Beneath the Stars (AU of an AU...?)

Immortals

Firhaur sat at the mouth of the cave. Behind him was the dark hole in which his family had been long imprisoned. Before him...

The sunset. A vast expanse, the red and yellows fading upwards into purples, blues, blacks. Stars speckled the sky above.

Firhaur let out a slow breath. The sun had been rising and setting long before he had hatched. It would continue to do so, every day, for as long as the earth turned.

He was a bossmonster. He did not age, so long as he didn't have a child. And he had no mate, not even another living dragon bossmonster.

He had many sunsets before him. So, so many.

"Hey."

Firhaur swung his head around to see his brother approaching, meandering up the path, hands in the pockets of his black coat.

"Gaster." The dragon acknowledged the skeleton with a small nod.

Gaster walked over and flopped down beside Firhaur, letting his legs hang over the cliff. "Dinner's almost ready. What are you doing up here, all alone?"

"... I was just... thinking."

"About?" Gaster looked up, curious.

Firhaur sighed, and looked back to the sunset. It was a long time before he spoke. "... Gaster... I'm a bossmonster. I don't age."

"So?"

"So... So you, and your sons, are the only people I have ever loved like- like family. And... and you're not bossmonsters."

"... Ssssssssso??"

Firhaur looked down again, and Gaster was surprised to see tears forming in his brother's amethyst eyes. "Gaster...! You age. You age and wither and die, turn to dust! And when you do—..." For such a large creature, it was surprising how small Firhaur's voice sounded. "When you do, I'll be alone again..."

Gaster just snorted. "Sorry, bro. You're not gettin' rid of me that easily."

"Gaster-..."

"That's not gonna work!"

"Gaster, I'm being serious!"

Gaster suddenly thrust his hands upwards in exasperation. "So am I, Firhaur!"

"...Gaster..." Firhaur sighed. "I appreciate the enthusiasm, but you cant- can't deny that one day you're going to-"

"Actually, I can."

"What?"

"Firhaur, I am denying that one day I'm going to die."

"Gaster..."

"No, seriously. Since falling in the Void... Time and space are entirely irrelevant to me. I don't age. I have no age. I'm... I'm immortal. Can't even be killed by damage."

"Gaster, I swear to Annoying Dog, if you're not telling the truth right now..."

"I am, Firhaur." Gaster lifted a hand to his chest, setting it over his Soul. "On my ego, I swear I am."

That earned a snort from Firhaur. "That's a pretty solemn swear."

Gaster just smiled and scooted over to lean against Firhaur. "Yeah. And I swear, Firhaur, I'll always be at your side."

Firhaur smiles back and wrapped an arm around Gaster's shoulders. "We'll be immortals together."

Gaster laughed.

For a long moment, the brothers sat on the cliff and gazed out at the quickly setting sun.

Then Gaster's phone rang. On recognizing Papyrus's ringtone, Gaster quickly answered.

"Dinner's ready!" Papyrus declared. "Are you guys almost home."

Gaster glanced at Firhaur, a look of slight panic on his face. No, no they were not. "Uhhhhh... yes. We'll be home in a few minutes."

"Okay! See you then! Love you, dad!"

"Love you too, Papyrus."

Gaster put away his phone and looked at Firhaur.

"Let me guess." The dragon looked amused. "Dinner's ready, and Papyrus is expecting us."

Gaster nodded.

Firhaur let out a chuckle, settling down a bit. "Alright, climb on."

Moments later, Firhaur was soaring through the air at breakneck speed, Gaster clinging to his back and laughing wildly.

§

A/N

I've actually had this idea since the beginning of making this AU-of-an-AU, but it's just taken me a while to write it.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! Comments and votes are my Favorite Things and every notification I get makes my day!