{Handplates chapter references: A strange, awkward dinner, Hey remember when}

At first, it was dark.
Gaster blinked a couple of times as he seemed to regain consciousness. The room he was in wasn't much brighter, but he slowly started to recognize the different devices that stood in the room. But he saw them from a point of view he had never seen before. 

"wha..?" 

The tube. He was in one of the tubes that helped to stabilize 1-S. 

Gaster's skeletal hands pressed against the cold surface of the thick glass and he frantically looked around for any way to get out of there.

Gaster used his full strength to hammer against the glass but it did not do anything. The thuds of his beats sounded dull, echoing through the vessel. 

Gaster immediately grew more panicked, falling to his knees to feel for any weak spots in his construction but to no avail. 

A small noise broke his panicked state and his eyes darted towards the source of the sound. There was dust raining from the top of the tube down onto the ground.

Dust. 

Was this- Is this- 

His mind started to scream at him, dread filling his entire body as he desperately tried to get out of the tube.

The steady noise of the dust pouring into the tube rang in his ears and soon he stood in it knee deep. He tried to move against the dust, which seemed to swallow him like quicksand.

The pouring became quicker, filling the tube more and more with each second until it reached his chest. Gaster struggled, trying to reach for the top of the tube. For anything to get him out but nothing would help. 

"I can't get out..." He tried to claw his way up, but he just slid down the glass, not being able to find solid grip.

The dust reached his shoulders.

He desperately tried not to think of all the lives that were lost, that were taken because of him. But it got progressively worse. 

"I can't get out!!", Gaster's voice was strained and full of terror.
He tried to keep his head over the dust but soon he was swallowed entirely, everything around him turning dark.

A loud gasp erupted from Gaster's chest as he jolted awake. He slammed his hand on the desk, trying to hold onto something but knocking over his coffee cup in the process.

As he realized that he was in his office and this was indeed just a nightmare, he calmed down slightly but he could not stop the shaking in his body. 

Gaster stared off into the distance, trying to suppress his tears and steady his breathing.
Eventually, he put his head in his hand, a strangled and desperate wheeze escaping his mouth.

Someday, this will break him.

Or is he perhaps already broken?

After a while, he reached with one hand for his phone, resting his head on the other and flipped it open.

"what time is it..? ugh, when's the last time I ate..?" 

A flicker of realization crossed his face: "When's the last time they ate? Did I do their tests today..? Ugh, if I miss a day it's going to throw the whole baseline off.."

A sudden idea crossed his mind and he thought to himself before making his way to the cell of 1-S and 2-P.

He could already hear their voices from afar, complaining about how hungry they are.

"...I'M SURE HE'LL COME, WE JUST HAVE TO BE PATIENT..."

"I'm here.", said Gaster as he finally arrived at the cell.

2-P looked up at him with a small smile and 1-S also perked up slightly: "OH! SEE, I TOLD YOU-"

"Both of you, come with me."

Gaster's hand darted to the hand reader, shutting off the lasers and letting them out. "uh...okay..but...you know we haven't eaten anything since the lights came on, right? you didn't forget did you?", asked 1-S, a hint of skepticism in his voice.

"OF COURSE HE WOULDN'T FORGET SOMETHING THAT IMPORTANT, BROTHER! RIGHT...?"

You didn't know what to expect when Gaster led the two skeletons towards that usually locked room, but you were more than surprised when he flicked the light switch, revealing a kitchen.

The two brothers looked at the different utensils, both intrigued and curious and you trailed after them further into the room. 

"Today we're going to be doing something different." 

1-S's gaze fell on the fridge which was humming in the corner of the room and the other strange looking things: "...never seen this room before..." 

"I've written up a set of a directions here. They are very clear in every respect. I want you to follow these directions while I observe."

You glanced over their heads to look at the paper that Gaster held up at them. Are those...spaghetti..?

1-S took the paper from Gaster and looked up at him, a brow raised: "is this a test?"

"Yes."

"uh...okay."

"OO, THERE ARE EVEN PICTURES! A 'POT'? AND A BUNCH OF LINES?"

2-P was more than exited about those small, almost childish scribbles that were supposed to resemble a pot and spaghetti.

It almost made you chuckle.
He was capable of sketching intricate designs of his machines and craft blueprints from scratch but somehow such simple drawings were not part of his skillset.

Or perhaps he just didn't care enough to try any harder. You could recognize them after all so it was definitely good enough. 

"'noodles' it says.", read 1-S out what was written over the lines that were drawn onto the paper.

"WOW, I'VE NEVER SEEN NOODLES BEFORE! WHAT'S IT SAY TO DO?"

1-S read the instructions to 2-P as he scurried around the kitchen. "uh put the pot under the "faucet"...this thing here, and...turn the knob?" 

2-P sat the pot into the sink and turned on the knob, a steady stream of water coming from the tap.

2-P squeaked in excitement: "WATER'S COMING OUT!"

"yeah, it says to fill it. then..." 

It was refreshing to see them do something like this so independently. A smile crept onto your face as you watched them maneuver around the kitchen and you couldn't help but look at Gaster.

Maybe there was something of the monster that you loved so much left in him after all. Even though this sudden change of heart surprised you. You hoped it would last.

"WOOOOW. LOOK AT IT! IT SMELLS GOOD."

The spaghetti finished cooking, just the rest of the water had to be strained and it would be ready. Gaster finally got off his seat, looking at the final result.

1-S pointed at the pot, full of delicious smelling goodness: "uh...can we...? or, is it not for..."

"Both of you, go sit down over there. At the table, in the chairs." 

You watched as Gaster pointed at the dining table, both skeletons reluctantly walking away from the pot with a saddened expression: "AWW, DO WE NOT GET ANY?"

"I won't repeat myself. Sit."

The brothers sat down, patiently waiting for whatever Gaster was doing.
Clunking of kitchen instruments were audible and the water was strained from the pot. 

Soon, he walked up to the table, two plates of spaghetti in his hands.

"Alright, here."

Gaster set them down in front of 1-S and 2-P and they both stared at him in disbelief.

"FOR US?"

His magic hands carried another plate, setting it down at his seat as well. 1-S frowned slightly: "no...you got some too."

The chair squeaked as Gaster dragged it across the floor and sat down. He picked up the fork, mindlessly stabbing the spaghetti with his fork as he seemed to think about something.

2-P decided to speak up, trying to make the atmosphere less strange and awkward: "I DIDN'T KNOW WE COULD MAKE FOOD."

"It's called cooking."

"but...all we did was follow the instructions."

"That's all cooking is."

2-P beamed with excitement. "WOW, SO CAN WE-"

"No more talking."

"WELL, OKAY...BUT THAT WAS KINDA FUN, HUH?", 2-P couldn't contain his excitement. For him, cooking spaghetti was one of the greatest experiences he had made so far and he was sure he would forever find joy in cooking.

Gaster once again, however, shut him down: "What did I just say?" 

2-P understood, leaning over his plate a little and picking up the spaghetti with his bare hands. He picked them up and shoved them into his mouth, enjoying the flavors he had never tasted before.

1-S was also digging in, his face almost buried in the spaghetti as his small form could barely peek over the table. 

Gaster's eyes drifted towards the two of them as he silently put a spoonful of his own spaghetti into his mouth, an almost content feeling spreading in his chest.

This was surprisingly calming to him, and he did enjoy the company. It helped him somewhat recover from his nightmare that he had, and he secretly appreciated that.

Perhaps he should conduct such kind of IQ tests more often in future...

.

.

.

"DO YOU REMEMBER BACK BEFORE WE GOT THE PLATES WHEN HE'D TAKE US OUT AND LEAVE US IN THE ROOM WHILE HE WORKED ON STUFF, AND HE'D TALK TO US AND TEACH US THINGS?"

"yeah"

"WHY DO YOU THINK HE DID THAT?"

"who knows why he does anything."

1-S and 2-P sat on the bunk bed together, 1-S had the color cube in his hands, rotating through the different sides mindlessly.

"it was probably some messed up experiment or something." 

2-P pondered for a moment: "...MAYBE HE WAS LONELY."

"if he was lonely, he would've made people, not things." 

"WELL, MAYBE HE WANTED TO BE FRIENDS WITH THINGS ANYWAY. HE WASN'T SO BAD TO US BACK THEN." 2-P pulled his legs up to his chest, resting his head on them. 

"he wasn't real good to us either."

"NO, BUT...ONE TIME, I REMEMBER HE WAS WORKING ON SOMETHING AND YOU WERE ASLEEP. AND HE SEEMED REALLY FRUSTRATED..."

~🧡~

2-P perked up as he heard the frustrated groan that came from Gaster. He sat at his desk, leaning over a bunch of papers with a defeated look on his face.

2-P carefully picked up 1-S, trying to not wake him as he moved his head off his lap and lay him down on the ground that they sat on.

He gave his brother one last glance to reassure that he was okay and sleeping soundly before he quietly stepped up to Gaster's desk. 

Gaster noticed him approach, burying his face in his hands: "I will never figure this out." Gaster's voice sounded tired and frustrated. 

The exhaustion was more than evident in his face and 2-P couldn't help but worry about him.

He reached out for one of Gaster's arms, resting his palm on it and giving him a reassuring smile: "I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT. AND I BELIEVE IN YOU AND YOUR SMARTNESS." 

There was a small moment of silence. 

Usually, Gaster would get this kind of reassurance from you.

He did not want to admit it but it gave him strength. And a sense of comfort.

Gaster's eyes shifted from his papers to 2-P's face, giving him a small but genuine smile.

~🧡~

"AND HE SMILED AT ME. FOR REAL. DID HE EVER SMILE AT YOU LIKE THAT?"

1-S's gaze lowered as his brother told him about that memory and he involuntarily thought about his own experience he made:

"Alright, watch carefully." Gaster held up the color cube in his hand.

1-S sat across from him at the table, his eyes scanning the object closely: "You can rotate the sides of this cube to shift the colors around. The goal is to make each side one solid color." 

Gaster handed 1-S the cube and picked up his clipboard to write down some notes, continuing to explain the task to him: "Now, it might take you some time to solve, if you can at all, but-"

"done." 

Gaster perked up, his eyes moving from his notes back to the color cube that laid on the table.

1-S smiled at him, patiently awaiting his next task. Gaster reached for the cube and inspected it.
All sides had one solid color. 

"...Huh. That...that's very impressive.", Gaster stated with a hint of acknowledgement in his voice.

"really?"

"Yes. I thought it'd take much longer...Here, try again." 

He mixed up the colors again and handed the cube back to 1-S and watched him carefully as he spun around the different sections of the cube.

"done." 

Gaster's mouth opened a little both in surprise and awe. He lifted his hand to his mouth to try and hide his smile and astonishment but failed miserably: "...Amazing."

~💙~

1-S sighed as he thought about that memory, his eyes darkening slightly: "...yeah, he did." "

I WONDER WHY HE STOPPED. MAYBE PEOPLE AREN'T ALLOWED TO BE FRIENDS WITH THINGS. MAYBE THAT'S WHY THEY MADE HIM GIVE US THE PLATES AND STOP BEING NICE TO US."

"or maybe he did it cause it made it easier for him to do all these messed up things to us. maybe he planned on doing this the whole time." 

"DO YOU THINK HE PLANNED ON LIKING US?" 

"i don't think he ever liked us." 

"I MEAN, WHEN HE SMILED AT US, THOSE TIMES. DO YOU THINK HE PLANNED ON THAT?"

There was silence for a moment.

"...no. maybe that's why he did it then. to make himself stop." 

2-P sighed: "...I FEEL KIND OF SORRY FOR HIM." 

"he's not worth it. don't bother."

Meanwhile, Gaster sorted through his files. He picked up one of his folders, bringing it to one of the shelves. As he went to slide it into the shelf, a single piece of paper fell out of the folder. Gaster sighed and knelt to pick it up but hesitated as he saw what it was. 

It was the drawing from 2-P that showed him and the two of them together and holding hands. There was a small hole burnt through the paper near his head which was probably caused by some ash that fell from his cigarette at some point.

"IT MUST BE HARD TO BE ALONE ALL THE TIME. WE'VE ALWAYS GOT EACH OTHER, BUT HE DOESN'T HAVE ANYONE."

Gaster stood up, holding the paper now in both of his hands and looking at it with an unreadable expression.

Maybe... maybe this future could be possible...? He longed for the company. For happiness but –

He quickly discarded that thought and put the drawing back into its folder, storing it and with it, his thoughts that he did not dare to finish thinking.

"I WONDER IF HE MISSES US."