[[DISCONTINUED]] •Stargazing• | ~Greyster <3~

Exhaustion

Gaster groaned, cracking his eyes open slightly before immediately closing them again due to the sudden light that blinded him. He attempted to sit up. Fell back down. He couldn't feel his arms. Come to think of it, he couldn't feel anything. He opened his eyes again, more slowly this time. The world came into focus, and he was staring at a grey concrete ceiling. He blinked, looking around. His lab. Before he could fall into a deep train of thought, the door opened.

"Hello." He greeted whoever had entered, despite not having a clue who it was.

"Gaster! You're awake..." Toriel's voice came from the doorway.

"Indeed." He tried to sit up again, barely managing it, he propped himself up against the back of the bed, which was not an easy task due to him not being able to move his arms.

"How are you feeling..?"

"I can't feel anything right now, Toriel."

She nodded slowly, "alright... Well, you did take.. A lot of heavy hits..."

"How's everyone else?"

Toriel sighed, "Chara, Asgore, Sans and I escaped with only a few bruises.. Papyrus took some damage... He's asleep right now, I don't know when he'll wake up.. He has a few cracks in his skull, nothing major, but they'll probably irritate him for a while.. Asriel has a very bad gash in his leg that'll take a while to heal, even with my magic...And Jessica... She's pretty bad.. She damaged a bone in her leg, and has some nasty cuts and bruises... Her and Chara fight well together, you know. They caught my eye a few times."

Gaster didn't try and hide the concern that showed on his face.
"I see... Well, I take it everyone won their battles?"

"Barely. They put up a good fight. I don't even know who they are, or where they came from, or why they came for us..."

Gaster looked up, meeting her eyes with a dark expression on his face. "...Something tells me that's not the last we're going to see of them."

Toriel avoided his gaze, a worried expression on her face, "...Rest well, Gaster. It's best for you to stay in bed for now. You've taken so much damage. Just please do not try to ignore your injuries." With that, she turned towards the door.

"...Understood, Miss Toriel."

When Toriel's footsteps had faded, Gaster gingerly placed a foot on the floor, disregarding Toriel's advice. He straightened. Leaning against the wall, he frowned at the lack of pain he was experiencing, he took a step forward.

Not the best idea.

His vision swam and his entire body shook as he was overcome with an overwhelming sense of dizziness. He felt like his body had melted. He couldn't move at all. It was like he had been frozen. Then, he fell backward onto the bed again. Groaning, he pulled himself up to rest his head on the pillows in defeat.

"Well, it's safe to say I won't be on my feet for a while."

-

He awoke to the sound of the door opening. He grumbled at the intrusion and turned his head towards the doorway. A strange clicking noise against the ground made him cock his head in bewilderment.

"Hey, Gaster." Jessica smiled weakly. She was on crutches, her left eye covered by a white patch. Her wrist had been wrapped in bandages,

"Miss Grey."

"No need to be so formal," She said, a smile playing on her lips.

Gaster ignored her comment. "Are you feeling alright? You don't look too well."

"I could say the same to you," she covered her mouth, looking suddenly very pale and sickly, "oh, gosh. What happened back there was... I can't even imagine the pain..." She made her way to a chair that stood near his bed, dropping into it heavily with a sigh.

"I hope you're alright..."

Gaster was taken aback by Jessica's concern for him. He felt his face warm up a little, "I appreciate the concern.. Jessica. You don't need to feel that way, however, as I cannot feel anything right now."

Her eyes narrowed, "that makes it worse."

"My apologies," Gaster said idly, his eyes took in her injuries and her bandages. She blushed slightly at the sight of his eyes wandering all over her. Noticing her discomfort, Gaster looked back up at her face.

"...So, I heard Toriel came to talk to you..." She began nervously.

"...Indeed. That was quite a while ago, was it not? I can't recall, I fell asleep shortly after."

She nodded slightly, "Mhm.... I think it was a while ago."

He tilted his head, meeting her eyes, "so, how are you feeling?" He said inquisitively, raising an eyebrow at her.

"..I...Have been better, that's for sure. One wrong move and everything hurts.." She closed her eyes before continuing, "I haven't slept well in a while... I'm exhausted..."

"Then sleep."

"I can't. I need to make sure everyone's okay, and I have errands to run, and work to do."

Gaster instintively attempted to raise a hand to gesture towards the chair that sat near the bed he was resting on, forgetting that his arms were bandaged tightly and also useless. He winced as pain shot through his arm. He sighed wearily, tilting his head in the direction of the chair.

"That chair should be comfortable enough. I would know. It's rather comfy."

Jessica hesitated, before moving towards the chair, collapsing into the cushions and sighing.

"It is quite comfortable..." She smiled tiredly, shifting into a more comfortable position.

"I told you so."

"...Thank you, Gaster," Jessica gave him a sweet smile, a real, genuine smile.

Gaster froze for a moment before returning her smile, "of course, Jessica. You need rest to function properly, after all."

And in what felt like a second, Jessica had nodded off into a peaceful sleep, nestled into the soft cushions of the armchair. And soon after, Gaster had also given in to the feeling of exhaustion.