The Time Before (Undertale)

43 ~ Our Turn

A little while passed, and then Sans turned twenty three. Papyrus turned nine shortly after, and had grown to be almost eight inches taller than Sans.

Work on the not-so-Spacefolding project ground to a halt as no one knew exactly how to proceed, no one knew what to do next. On top of that, Papyrus was in the middle of a school break.

In all honesty, there could not have been a better time for Gaster to get sick.

It started as just a small sniffle-- how a skeleton got a sniffle was really beyond any of the three, but a sniffle Gaster had. That quickly progressed into a cough, and by the next morning, it was a full-blown cough and fever and chill.

Sans and Papyrus were both eating breakfast when he stumbled into the kitchen.

"woah. dings. you look horrible."

Gaster just waved Sans off before slumping into a seat at the table, rubbing at his eyesockets a little. "'M fine."

"I'm not so sure about that, Dad." Papyrus said, concerned. "Even I think you should go back to bed."

Gaster shook his head. "No, I am fine, I p-" he was cut off by a cough, which quickly turned into a coughing fit, his shoulders hunched and shaking, hands rising to his jaw.

Sans and Papyrus were immediately at his side. As the coughing began to subside, they helped him out of the chair, and back to the couch. He let out a raspy sigh. "... Alright, fine. I guess a day or two off wouldn't hurt."

Only moments later, he found himself lying down, blanket tucked over his shoulders, with Papyrus snuggled up to his side. Sans had also decided, it seemed, that hot chocolate was a cure-all, and was in the kitchen making some.

Gaster sighed quietly. He supposed that, if he had to get sick, then this was the place to do it. Nowhere else, he thought, would there be people who so readily cared for him.

Soon enough, Sans came into the living room, carrying three mugs. One was given to Papyrus, and the other to Gaster after he had sat up, and Sans kept the third to himself.

"You know," Gaster said after sipping at the hot chocolate, "you boys really are the best."

"Nyeh heh heh!" Papyrus laughed. "Of course we are!"

"yeah." Sans added. "you made us, so how could we possibly be anything else?"

Gaster let out a snort, which quickly changed to a cough, almost spilling his hot chocolate. Once that had subsided, he found himself leaning against Papyrus for support. "... I have no doubt that, with you two taking care of me, I'll be better in no time."

After finishing the hot chocolate, he settled down on the couch, his creations cuddling up against him. He closed his eyes, smiling.

It took him a long time to fall asleep, though. The pressure in his skull has grown into a pounding headache, and, despite the fact that he was under several blankets and had both Sans and Papyrus half on top of him, he was starting to feel cold.

But he did fall asleep eventually.

~o0o~

Sans was a little concerned.

The last time someone had gotten sick, it had been him and Papyrus, and their Souls had been decaying. And it had been Gaster who had fixed that, and it was Gaster who was sick now.

Luckily, Gaster's symptoms seemed opposite that of a decaying Soul- he was hot to the touch instead of the coldness of a decaying Soul, and instead of the deathly stillness, he was shivering fiercely. Sans was glad that Gaster was asleep (or unconscious?), as he had no doubt his creator would have been in misery had he been awake.