What if? (Greyster)

Invitation

Jessica woke up to thin rays of sunlight streaming through the windows of the lab. It took a second for her to wake up fully enough to realize where she was, and for the events of last night to fully sink in. She looked around and deduced that she must have fallen asleep on the sofa, but where was Gaster? She stood up and stretched, and almost immediately spotted him. He was sitting in his chair, undeniably asleep. He had a half-finished mechanical cylinder in front of him, and looked like he had at least tried to finish it before the inevitable happened. The overuse of magic had left Gaster exhausted, no matter how much he tried to deny it.

She found her coat and put it on, hoping that by stalling Gaster would wake up before she had to wake him. To no avail however. The skeleton was sound asleep. His nap was much needed, and she just couldn't bring herself to wake him up. While she was trying to muster up the will to wake him, his head lifted. She let out a sigh of relief.

"Mmrgh?" Gaster lifted her head groggily. He looked as if he had not slept well, which was no surprise considering where he had been sleeping.

"Dr. Gaster, you're awake." Jessica smiled crookedly.

"Obviously," He said irritably. It looked like he wasn't a morning person. He looked around. "I assume I fell asleep?"

"Yes. I did too."

"I know."

There was a span of silence as Gaster neatened his desk.

After a few minutes, when  he looked like he was done, Jessica grabbed her keys off the hook by the door. "If you're ready, I suggest we head back?"

He stood up. "Yes, of course." He grabbed his coat off the back of his chair.

They walked out of the lab and Gaster locked the door behind them.

Another car drive marked only by awkward silence filled the next twenty minutes. This time, neither of them broke it. There was more progress on the cleanup that day, and Jessica suspected that they had been working through the night. She felt guilty, as that's what she thought she should have been doing. It was a beautiful fall day, and the sun was shining brightly in the crisp air. The leaves in the trees were just beginning to turn, and some trees were already filled with reds and oranges. As they reached the temporary base, Gaster noticed something.

"Toriel's car is there."

Jessica looked over and realized that he was right. Her blue Lexus was parked by the door.

"Let's go say hi then!" She smiled brightly.

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Gaster felt strange as they walked to the door. He had just realized he had never seen her smile before. He showed no sign of surprise, but inside he was reeling. He had seen her softly smile and smirk before, but a real, genuine smile? He wondered why he was even putting so much thought into this. He didn't care that much. He didn't. The automatic door slid open and he heard Toriel call out to them.

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"Hello, Miss Grey!" Toriel walked over to them, Asgore in tow. "Hello, Gaster!"

"Hi, Ms. Toriel!" Jessica met her in the middle of the room.

"Greetings." Gaster walked over as well, his hand up in salutations. He and Asgore quickly started chatting, leaving her and Toriel to do the same.

"So how are you doing?" Toriel began.

"Good, you?" Jessica replied and smiled at her. Toriel had a knack for making her feel like she belonged.