Saturday rolls around, and you meet up with Papyrus in the park. You two had originally planned to try to train your Magic, but since your staff blew up, Gaster hasn't given you a new one, and your hands are still kinda sore, that doesn't really happen.

Still, though, you both had the plans made on your calendars, and neither of you saw any reason to cancel the event. So you just meet in the park to hang out like the two cool friends that you are.

But, it being mid-November, you start to get a little chilly. You even start to shiver, your teeth chattering. Papyrus, of course, notices, and suggests that you both go back to his house to continue the cool friends hangout somewhere warmer. You agree.

And Papyrus, being the kind person he is, carries you there. You appreciate the gesture, even if the going is a little slower than usual, since Papyrus has to bear both of your weight.

But you arrive quickly enough.

When the pair of you walk in, you see Sans is slumped on the couch, half asleep. Gaster is looking intently at a paper as he paces back and forth in front of the tv, and the lit lamp on his desk says he's been doing quite a bit of work. Preparation for the CORE 2.0, most likely.

Gaster looks up to greet you. "Papyrus, Frisk. You're back sooner than I expected."

"Frisk was getting cold!" Papyrus says. "So we came here to hang out instead."

"Hm."

And then, Papyrus sneezes.

That catches everyone's attention. Yours, particularly, because you didn't even know skeletons could sneeze.

"Papyrus..." Gaster says slowly. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Of course!" Papyrus says.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

Gaster stuffs the paper he was holding into his pocket and steps over. For a moment, he just looks Papyrus in the eyes. Then he hugs Papyrus. Papyrus returns the hug, letting his skull settle on Gaster's shoulder, closing his eyes.

They stand there, hugging, for a long moment.

Then Gaster pulls away, hands on Papyrus's shoulders. "Papyrus. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Well..." Papyrus fidgets a little. "Maybe I have just a little headache? But only a very small one-"

"Papyrus."

"-that got kind of bigger, and maybe I was a little bit shaky this morning, but I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry because I'm okay and I-"

"Papyrus." Gaster cuts his son off. "Papyrus. Listen. It's most likely just a virus, and not going to kill you. I'm not worried about it in the slightest. That said, trying to power through it isn't going to help you get better more quickly, and the best thing you can do right now is rest."

"But-"

"No buts. I'm your dad, and I'm telling you you're going to rest today."

Papyrus's shoulders slump just a little, and he sighs. "Okay."

Gaster nods decisively, and leads Papyrus over to the couch. "Here. Lie down. Sans, scoot over and give your brother some space. Papyrus, do you still feel shaky at all?"

Papyrus sits down on the couch, and you notice Sans reaches out quickly to grab Papyrus's hand. He holds on tightly.

"N-not really..." Papyrus answers. "Well... maybe just a tiny bit."

"Well. Like I said, I'll be pretty surprised if it's anything more than a virus, and I'm sure you'll be fine in a few days. Sans, stop looking at him like that, it's not like his Soul is falling apart. I made sure that would never happen again."

That catches your attention. "What?" You stammer. "Papyrus's Soul fell apart?!"

Gaster glances at you. "Yeah. A long time ago. In the long run, it was actually a good thing, because it made me care for them again, but yeah."

You walk over to the couch and sit down next to Papyrus, who has slumped over to let his head and shoulders settle in Sans' lap. You realize, now that Gaster has mentioned it, that Sans does indeed have a slightly panicked look on his face. "How did that happen?" You ask Gaster.

Gaster sighs as he pulls a blanket off the back of the couch and spreads it over Papyrus. "Remember how I said Sans and Papyrus's Souls were grown from shards of mine? Their Souls started to decay, fall apart back to the original fragments. ...So... I came to fix it."

Sans gives Gaster a meaningful look. "... that was good work."

Gaster just smiles at him, absentmindedly reaching out a hand to rub Papyrus's back. "... Heh. Yeah. It was."

"What happened?"

Gaster glances down at Papyrus. "Huh?"

"How did you fix it?"

Gaster smiles, sitting down on the floor beside the couch. "With runes, of course! You were pretty young, not to mention that I was erased from existence, so you probably don't remember it, but you and Sans came to my lab. You actually stayed there for a few days, so I could keep you alive while I prepared things."

"But..." you say, catching Gaster's attention. "But why weren't they already there?"

Gaster gives you a Look. "Why would they be there?"

"Because you said they were your experiments! Didn't they live in your lab?"

At that, Gaster actually looks... ashamed. "Yes, well... this was... after all the experiments I did on Sans raised my Lv." His attention shifts back to Papyrus, who's listening with wide eyesockets. "I was... getting pretty cruel, so... Sans took you and ran away. I didn't see you two again for... quite a few years, until your Souls started decaying. Helping you with that was what lowered my Lv again."

"Oh." Papyrus says softly.

Gaster turns to Sans. "Do you remember that at all?"

Sans frowns thoughtfully. "a little... i remember being very scared that you would hurt us, or use me for experiments again... and i was surprised when you didn't."

"Yes, well. Like you said. It was good work."

You're not sure what all this talk of 'good work' is, but you can see that the words seem to carry some sort of mutual contentedness between the two skeletons. So you just smile.

Then Papyrus sneezes again, and you frown. "Gaster?"

"Yeah?"

"How-... How exactly do skeletons get sick, anyway?"

Gaster just looks at you like it should be obvious. "Magic. Obviously."

"Uh..."

He sighs. "Magic is really just another form of energy, and sometimes bacteria or viruses and other manners of microscopic beings get into a monster's Magic and start consuming it."

Just a small bit nervous, you scoot an inch away from Papyrus.

Gaster notices and frowns. "You're a human. It shouldn't be contagious to you. And besides, even if it was, it wouldn't be worse than a cold or flu."

You can't help the touch of relief that you feel.

You stay for a while longer after that, keeping company with the skeleton family, until your phone rings, and Toriel calls you home.

§

A/N

*Mouse has encountered a wild Writer's Block!

*Writer's Block uses Lack of Imagination!

*It's super effective!

*Mouse's writing ability is impaired!

*Mouse uses But I'm the Author, Dangit!

*It's not very effective...

*Writer's Block uses Too Many Typos!

*It's super effective!

*Mouse's writing ability is already impaired!

*Mouse uses But People Want the Next Chapter!

*It's not very effective...

*Writer's Block uses Boring Syntax!

*It's super effective!

*Mouse's writing ability is already impaired!

*Mouse uses I'M GONNA WRITE THE CHAPTER SO GET THE HECK OUTTA HERE NOW!

*It's super effective!

*The Wild Writer's Block has been defeated!

*Mouse earned a Next Chapter!

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!