ShelterTale

ShelterTale Part 6

Somehow, the royal family was able to live for another year without any more big accidents. Papyrus was two years old now, and he was developing into a healthy young skeleton, full of enthusiasm and life. In fact, it was seeing Papyrus sprout up that made the others realize that Sans's growth rate had been quite slow. These days he was barely growing at all. No doubt it was a consequence of his low HP.

But, while Papyrus was doing excellently in a physical and magical sense, another area was left somewhat lacking.

"Now, Papyrus, what sound does this animal make?" Gaster pointed at a picture of a horse and asked.

"ARF ARF!" The babybones tilted his skull and grinned.

"No, Papyrus. This is a horse. Horses say neigh. It's dogs that bark." He flipped back a few pages. "See here? This is a dog."

Little Papyrus just giggled and rolled onto his back, grabbing his socked feet with his gloved hands.

"he's still just a baby, dad. what did you expect?" Gaster was startled by Sans teleporting into the room and jumped slightly.

"Ah, well, I thought we might have another genius on our hands. Perhaps it's still too soon to tell." Gaster looked at Papyrus already trying to stand. He fell repeatedly, but his soft clothes cushioned him every time. "He's certainly more energetic than you were." For a skeleton, since they lacked muscles, they often didn't learn to walk until they were three years old, or sometimes even later. Sans had refused to walk until he was five years old, and then just because he could use blue magic. He only started walking unaided when he was six.

"no surprise there," Sans shrugged, plopping down beside Gaster.

"You're getting quite good at that special magic of yours."

"heh, thanks. i get a lot of practice. not walking all over this huge palace saves me a lot of energy."

"Right. Your mood seems good. I take it training went well?"

Sans rubbed the back of his head and avoided his father's warm smile. "yeah. maybe your advice wasn't so bad after all. except for the last part. i still think there must be a better way."

"If you find it, do let me know."

"ok." Sans was quiet for a moment, but Gaster could tell he had something to say, so he waited patiently. "hey, dad, i've been thinking about something for a while now. i was never sure when or how to bring it up, or if i even should, but i've made up my mind."

"What is it, Sans? You can tell me anything, you know."

"yeah. i know how much you value open honesty in people. so, uh, be honest with me. you didn't really start feeling emotions just because i was born, right? that was just a lie to make me feel better when i was down."

Gaster sat quietly, and Sans let out a chuckle.

"it's fine, okay? i'm not mad at you because of it. in fact, i think it means a lot that every nice thing you do for me, pap, and everyone in the underground is a conscious decision. you work really hard to be nice. it makes me believe that... anyone can be good... if they just try."

The king spoke quietly. "Is that how it is?" He looked down at his hands, staring through the holes in his palms--a recessive trait neither of his sons had inherited. "Do you mind telling me what made you realize it? It's better if I can cover my mistakes; people will feel more at ease if they believe their king loves them dearly."

"your mistake, huh?" Sans shrugged and flipped his hood up. He hated wearing high-class clothes and preferred soft, easy ones--probably because he would often nap throughout the day. Sometimes quite suddenly. "well, i don't think a king full of emotions could have made the decisions you did. you spent years building this shelter in the underground for everyone; you knew the humans would go to war with us. even so, you waited until they attacked to evacuate everyone. monsters died because you waited, but you didn't wait for sentimental reasons. you waited because you needed everyone to be convinced that taking shelter underground was their best option."

Gaster tilted his head. "And what else? If it were just that, everyone else in the underground would have found me out too."

"what else, huh? probably, what sealed it for me was that story you told me before; the one with the guard dogs. that story and your actions preparing for the war just seemed too similar."

"I suppose that does make sense." Gaster lowered his head in defeat, but he was smiling. "I'm sorry for lying to you, Sans, although I still think it was the right thing to do at the time. I want you and Papyrus to grow up feeling happy and loved--"

"because that will mean a more prosperous and peaceful future for monster kind, right?"

The king chuckled. "My, you do understand me, don't you? Yes, that is the reason. I would be lying if I said I love either of you. But I do care for you in my own special way. Your mother would give you both proper love if she was still here, but it's just me. I hope I can be enough."

"don't worry, pops--not that you can. i'll make sure papy gets enough love to cover your and mom's portions as well as my own. and, like i said, i don't hate you just because you can't feel anything. i'm just happy you chose to become a good person instead of a bad one; you could have been whatever you wanted without ever feeling guilty, but you chose to walk the high road. i admire you for that. it kind of makes a lazy person like me want to work a little harder."

Gaster chuckled. "Sans, you and I both know you aren't as lazy as we tell everyone. Be careful you don't start to believe that lie yourself."

Sans was always smiling--he inherited that face from his mother--but it felt like he was frowning beneath it. "dad... can you get me permission to use gerson's labs again? like back when i was helping build the core? i'm... really sick of not having the energy to study, train, play with pap, or do just about anything besides talking, and i had a few ideas that could amount to something."

"Something like an external energy source, perhaps? An artificial secondary HP bar?"

Sans's skull whipped around. The white light in his left eye and grayish light in his right eye were quivering. "you..."

"I'd also given it some thought, and that was the best solution I was able to come up with. I was actually thinking of making something in secret, but my headaches have been so frequent lately... I forget what I was doing when they hit, and it just kept slipping my mind. But, since you've also expressed an interest... Why don't we work on it together, sort of like a father-son project?"

"that..." Sans felt tears gather in his functional eye. "that sounds great."