It’s three in the morning.
Papyrus woke up from a surreal dream which he couldn’t remember. It involved his childhood days, talking to a skeleton that wasn’t his brother.
He tossed and turned around in the oversized hospital bed, but he couldn’t sleep. He missed the familiar comfort of his own bed: the right texture, the right size, and the right location.
Home.
Looking around, he couldn’t find his brother. Perhaps he had went home to sleep in his own room.
“HMMM…” he thought aloud to himself. “WHY SHOULD I STAY HERE? I FEEL QUITE FINE. PLUS, I CAN CHECK IN AFTER WORK.”
It was then Papyrus realised that he had missed days of honest work. “OH NOES!!! THE CAFETERIA! WHAT DAY IS IT NOW? WHO’S FEEDING THE CHILDREN???”
With that revelation, Papyrus dashed right out of Alphys’ lab. He had a job to do, and the Great Papyrus always takes his work seriously.
The school canteen opened early so some of the less fortunate students could have a hearty breakfast. He doesn’t do the cooking there, for the good fortune of many young ones, but he made sure the place was clean and the children healthy.
For as long as he could remember, Papyrus had the knack of reading another person’s condition. Happy or sad, sick or healthy, rested or tired, and a host of other ‘feelings’ that he couldn’t quite explain.
The volume of snowfall made it hard to see what’s ahead. Papyrus kept running anyway. He had the town’s layout memorized on the back of his hand, or so he’d like to think.
Somehow, however, this road stretched out further than he recalled.
He noticed a silhouette standing at the middle of the path. Thin, slender, dressed in black: this person stared upwards into the dark, snowy sky.
Papyrus slowed down to a stop.
“HELLO?” he asked. “ARE YOU LOST, SIR?”
The figure didn’t reply. Curious, Papyrus took a few more steps forward.
A white head…? It appeared to be the back of a skull. Was it another skeleton? How rare.
He couldn’t shake the strange feeling that he had met this man before.
Familiar, as one would say.
“SIR? DO YOU NEED HELP?”
Again, no answer. Maybe he’s hard of hearing? Or was he too lost in the winter spectacle to notice.
Papyrus tried again. “MISTER TALL SKELETON IN FLOWING BLACK CLOTHES, CAN YOU HEAR ME?”
It was only then that the figure realised that he was being addressed. The mystery person turned around.
He was indeed a skeleton. An unusual one. The sockets were uneven: the right one in the shape of a crescent moon. It didn’t match his rounded left.
Two ridges scored through his skull. It gave this person the appearance of a puzzle piece locked together.
What bothered Papyrus the most was his… lack of solidity. Upon closer inspection, this person’s clothes literally ‘flowed’. Ebbed. Shifted.
His entire being was a liquid, always moving.
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Papyrus’ brows furrowed with concern. This person was an Amalgamate, but he thought that all of them had already returned to their respective families.
“NEVER WORRY, SIR MYSTERY AMALGAMATE!” Papyrus puffed up his chest. “I -- THE GREAT PAPYRUS -- WILL HELP YOU RETURN HOME SAFE AND SOUND!”
The other man started to speak… in hands. He used a mix of sign language and a cryptic tongue to communicate.
[Can you see me?]
That was a first. Ever since Papyrus had his Eye opened, his noggin could comprehend a language he never thought possible.
Papyrus signed back: [YES MISTER! IS THAT UNUSUAL?]
It felt weird to him. Where did this knowledge come from? Sans tried to teach him some as a baby bone, but it never got anywhere…
Yet here he was, conversing as if it was his native tongue.
The mystery skeleton smiled. [This is the first time in a long, long while that anyone has acknowledged my existence. Let alone converse in The Code. Well. Do you know my name?]
He wanted to sign ‘I don’t know’ -- wanted -- but the more he gazed upon this mysterious figure, the more he recalled a detail…
Without realising it, he signed: [UNCLE GASTER?]
The other skeleton was delighted beyond words. [Amazing, Papyrus. Yes. It is I, Uncle Gaster. Funny. Others addressed me as Doctor, but you insisted on calling me ‘Uncle’.]
[I DID? WHY DON’T I REMEMBER?]
[You were very young when you coined that nick.]
Gaster slid across the snowy road, leaving no trails or footsteps. His attention fixated on Papyrus’ glowing orange Eye.
[This… this is beautiful. Will you let me inspect it.]
Papyrus was more than happy to comply. [OF COURSE, UNCLE! BEHOLD MY AWESOMENESS FOR AS LONG AS YOU WANT! NYEH HEH HEH!]
The older skeleton chuckled. He leaned forward, peering into the right socket for a closer analysis.
[Orange. Blue. Green.] He signed.
[Orange. The essence of Bravery. Its progressive energy allows one to gaze beyond the limitations of his knowledge.]
[Blue. The essence of Integrity. It pulls multiple visions to a single point. Hmm, yours had double the intensity. You could stare death in the face and still remain sane. That’s a very important trait, Papyrus. Nothing is worse than losing your heart to mere possibilities.]
[Green. The essence of Kindness. Its rooted healing allows one to reconstruct memories scattered across space and time. Ah… interesting. Very interesting. That is how you could see me with so little effort. With some practice, you could even mend physical wounds.]
Papyrus was struck with epiphany. [WOWIE! THAT EXPLAINS THE WEIRD VISIONS SO MUCH! YOU KNOW A LOT, UNCLE GASTER.]
He then gasped in excitement, pointing to his own sockets. [OH OH OH! YOU’RE A SKELETON, RIGHT? DOES THAT MEAN YOU HAVE A MAGIC EYE TOO? CAN I SEE IT???]
Gaster laughed. It sounded hoarse and heavy.
[Not all skeletons have the Eye. However, my dear Papyrus. I don’t just have one Eye. I have two.]
One blink later, and Gaster’s eyes lit up in colour. His right was orange, and his left was blue. Just like the skeleton brothers.
Papyrus squealed absolute delight. [YOU HAVE ALL SIX COLOURS COMBINED?! THAT’S MIND-BLOWING!]
[Sorry to disappoint you.] Gaster signed back. [Two I may own, but they do not have any secondary or tertiary properties. These are pure.]
[SO, IT’S JUST LIGHT BLUE AND ORANGE? NOTHING ELSE?]
[Indeed. Mundane, but not useless. They boost my innate analytical foresight to levels beyond merely genius. Do you think the Core is made purely from human refuse? Goodness no! There are plenty of materials one could extract from the lava pools of Hotland.]
Gaster’s burst of pride soon faded into disappointment. […Which I presume the populace has forgotten over time. Tsk. The Dump was harmful for their long-term health. True riches lay right beneath their feet, and yet they never realised it.]
[That doesn’t matter anymore since we’re on the Surface, isn’t it?] Gaster smirked. [Access to fresh materials are just one business call away.]
Papyrus stared back, lost and confused by the sudden outburst of technical gripes. He didn’t know how to continue the conversation. But, he deemed himself an excellent host.
[UNCLE GASTER! I DON’T THINK YOU HAVE EVER TRIED MY GOURMET SPAGHETTI. I --THE GREAT PAPYRUS -- INVITE YOU TO AN EXQUISITE BREAKFAST!]
How else could he celebrate this long-lost reunion?
The old man laughed some more, causing ripples throughout his dripping being.
[Thank you very much, young man. But aren’t you rushing for work? It’s almost four in the morning.]
[OH MY GOD YOU’RE RIGHT! YES! SO SORRY, UNCLE GASTER. I GUESS WE’LL HAVE OUR REUNIONGHETTI IN THE WEEKENDS.]
Gaster rose his brows. [Are you so confident that this is not goodbye? Once you leave this space, you may not remember me.]
[‘GOODBYE’ IS FORBIDDEN IN THIS TOWN!] Papyrus exclaimed. [ONLY SEE-YOU-LATERS! WE’LL MEET AGAIN!]
The energetic skeleton then dashed down the dark road.
The snow subsided enough to let Papyrus see the surrounding shops. One of them was Muffet’s bakery. The sweet scent of spider doughnuts floated from the exhaust vents.
It was indeed four in the morning. Not much time left before he needed to check in at the cafeteria. There’s much to prepare and much to clean.
Papyrus made a mental note to bring his newfound uncle to Muffet’s. Her ciders may be to his liking.