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“Grillby, can… can you come to the lab, when you get a moment?”
The fire elemental pauses, trying to piece together the normally collected Gaster and the ragged voice he hears over the phone. Apparently, a moment was all Gaster needed for him to convince himself of the worst.
“Ah, you must be busy. I’m… I’m sorry I don’t know why I-”
“I’ll be there in a second.”
A shaky sigh of relief puts Grillby even more on edge as Gaster mutters out his thanks, and he hurriedly goes on lunch, much to the concern of his usual patrons. Though, whatever they saw in his face as they tried to ask about it seemed to have gotten the message across. Good.
Grillby walks until he’s out of sight from the bar before sprinting down to the docks. No Riverperson. He takes a breath before starting the dash to the lab, not taking a moment to consider. Gaster needs him.
______
A few minutes later, the Lab looms over him, and the lack of damage gives Grillby a wave of relief. Heading inside, there’s a similar lack of destruction, but..
He heads down to the main lab, and as he gets closer to Gaster’s office he passes a handful of lab assistants. A few make to stop him, most likely to ask for credentials, but a glare stifles off their attempts well enough. As he walks down the halls, he can hear sniffling that gets louder the closer to G’s office he gets.
A panel on the floor creaks as he stops outside the door. The sniffling abruptly cuts off. He nudges open the door, and the source of the sniffling becomes obvious and worrying all at once.
Gaster is sitting back against the wall with the two littles huddled on his lap, the scientist’s eyes dark and every limb trembling as he clutches the babybones against his chest. The kiddos eyes snap to Grillby’s as he walks into the dark room, only shafts of sun rays filtering through the window blinds and the glow of his fire providing light. Gaster doesn’t seem to process.
“G?”
He shakes his head.
Grillby frowns before doing a Check.
W.D. Gaster
HP 90 ATK 12 DEF 30
Doesn’t want to be here.
Grillby’s flames spark, and some of the awareness comes back to G’s eyes. “Gaster, what happened?”
Gaster makes a broken sound, but finally looks at Grillby. Tear stains that weren’t visible before are now neon in the glint of Grillby’s fire, splotched purple standing out against the too-pale bone. “I almost killed them.”
“Hm.”
Grillby crouches down, looking over the skelebros. “Well, they don’t seem too scared… Do you want me to get Dr. Hartfel to watch them so we can talk?”
“Not yet. I… I don’t want them to leave yet,” his hold tightens, and the small kiddos look worriedly to Grillby, who shrugs.
“Alright. What happened, then?”
“They wandered out to the bridge. I almost didn’t catch him in time. The taller one. He was already tumbling over when I looked back.” Gaster’s voice doesn’t shake, doesn’t waver. It’s cold. Which scares Grillby more than the rapid-fire panic Gaster sometimes slips into. “I almost let him die.”
“Gaster?”
“Hm?” Gaster looks up to him again, eyelights still blacked out.
“You didn’t. You caught him.”
Which seems to be the entirely wrong thing to say, as Gaster shakes his head and frowns darkly at the floor. “Shouldn’t have had to.”
“Gast-”
“No. I don’t want to hear about how it’s not my fault, or how mistakes happen. Not to kids. They don’t deserve such a neglectful parent. I cannot see how you’d manage to put a silver-lining spin on my errors this time but I can assure you, Grillby, there’s no avoiding the obvious truth of me being a horrible father. I couldn’t keep them safe for a fucking month, how the hell-”
The taller one squirms in Gaster’s suffocating grip, face pinched up tight, reaching out for Grillby. Gaster freezes, and, seemingly realizing the fury he’s managed to work up, wordlessly releases the two of them to shuffle over to Grillby.
“...We aren’t done talking.”
“I hadn’t assumed we were.”
“Stay here, ok? I’m going to drop them off at Dr. Hartfel’s office.”
A nod. Grillby stands before leaving the room and searching for said doctor.
It doesn’t take long to spot the squat lizard monster, his lab coat dragging slightly as he walks through the lab. He perks up when he sees the fire elemental, “Oh, Grillby, fancy seeing you here,” before he processes the small skeletons cradled in his arms, “ah. Need me to watch them?”
“If you wouldn’t mind.”
“Not in the slightest, I can keep them entertained for a bit while you two work.”
“Thank you, again. Hope they aren’t too much trouble.”
Dr. Hartfel laughs, “They never are. We’ll be in my office when you need us.” He holds out his arms and the skeletons let out a giggle as they’re twirled when they’re picked up. “Best of luck, Mr. Grillby. Please remind Dr. Gaster that he has support, whenever he needs it. No need to take on the world by himself.”
With that, Dr. Hartfel wanders off, two much happier babybones with him. Grillby watches them until they disappear into his office before heading back to Gaster.
_______
Really, Grillby was expecting worse when he got back, but the sight of Gaster curled in on himself and staring at the floor in front of his feet sends a flood of sadness through him. He walks in, flicking on the desk light before sitting against the wall next to Gaster.
*Check
W.D. Gaster
HP 90 ATK 12 DEF 30
Appreciates you. Be gentle.
Gaster promptly shifts so he’s tilted against Grillby’s side, shaky breaths rattling through him. “I scared them.”
Grillby doesn’t respond, other than raising an arm to rest over Gaster’s shoulders.
“Thanks.”
“No worries. You know they’ll forgive you, right?”
“I know, I just…” Gaster heaves out a sigh, unfurling. “I never want them scared of me again.”
“I know. But, hey, we’ll get there, alright?”
“Alright.”
They sit there in silence for a while, Grillby’s flames flickering absently as Gaster winds down. The chatter outside the door nulls into static, and Grillby watches the tension drain from Gaster as they sit.
But…
“So, what are you going to do about the bridge? You can’t pretend to think you’ll be able to keep an eye on them every waking moment.”
Gaster frowns, but easier than he had been. “I’m not sure, really. I need to be able to get in there with my hands full, so no locks. And, they share my… everything, so a magical scanner would only do so much.”
“Maybe you can install that railing Asgore had suggested?”
Gaster’s eyes light up, “Oh, yes! That’d be splendid! If I made it wire, or even meshed, then we’d still be able to get visuals just fine, and I could set up docking systems for the equipment too. Maybe some sort of power reader that can monitor the consumption levels and such more easily. Though, if I’m doing that, I suppose I should look into other safety measures.
“Like, perhaps I should go through and protect the empty sockets, sand down the corners of the desks, cover the wires in the lab with those rubber tube things- though really I have no idea why that hasn’t been done yet, it’s a horrible tripping hazard- and take down whatever miscellaneous machines are scattered about and not it use. Get better latches on the equipment doors, safety tape the stairs and ledges…”
Gaster rambles on, dozens of baby-proofing ideas pouring out. Though, some… Grillby watches him with a soft smile.
“...and maybe we can latch the doors with puzzles, well, non essential doors, because in a time crunch I can see how having to solve a puzzle may be a bit of a detriment, and-”
Grillby cuts him off with a kiss on the cheek, causing Gaster to stumble over his rant and stare at Grillby with purple-flushed cheeks. “Sounds like a good plan. May need some refining, though.”
“Thank you. We should.. go get the kids.” Gaster looks down at his wristwatch. “Hm, an hour and some change. Not the longest we’ve left them with him.”
“I think he enjoys watching them. They’re sweet.”
“Yeah, can’t imagine where they got that from,” Gaster huffs a laugh.
“Well, they’re made from your magic, right? I can see it.”
“...You’re the actual worst.”
“No I’m not.”
“No, you’re not,” Gaster beams, “You’re the best.” He stands and offers a hand to Grillby, who accepts the offered help to pull himself up.
“So, come to the bar for lunch? My treat.”
“Ah, my weakness: free food. Yeah, ok, I can take a break… even though I just.. had one..”
Grillby pats him on the back as he steers them to Dr. Hartfel’s office, “Emotional recooperation doesn’t count as a break.”
“Fine, I suppose that’s logical.”
The little guys are thrilled when they get to his office, bounding over and hugging Gaster enthusiastically, nearly sending Gaster off crying again. With the little ones gathered up, and their thanks passed on to Dr. Hartfel, they head off to the bar.
Gaster’s chatting animatedly with the kiddos the whole way there, going on about safety details and the responsibility every lab occupant faces to keep the others safe, much to the amusement of Grillby and Riverperson.
A few people call out greetings as they get into the bar, clearing out three seats on the counter. Without a second thought he starts up three orders of fries and a few burgers, idly listening in as Gaster explains mechanisms and failsafes scattered throughout the lab.
Chaotic? Maybe. And Grillby’s flames are gonna go white in weeks at this rate. Though, watching the three of them scarf down food… He can honestly say he has no regrets.