Frisk and Papyrus watched with wide eyes while Sans stared with no emotion. The ball was a pebble compared to Gaster’s new growth, and the skeleton smirked down at Sans before flicking the ball down back to his sons’ side.
Sans had to choose between teleporting to avoid being hit by the ball or use a great amount of magic to stop the force of the impact; But Sans was too lazy to try and stop it, so he poofed out of the way; giving Gaster and Frisk the point.
The game went on for an hour and a half, Frisk and Papyrus had backed out and joined the kids in keeping score. However, both Sans and Gaster were evenly matched and the score stay tied for the rest of the game and it was getting no where. To the point where Frisk had to finally intervene, claiming it was time to eat and that Arno was practically withering away from having no food. Accepting that they were both formidable at volleyball they joined the rest of the family for lunch; Gaster sat in between his two sons’ while Frisk sat in the middle of Elys and Arno, all quietly enjoying the time together.
“FRISK WHERE IS THE SPAGHETTI!?”
Almost quiet.
“Sorry Papy, I only brought sandwiches and drinks, maybe try that instead?” She offered, knowing full well Papyrus would decline.
“ABSOLUTELY NOT. LUCKILY I PREPARED MY OWN!” Papyrus had pulled out baggy from his short pocket, filled with the pasta and started to chow down.
Elys giggled at her Uncle, pulling out her camera she got for her birthday and aimed it at the three skeleton boys, “Smile!” She shouted, catching their attention.
The camera made a click sound, indicating it caught the picture and she tapped on the screen to view it; Papyrus had strands of spaghetti falling from his mouth but he still managed to smile with his arm wrapped around his father’s shoulders. Sans had opted to do a quick bunny ears behind Gaster’s head with his care free grin while Gaster sat cross legged and wore a gentle smile. All three were wearing glasses but one could tell they couldn’t have been more happier.
Elys then turned the camera on herself, gesturing for her mother and brother to join, the three squished their faces together and Elys pressed the capture button. The eldest daughter continued to take pictures throughout the day, capturing each moment she knew were worth keeping. From her mother and father sharing a simple kiss, to their Uncle commending her and Arno for their mini sand Papyrus’ while their Grand-Dadster held a thumbs up in the back. And to her brother who had managed to rebuild his hill with an even bigger leaf on top. All these photos went straight into her album book her Grand-Dadster had helped her pick out, each page being dedicated to a special event she’d spend with her family and she couldn’t wait to fill out the rest.