Nightmare Tango - Part 4
((@namelessokami’s Gaster is visiting! He’s going to get some lunch!))
" . . . It is his choice, but in all honesty, I do not think it's worth the risk. Especially since it's almost entirely under control now. Especially if the modification of his medication works as well as you suggest." Aster replies, their lower hands passing the coffee mug to the upper set as the phone on the counter flashes. Picking up the phone, they glance down at it, and nod.
Setting it aside again, they turn towards the fridge and start grabbing out sandwich fixings, still taking sips from the mug as assembly begins. Looks like plain turkey with lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese today. And from upstairs comes a small chaos of noise that is gradually growing louder. "Both Roman and Querida gave their consent, so all that's left is to ask Papyrus."
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Dingus nodded, and sat back watching the assembly. Inwardly glad that he wasn't making lunch for once. He was actually happy to hear that they were not considering the surgery. It was a wonderful tool for extreme or life threatening cases but a soul is best left to heal in it's own time.
At the names and the steadily growing chaos from above Dingus suddenly got an unreadable look on his face. Perhaps he was nervous? "Of course. Ah, how many others live here then?"
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"There are my four children - Sans, Roman, Querida, and Papyrus."
"Patrick and Justi, both human, Partners. Patrick would normally not be here, but he's having a . . . rough patch right now." Anchor interjects, stacking the sandwiches on a plate.
"My grandchild, Tahoma, and Itacha and Zenzai, the two Risen we are taking care of . . and Roman has practically adopted, which is atypical behavior for them." Aster brings an upper hand up to their chin, absently tapping it in a contemplative manner. "But for lunch, it's just us, Papyrus, and the children."
"Itacha and Zenzai mostly speak chinese . . . it's been . . more than a little frustrating at times. At least by now they've picked up enough of the local lingo to understand 'no', 'yes', 'food', and 'bathtime'."
Anyone who has lived with a Papyrus, knows what exasperated Papyrus noises sound like. And these ones are coming closer, as the kid-sounds also come closer - it sounds like a small stampede coming down the stairs and dashing through the living room.
The scrape of chairs in the dining room announces the arrival of two small skeletons in there, although they are visible from the kitchen as they move around the room.
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"Huh, Chinese... the last time I heard that I was in my thirties during the Han Dynasty... which makes me sound very old. Er, moving on." Clearing his non-existent throat he took a swift mental head count.
That would mean.... nine all living under the same roof. bodies anyway. Soul count he surmised it was ten based on how Anchor and Aster interacted. That meant... "You must be kept busy." He said shaking his head in wonder. "I have my hands full with just Sans and Papyrus- and whoever decides to drop into my timeline."
Gaster turns an amused eye to the dining room. It seemed that all Papyrus' do make that sound. "Is there anything I can do to help?" He offers suddenly.
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"You are very old~!" Anchor chirps cheekily, giving Gaster a sassy grin. There's no malice in her words, but there's definitely teasing. "There's quiet parts to each day, but yeah, pretty busy."
"That tends to happen here too - the random drop-ins." Is that a bit of a blush, staining green under the third eye and lavender under the sockets? They ahem, and Aster continues, lifting the plate of sandwiches. "Could you take this in to the table and get plates out of the cupboard out there? We need to prep Tahoma's lunch."
Out in the dining room, exasperated Papyrus noises continue, punctuated by excited (and cranky) toddler sounds and the scrape of a highchair being moved around. Tahoma is clearly hungry and very fussy because of it.
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Gaster saw them blush. And was immediately confused. Was it... Embarrassing to have a stranger in their home then?
Mentally shaking himself he chided the if that were the case they would have worked harder to kick him out by now. Also if it were that bad he would be leaving soon so it didn't really matter.
Taking the plate he tried to smile at Papyrus, although he might have looked either more worried than he was or in some sort of pain and set the food down.
The other plates are easy to find, and instead of setting them out one at a time he glances at the two young skeletons and Tahoma. The dishes in his hands levitate neatly into place as he sits down
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Embarrassing? No, not that . . but how could Gaster know what memories such a thing brings up?
But they have a secretive, happy smile as they walk out, promptly placing a bowl of cheerios on Tahoma's high chair tray. Something that earns a happy screech and leg-kicking a the toddler promptly shoves their face in the bowl to munch on cheerios. Papyrus . . makes a frustrated face, but doesn't try to correct the kid, reluctantly but clearly giggling at the picture Tahoma makes.
He takes the second bowl - some sort of puree of a purple-brown - and spoon from Anchor/Aster with a lopsided smile. They then set the steaming mug in their third hand and the peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich in their fourth near Papyrus. "THANK YOU FATHER, MOTHER." Half-turning his seat, he gives Gaster a thoughtful but welcoming smile. "I AM PAPYRUS, AS THEY HAVE PROBABLY TOLD YOU. AND YOU ARE?"
Anchor takes a moment to serve up each of the twins with a sandwich - even slicing Zenzai's into quarters with a brief magical manifest. Something between a green rod supporting a lavender blade?
Sitting down, they serve Gaster the second-to-last sandwich and simply re-use the sandwich plate as their own. "Papyrus prefers to not eat meat outside of the evening meal."
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"My name is Dr. Gaster. I'm another version of your father." He said it as casually as if he were talking about the weather. It sounded as if this was not their first encounter with other versions and it certainly was not his first.
As he begins eating he watches Tahoma with a very bemused face. "Again, I do apologize for earlier. I was not myself. So is this one yours?"
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Tahoma giggles, chewing a mouthfull of cheerios and clear delight as they start fishing for particular cheerios in the way that toddlers do. Papyrus beams at the child, taking the opportunity to take a quick swallow from the mug and a bite of his own sandwich. Nodding at the explanation, he seems utterly unphased by the idea. "YES, THIS IS MY TAHOMA! THEIR BIRTH MOTHER WAS . . NOT WILLING TO BE INVOLVED IN THEIR LIFE."
As much joy as the child brings him, it seems just mentioning their other parent brings a sour mood briefly to the normally incredibly upbeat skeleton. Prepping himself with the bowl and soft spoon, he sneaks a spoonful of the puree into Tahoma's mouth during a pause in cheerio consumption. The twins are chewing their ways rapidly through their sandwiches - Zenzai seems to manage just fine with one arm, although Itacha pauses and double-checks where the sandwich is before taking each bite.
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He glances over at Aster and Anchor, and chooses to say, "They look like a good kid." He remembered his children in this phase. Sans had been messy but calm, where Papyrus had been a pleasant child but a nightmare to clean up after. the young skeleton liked to joke that he is making up for his past difficulties. With that thought Gaster starts eating his sandwich, watching the others now.
Gaster doesn't entirely know what to say at this point, but probably for the best. He hadn't realized how hungry he had been.
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The rest of the meal goes quickly for some, and not so much so for others - Aster/Anchor take over getting the puree into Tahoma after they finish their own sandwich. And cleaning up the toddler as Papyrus finishes eating. The tall skeleton practically leaps on cleaning up the dishes from lunch, leaving the toddler with his parent with a faint air of relief.
Apparently single fatherhood is exhuasting even for a Papyrus.
Tahoma watches Gaster with intense curiosity, and after a little bit beams from their grandparent's arms. Aster/Anchor pat the child's back gently with a lower hand. "Zenzai, Itacha - wash."
Another word the twins know - they make protesting noises, but run off through the house towards what is probably a bathroom. Turning their attention back to Gaster, Aster adds with a chuckle, "And now he has an inkling of what it was like with the four of them."
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Gaster also couldn't help but watch the tiny child. He didn't understand how Papyrus- a skeleton was the father of a human child, but that did not make them any less cute. Because of what he had been through, he still had reservations about humans. But it seemed that since having children of his own all youngsters no matter the species were alright by him.
At first he just tilted his head to the side, but after a second he crosses his eye lights briefly to see what they would do.
He didn't look up from the toddler's face as he addressed Aster, "I do not know how you managed that."
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The toddler goes wide-eyed and silent, mouth forming a little 'o' . . . right before they shriek in excitement, trying to mimic the action by looking left and right. Aster/Anchor are easily able to handle the flailing as the child babbles. There's definitely half-words in there, and occaisionally the right word happens with a pointing finger at the right object.
"Absolutely no idea how. I spent most of my time completely exhausted. And asleep covered in babies."
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After flinching slightly, a real grin spreads across Dingus' face again. Lopsided and very happy. He hadn't really realized it, but he had been worried that the kid would be afraid of him. Especially after their first meeting. Not for the first time he was glad to be proven wrong.
"Ah yeah, the first few years were a little bit of a blur for me. Honestly I don't even remember moving much after the first month of making my sons." He says the last part a little quieter.
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"I was overwhelmed just by tending so many . . and each one so very different after the first week." Aster replies, glancing over at Gaster. There's a clank and whoosh, so Papyrus is pretty much finished with the dishes. And hopefully taking the moment to take a little self-care.
Nope, there he is, peering worriedly in through the doorway - though the worry eases immediately at seeing everything is more than fine. He only hesitates a moment before returning to the kitchen when Anchor quickly signs to him. [Relax. Ten minutes. Living room.]
"Why don't we go sit?" Anchor adds aloud, shifting their lower hands to take over the grip as Tahoma is - once again - intensely examining one of their upper hands. "If you don't mind a toddler crawling all over you, that is."
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"It's been a while, but I'll be fine." He says, standing. They head back into the living room, again Gaster getting a good look around before settling in. He still seems a little on edge, but far better than he had been before.
"So then what's uh..." He wracked his mind for some sort of topic. Light conversation was not something he was particularly good with. His eyes fell on the tv and some of the dream comes to mind. "I thought Silent Hill was a movie not a video game." He said, brow suddenly furrowing into the most innocent look of confusion he could muster.
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Anchor outright grins at that as they head for the couch. Tahoma's starting to fuss a little, staring back at the doorway until noticing the Afghan draped over the nearest end. Little fingers are promptly stuck through the holes as the child tries to lift it. "The movie was based on the first two games of the video game series. I really enjoyed it, although it does follow some video game logic."
"You just flat-out love the entire thing, which is why we own two obsolete consoles, the entire series, and both movies."
"And that one that's good for multiplayer kid stuff."
". . . It is incentive for them to learn to read the local language . . ."
Anchor gives Gaster a slightly sheepish smile as she absently prevents Tahoma from overbalancing off the couch with the afghan. "I really, really like some classes of horror games."
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Shrugging a bit, "They look interesting- when you aren't stuck in them anyway. I haven't had much time to play many video games, I must confess. Some older games like Tetris and Galiga mostly. After that I just watched my kids play." after a second he added, "A working copy of the games hasn't fallen yet then..." ["First two." How many are there?]
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[Seven or eight, if you count the offshoot game.] Anchor signs back, as Aster tries to divert the toddler from the afghan. It only sort of works - Gaster is clearly the new target of curiosity as the child wobble-walks across the couch towards him. "There's two other series, and a handful of one-off games I really like."
"We got distracted, haven't we. Papyrus?"
The tall skeleton, only one foot in the living room, jolts and looks a little startled. "YES, FATHER?"
"Our guest is a specialist, medically trained. May we tell him about Lab 3-E?"
Papyrus visibly hesitates about that, frowning. Turning to study the newcomer in the house. It's a very unnerving expression to see on such a normally perky and enthusiastic personality. Aster adds in a softer tone, "He had an improvement on Sans's medication that Sans was willing to try."
That clearly surprises Papyrus, and he steps into the living room. "ALL RIGHT."
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Gaster extends a worn hand to Tahoma making sure they don't fall as they toddle towards him, and a soft, tiny hand gasps a few of his fingers. A faint smile twitches onto to his face. He supposed skeletons were normal for them to be around, so he wasn't nearly as frightening.
Carefully he offers the other hand and looks up at the conversation, his eye lights bouncing between them. "Lab 3- E?"
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Papa is near - Tahoma looks up and just beams at their parent - but the toddler has someone new to look at! And their hands are like G-G's! The little one focuses on the hole, poking at the fingers and trying to flex them.
Papyrus's attention is more on his child than anything else, though he does . . try . . to relax in the nearest armchair, coffee mug that wafts the scent of cocoa in the air in his hands. "LAB 3-E IS WHERE MY SIBLINGS AND I WERE MADE, AS PART OF THE 'MONSTER TESTING SIMULACRA' PROJECT."
It may be possible Papyrus has been picking up some of Anchor's bluntness. She's the one who grins at the tall skeleton reassuringly, after all. Aster . . . sighs, rubbing a hand over their face. "I wasn't the original Royal Scientist. My specialization is mechanical, magical, and electrical engineering. The previous one, Doctor Petrest tinkered in anything that caught his interest. He was among the oldest monsters to be sealed in the Underground."
"I was hired as an intern based on a theory I submitted about potential genetic alterations to plants. I worked . . constantly for the next ten years. Doctor Petrest comitted suicide, and I was tapped to take over every research project he had in place, or ready to submit to the King. It took me a year to wade through the paperwork. After the initial shock and having approved every project that sounded . . reasonable. It was work. And I'd never headed such a huge undertaking before. Many relied on the work."
"One of those projects was the 'Monster Training Simulacra'. Sounded fine on paper. Use samples taken from willing subjects to pattern magic into subjects suitable for testing. Mostly a 'can we do this' sort of project, headed up by Doctor Petrest's oldest assistants. Four of them."
Aster holds up his hands, staring at the holes. "I . . was down on that floor for another project. And felt . . that I desperately was needed in another lab. One I hadn't been worried about. I stepped in just as they were adding the forced growth solution to the growth tubes."
He falls silent, hands dropping to their lap. Anchor quietly takes up the thread of the story. "The memories of that aren't very good, Aster was acting on pure instinct, I think. But he effectively pinned those four to the walls with a bone attack, and shattered the column holding S4 - Sans - while shutting off the forced growth formula. Which was for plants. That's . . pretty etched in. That all those modifications he theorized about, the growth solution, had been meant for plants."
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Only for a moment Gaster kept all of his attention on Tahoma. He had a sligbtly nervous look on his face, mainly because as they sat to investigate his hand phantom twinges prickle at the edges of the hole.
Retracting one of his hands, he forced the other being poked at to relax, allowing his fingers to move as the young one wanted. Not that Tahoma would knew what they mean, but there were so many long healed hairline fractures and larger crevices all over his hands and fingers that the texture varied from smooth to rough, the inside of the holes have spongy looking walls that were smooth with age. He does relax once they begin talking.
He listens intently, his face taking on the hard neutral face once more. Once they concluded he nods thoughtfully and glances over at Papyrus, "It sounds as if you made it just in time." He says softly.
No wonder Sans' soul was misaligned. It sounded as if they had been very scattered about their procedures, or at least from his perspective. Plant based growth did not take soul into account at all. An obvious error to any biological mind, weather they were monster, animal or human.
Almost angrily he signed one handed, Tahoma having managed to flip his hand so they were looking at the back. [They would have been better off using a hormonal based growth agent, synthesized to accommodate magic and soul-] until he halted suddenly. Oops. Again, Gaster hadn't seemed to realize that he had been signing at all. Honestly he had no idea how much of that had been readable.
"Sorry. I think I see where certain issues would arise." At least he managed to look embarrassed this time.
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It's after a bit of poking that Tahoma pats the hand - a bit firmly, but they are a toddler after all - and reaches up to pat Gaster. "Ow."
They then lean down and give the hand a firm 'mwah' and decree, "Bedder!" Throwing up their arms before leaning in to poke and tug at Gaster's coat. Pockets are to be investigated!
Papyrus is watching his child, and can't help a soft 'Nyeh-heh-heh' with a proud smile at that. He glances over at his parent, making a 'go on' sort of gesture.
Aster scowls, sighs, and rubs their hands over their face. "That's . . not the end of it. Doctor Petrest had set up the experiment to use shards of boss monster souls, had found . . some way to keep the soul captured after death that let his assistants extract shards and use them for the experiment. They had three souls - two of Grillby's siblings that had disappeared, only found out later because the containers were labeled."
"The last was his own. They'd used up the other two by the time they reached the fourth series. Used the samples I'd donated unknowing of what they were actually doing."
"I'd saved them from the experiment . . but they were still dying. Unstable. I . . did something fairly desperate, and used Petrest's notes to extract pieces of my own soul for each of them. By the notes, only a small portion was needed, but I was fully prepared to go further. Not necessary, in the end."
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(To Be Continued In Part 5!)