Deltarune by W. D. Gaster (and Dess Holiday)

by DreamyWoolenDaze

Summary:

There were multiple times in her life Dess could say she had really had it up to there with her mom and needed space from her.

Only once did it go too far.

In her anger she ran off in the middle of the night with nothing but the bag on her back, her beloved whiffle bat and a bag of Lightly Salted Hays Chips ™ (The only junk food her mother would allow in the house) in hopes that the fresh air would help clear her head.

Nowhere should have been more private than an unused weather bunker..

Is what she thought until she stepped inside and amongst the scattered papers and fast food wrappers was a strange man seated in front of the glow of a computer screen

Oh and his weird human roommate too

Notes:

And Chara Dreemur

(just add me in the credits or something)

"Screw this, screw you, screw this house!" Dess finds herself whisper shouting it like a mantra as she slips out of her bedroom window and slides down the water spout onto a perfectly trimmed bush. Well not as perfectly trimmed now.

"But not the people inside the house! Except you and the fact it was bought in your name. Noelle and Dad are just fine and dandy." The deer girl huffs as she adjusts her bag and begins her angry trot away from one of the most expensive houses in Hometown.

Over the gate that keep whoever's inside in and whoever's outside, out. Past neighborhoods, past diners and shops. But extra sneakily past the police station whose lights still shine on through the night. She wouldn't want to worry Mr. Asgore over something as petty as this.

Past the Mayor's office (She gives a real nice finger for that building), past the church and its' graveyard (She does not show this one her digit) until she's finally surrounded by nothing more than calming forest.

Only then does she breathe in deeply and exhale a sigh of relief.

In her solitude she reaches back into her bag and pulls out the last bag of lightly salted Hay's Chips she could find in the pantry and rips it open to begin munching. There's a sadness that plagues her mind at the very knowledge they're low salt.

She crunches down her sorrows loudly as a darker blur amongst the already dark night grows closer into her vision.

The town's weather bunker soon stands ominously before her.

Right now, she just really needs alone time to think. She certainly won't be bothered by anyone in here. She digs into her pant's pockets and pulls out a key with her lightly salted hooves and clicks it into the bunker's key hole.

Just the fact that she swiped from her mom's home office earlier is enough to bring a smile to her face as she pulls the door open and hastily enters.

Now in her rush to leave the house, she's quick to realize she never packed a light source with her.

"Just great. Ugh there's gotta be a bulb or flashlight around here somewhere.." Dess groans as she spreads her hands out to begin feeling up and around the confined space. Her hooves clack against the floor, carrying her deeper and deeper into bunker.

"What the-? Just how deep does this place go?? Where the hell are the walls? Don't make me have to sit in the dark all night.." She chomps down on another chip.

It's only when she nearly slips on a loose piece of paper that she can finally see a soft glow of light amongst the darkness.

"Oh Angel finally." She breathes out and keeps on her path. When she walks closer it occurs to her that a light this far down is quite the strange occurrence and is most likely being emitted by someone, or something, else being down here.

No issue for someone like her though. She simply reaches towards her bag and quietly shimmies her whiffle bat out.

Just in case.

The path finally feels as if it were shrinking as the lights beckons her. In the dim blue glow she can also see and feel the amount of paper and trash littering the floor grow the further she walks.

Now she can see the form of a man?? In the middle (she assumes) of the room. He shifts and bobbles in strange ways, but Dess quickly notices it's because he's hunched over and seated awkwardly in a rather uncomfortable looking chair. Not only that but the glow she's been seeing is that of a computer. Which he is currently harshly clacking away at. Which is possibly the reason he hasn't noticed her yet.

But she sure as hell has noticed him. If not for the light of the screen, the mountain of fast food containers and wrappers she's stepping on is clear enough. Oh and the smell. She's not entirely sure if that smell is from the trash pile or the man himself.

Well now she just feels rude for judging this guy she just met.

She clears her throat. "Ahem, uh hello there sir? Whaaat brings you here on this fine night?"

The man does not budge one bit at her voice. The keyboard keeps clicking.

"Hello!? Can you hear me? Do you have headphones on or something?" She's about to go up and tap his shoulders, but her hooves catch on something in the fast food mound and some of the piles crumple in on themselves and scatter across the floor.

This finally gets the man's attention and he turns to look behind him. Staring directly at Dess. Staring into her or through her Dess can't tell, but she can tell he's just as surprised by another presence as her as he starts screaming.

Which in turn causes her to start screaming too.

Which may or may not cause another pile of papers to fall.

Luckily their back and forth screaming only lasts a few seconds before the strange man on the computer coughs to clear his throat.

"My apologies child. Your presence simply startled me. I don't get outside company often." He lifts his hands away from the computer and outstretches one out. "Shall we properly introduce ourselves? I believe it would make this interaction much less.. awkward."

Now Dess' mother told her never to talk to strangers... Which is why she shakes his hand immediately.

"I am addressed by many conceivable societies as Wing Ding Gaster, but it's a bit of a mouthful so Gaster or some variation of W. D. is just fine."

For a monster with no skin, his bony hands sure are sweaty. It's a little gross actually.

"Uh my friends call me Dess. I like it more than my full name so you can go with that. Like I said before our little screaming fit, uh why are you working in the middle of the night down here. You tracking storms or something?" She really hopes her chatter is keeping him from noticing her trying to wipe the sweat off on one of the many papers on the floor.

"Oh.. well that question is a bit of a shame." He turns his head back around and continues typing with a sigh. "I thought you might've come here because of my ad."

"Your what?"

The man clicks on his mouse and brings up another site on his computer and points to it enthusiastically. Dess wades through the trash to get a closer look. Besides the similarity to the surrounding area, she can see past the dirtiness of the desk and onto the surprisingly clean screen.

"Calling all passionate video game developers, testers and storyboard writers/artists. I once had a dream. A very, very interesting dream that awoken in me a desire to create. And in turn for its' knowledge it wished to be shared with the world. Help me bring that dream to fruition. It'd be silly to think a single man such as myself could handle this workload on my own." She reads aloud.

"I just don't get it. I even uploaded the posts in three different languages!" Dess says nothing as he scrolls through his past posts.

"I can see why. I mean you barely gave any information on the game itself! Just how your 'experiments', whatever that means, will be very very interesting. No one knows anything about what kind of game you're planning!"

"But that's the point! I wish to keep my cards close to my chest, for the most unspoiled playthrough once it's birthed. The people do love a good mystery."

"What it sounds like some sort of scam or trap. Look at this place! Who develops video games down here??"

"Oh my GOD would you all shut up! I was trying to sleep!!" Both Dess and Gaster tense up as a new voice enters the fray. "I swear something is always going on when I'm trying to rest. That damn comedian, that weird monster kid having an existential crisis, sooo many fast food deliveries and....." The disembodied voice goes quiet for a second. "Who the hell is this?? This one is... different..."

"Oh Chara, glad to see you awake finally. Too much sleep isn't good for you as well as none, you know? This here is my latest hire! They answered my posts online."

"I did no-" Gaster, despite not seeming to have an elbow, elbows Dess somewhere in the stomach and raises his finger to his lips. Giving a silent plead to go along with it.

"Is that so...?" In the limited light Dess can see a humanoid figure beginning to walk closer to them. "In that case." They're almost visible when Dess hears a few metallic clings and witnesses a few gold soar through the air and into Gaster's hands. "Guess you win this time old man. Don't spend it all in one place. And not on Taco Bell. Can't stand that place anymore because of..well, you know." They wave their hands towards the entirety of the trash piled room.

The human then turns towards Dess.

"Why'd you even agree to work in a dump like this?" They snort with a laugh.

"I just loooove working in dark isolated places in the middle of the night like this. Really makes me feel alive." She says sarcastically. "Plus anywhere is better than where I was before. This is actually a huge improvement." This Chara character simply raises an eyebrow at her story. In the light she notices they're dressed in loose fitting striped pajamas that can't help but remind her of Kris.

"See I knew someone else would get it! It's the perfect environment for creativity to thrive." Gaster preens as he opens a new site on his computer with a menu plastered on the front. "Calm, quiet and very little disturbances make for an effective magnifying glass of focus."

"Can you at least order something with chocolate on it this time? I'm starving. Plus I deserve it for putting up with a roommate like you. And probably something for your guest. Just etiquette stuff or something."

"Sooo you guys seem pretty close...how'd you two meet? " Dess asks curiously. Her whiffle bat is soon tucked back into her bag the more these two talk. Her gut definitely doesn't feel like they're a threat.

"Unfortunately we've known each other for a pretty long time." Chara says with endearing sarcasm. "Some pretty weird times in our lives. Long story. But we figured wherever one goes, the other might as well follow. So that's why I'm down here. Paying rent to the guy who's already spending it all in fast food!" They yell that last part out loud.

Gaster seems to have the gall to at least feel a little embarrassed as he clicks the 'Place Order Now!' button.

"Unbelievable.."

"I ordered a fudge sundae for you this time.."

"Ugh. If it's melted when it gets here I'll kill you."

Gaster hums as he brings his cup up to his mouth to sip. He grimaces and quickly grabs a different cup on his desk and drinks from it instead. His eyes zone in on the bag of chips held limply in Dess' hand.

"Are those low sodium Hays chips?"

"Yes..?"

"Perfect. Just perfect. Here I will trade with you." From a desk drawer he pulls out an unopened bag of original, fully salted Hays Chips (Now 100% vegan). Dess feels as if she could cry when she practically rips it out of his hands and shoves her own into his.

"Finally *crunch*, I've missed salt so much." Just the flavor is enough to conjure the memory of her father bringing home a salt block for her and her sister for the summer.

"Some of my other 'associates' claimed I should improve my diet. Now I can say that I'm taking their words seriously."

"They might believe you more if you cleaned this rat's nest in here."

"I do believe I have that task written somewhere on my to-do list." He begins sifting through the papers on his desk. "I know it's in here somewhere. Oh. I see what you're playing at." His face stretches into a grin. "I suppose I can prioritize a clean environment before I continue my work."

"I'm totally down to offer a hand if you need it." Dess volunteers. She sees Gaster and Chara beginning to protest, but quickly silences them. "You just gave me full fat, fullly salted hay chips. I would kill for you. Besides, you totally hired me to help you out, didn't you?" She winks.

"Ah of course. I don't see why not."

"Fine. Guess I can help too. Just because you bought me a sundae. Don't be thinking I care now." Chara says with a poke of their tongue.

Dess is just happy to have an excuse to stay out longer.
_____________

A short, unspecified passing of time later

"Ahem, so what is this game about exactly? Again, like no details on your cryptic hiring posts."

"Oh brother here we go." Chara grumbles as they shovel crumpled fast food wrappers into a bag. No gloves because they claimed they, 'weren't a bitch'.

Dess took that as a challenge and her hands also remain gloveless as she digs through the trash.

"Thrilled to have someone actually take an interest in my little project."

Chara knowing the jab is towards them just rolls their eyes and keeps cleaning.

"Picture this. A heartfelt journey of humor and friendship. Where fantasy and reality teeter precariously over each other's lines both in game and outside of the game. Where fighting the enemies, isn't always the answer. But sparing them and offering them mercy may lead to the best possible outcome."

"Like the opposite of a normal RPG? Instead of progressing by fighting enemies you... spare them? How does that even work? Wait, don't tell me. You just talk to them and convince them not to kill you?!" Dess wipes a tear form the corner of her eye from the laughter. Then she looks at the absolutely preening face of the hunched man besides her.

"Oh. You're serious about that."

"As the dead." Chara mumbles from their trash pile. "Just feel grateful you weren't here when he sat me down and listed through all NINETY-THREE endings he had planned! I will never get that time back."

"Ninety-three?! Wow, I gotta say that actually sounds impressive. And time consuming, heh."

"Oh they were child, but in the long run they would most likely conflict ever so slightly with other theme messages in this game." He stares longingly at an empty soda bottle. "This was the bottle I drank when I cut them down to one ending. The one that started this journey of mine."

He shoves the bottle into the trash with a sigh.

"Did I tell you it came to me in a dream? An ending so moving I lept from my slumber to scribble it down on a piece of paper." The man says wistfully. "I always remember to keep it close to my heart."

Dess thinks it sounds a bit corny, but makes an understanding face nonetheless.

"Wipe that shit off your face. He means literally." An out of breathe Chara says as they tie another stuffed garbage bag closed. " Keeps it in his weird goopy body, closest to where the heart is. Or where it should be. Who knows if he has one."

Gaster indeed proves this by plunging his hand into his chest and digging around for a few seconds before a slightly goopy covered paper exits and he waves it in the air for all to see.

"Woah that's rad! What else you got stored in there!?"

Apparently the man isn't even quite sure of that himself as the three of them decide to take their first break from cleaning to brave the journey that is Gaster's strange form.

At the end of their adventure. They've pulled out fifteen pencils of various lengths, a Bob Dylan CD, a lifejacket, a comb (what for, he doesn't even have Dess wonders to herself) a packet of Cirno stickers, tickets for something called Dashcon 2, a shit ton of paperclips, like five generations of mountain dew cans, a collection of mason jars, a handful of McDonald's sweet n sour sauce and concerningly enough a small white dog who yips excitedly and then falls asleep on the pillow taken from where Gaster's tibia might've been.

"Oh so that's where you've been hiding." Gaster gives the snoozing dog a pet. Dess just stares between the scene and Chara. Who is acting like this is totally normal. He turns his head to Dess as he pats the soft dog's head. "He's never lost a game of hide and seek. Did you know that?"

"Nope but now I do."

"Eureka!"

The dog startles back to consciousness for a moment at the man's suddenoutburst. The fluffy thing is quick to fall back into slumber as he races back to his desk and begins typing with manic furfur.

"It's so obvious of course! More mystery. More intrigue. Just more! More is better after all." The grin on his face practically stretches up to the gaping voids that Dess assumes are eyes. "A website. To tease the release of my game! A countdown. People love those. They celebrate them at the end of every year!"

"That might finally be the best idea to get people to think your game is legitimate. But one small problem.. WE'RE STILL NOT DONE CLEANING THIS PIGSTY! I am not your house maid! I already pay rent, maid duties weren't included in that contract." Chara growls and throw an empty can at his head.

"Apologies, ah let me just write a little more..."

He's already zoned out on the light of the screen.

"Do it for the sundae, do it for the sundae, do it for the sundae.."

"How about this." Dess interrupts their chanting. "What if we add something else to shake things up. Add some stakes to it."

A small smirk appears on their face. "I'm listening."

"Let's make this into a competition. The person who can fill the most bags of junk wins!"

"A competition you say... a game even." Now it's the human's turn to smile maniacally. "I'd never say no to a chance to win." They put their hand out to the new girl in the bunker. "Well I'd say we have a deal then. All that's left on the line is our dignity."

Dess extends her own cloven and firmly grasps the much squishier one. "We may have only known each other for an hour or so, but I ain't going easy on you!"

"You'd be a dumbass if you thought I'd even think about doing that! I play to win everytime. Simple as that."

With the shake of each others hands, one human, one monster they're off to work. Nothing but the sound of crinkling trash, grunts of labor and the loud clacking of a keyboard echoes in the background.
____
"No way!! Unfair unfair. I'm totally out of practice!" Chara grumbles cross armed against one of the trash bags. They had lost by one bag.

One.

"Phew that was *pant* pretty close." Dess herself has also collapsed against her own share of bags.

It's a much nicer view when she opens her eyes though now. The entire area is cleaned and organized. All the trash bags are piled on one side so she can admire the shelfs and tables full of collectibles and doohickeys this strange W. D. Gaster had collected.

They range from strange looking electronics to cute figures of anime girls.

Which makes her laugh out loud because they look so outlandishly out of place down here.

"And what are you laughing at!" Chara demands with a slightly pink face from their side of the room.

"Oh nothing. Just remembered something funny. Good game by the way. None of my other friends can keep up that closely."

Chara mumbles something into the trash bags. Something that sounds like it could either be a thank you, or a fuck you.

"You might have beaten her if you didn't spend most of your time sleeping." Gaster chimes in from his desk. "When is the last time you took a lap?"

"When's the last time YOU took a lap old man??"

"Not a fair assessment to make against someone who doesn't participate in petty physical-based competitions."

"Alight I get it smart ass. Just go back to working on your website and let me mope in peace." They push their face back into the bags in defeat.

"Funny you should say, I have already scratched out the countdown. It may be too slow and boring since I have no idea how far out I am from completing the game."

"Then what the hell were you even working on?!" "What have you been doing the whole last hour?!" Dess and Chara yell at the same time.

"Glad you are interested once again in my work again friends." He says cheekily. "Imagine this. An Augmented Reality Game. Or ARG for short. People on the internet also love those."

Chara just groans and mumbles something that sounds like, "make up your damn mind already'.

But for Dess she quietly stares at the man still seated at his desk. A chair which has been sat on for so long there's a weathered dip where he sits now. A man who was so absorbed in his own art he had let the room pile high with trash, unbothered for there was no time to clean it.

She thinks back to her friend and neighbor Asriel. She remembers when he had wanted to make a video game. He had created, colored and coded in the final boss of this game first. He was stuck on one idea he never got around to finishing the rest of it.

Now before her is another man who's few main ideas may be holding his game back.

"I see now why you advertised for help Mr. W. D! With the way your perfectionist mind is going you'll never get this game out. You gotta stop focussing on all the little details and the internet interactive elements. What you need to do is focus first on the main plot and characters of the story."

Gaster may have silently asked her in the beginning to pretend she answered his calls for help to brag to his roommate, but she feels it now. The desire and will to make this game into a reality. To leave her OWN mark on something that will go out into the world. Like digital graffiti.

Even if it was just a few people.

"Even if we have to do it backwards."

Really she'd do anything as long as it was zero-percent Mayor mother approved.

The goopy man in front of her has a grateful look on his face as he stops typing.

"Yes I suppose organizing my ideas first would be most efficient." He scratches his head with embarrassment written on his face. "It has been hard to do so lately. Which was exactly the point in sending out those tweets." He laughs at his own forgetfulness.

Dess assumes it may have something to do with the weird cracks on his head he's scratching at.

The conversation is cut short when the sound of a running figure creeps up behind them. The three turn towards it and soon the light of the computer shines upon the exhausted looking face of a monochrome monster. Who is carrying what looks like fast food bags.

"Order for the brilliant W. D. Gaster?" Their face is shadowed, but Dess can see their mouth moving just fine.

"Brilliant? Oh you flatter me." The man laughs are accepts the bags. He then reaches towards his neck and removes a small glob of himself?? And passes it into the shaking hands of the grey monster. Their hands stop shaking upon retrieving the wriggling piece.

"Always so generous with the payment." They gurgle. "Until we meet again." And with that they run back where they came from, soon melding into the darkness of the rest of the bunker.

"Uhh, is that considered normal down here..?"

"My fucking sundae melted I'm going to kill you!!" Chara shrieks at the fast food bag they just ripped open.

"I could uh, I'm sure there's a container of liquid nitrogen around here.." Gaster gulps as he shuffles through his now cleared room.

Dess assumes it is.
______

More unspecified time later

"A tutorial based companion? You don't have a name for him yet? Not even a placeholder?"

"Quite strange I understand. I didn't find it important to commit to a name yet. Just the role. Oh and design! Let me show you."

While Gaster grabs a few folders from his desks, Dess steals a glance to a downtrodden Chara who is just a bit further from the two of them. The liquid nitrogen had worked in solidifying the sundae, but now it was too hard to scoop out.

"Would you um, like one of my fries?" Dess offers the cup towards them. Apparently W. D had gotten her, her own meal.

Chara immediately jumps at the chance and grabs much more than just one fry.

"I said one!" Dess yells as half her fries vanish inside the mouth of the human.

"Vengeance!" They boom triumphantly. Clearly still not over their earlier loss in the competition either.

Luckily the man returns with his folders before Dess' hands could reach around their neck to choke them. The two separate, but Chara is much closer to the other two now on the little creative circle they've created on the floor to brainstorm. He sets the files on the floor and pulls out the paper he was referencing to Dess just a moment ago.

"Here we are! Our game's guide and companion. A fluffy wizard with a heart of gold. Or perhaps not? I haven't decided."

Dess stares at the crude drawing of what seems to be a bashful looking goatlike monster. She's so focused on it she doesn't notice Chara's face twist a bit at the illustration before turning away.

"Now I want them to start out as a bit of naively positive character. It makes sense as they've waited alone so long to meet the other two fabled heroes in the story! He just can't wait to get off this paper and into the game. But he'll also need to grow into himself and what it really means to do and be good." He looks very proud of his creation.

Dess gives the page a good look. She's not sure if it's the weird lighting, but the image very much reminds her of Asriel. The horns, the ears, even the mannerisms seems on point!

An idea pops into her head.

Grabbing a blank notepad set to the side of files she jots down Asriel's name. As funny as it would be to tell him to name the character Asriel, the same hilarity could be achieved if it could hide in plain sight.

She chortles to herself as she jumbles the letter from Asriel's name and twists them into entirely new names.

"W. D. I got some propositions for his name!" She passes the small notepad to him with a barely contained grin.

"Aelsir, Lairse, Irales, Ralsei, Eslira...." He reads aloud one he grabs it. Chara scoots closer to get a better look at the names. Gaster skims it over a few times before stopping on one. "Aha it's perfect! Irales!"

"Hell no that one sucks." Chara butts in and takes the whole notepad in their hands. Their eyes linger a bit before chuckling to themself. "It doesn't roll off the tongue nearly as much as Lairse does."

"Well if that's what we're basing it on, Eslira rolls much better." Gaster argues back. "Hmm, oh this one could be perfect. Ralsei." He enunciates the -say sound at the end of the name. "For one who guides with words. Why yes, this one may just take the cake. Which he also happens to bake a lot of!" He says cheerily while circling the name in the notepad.

"Great! Check that off the mental list of things to do. What's next? Any other characters need a name?"

"Not particularly, but you absolutely must meet the other core heroes! We're catching up with the basics after all." He pulls out two more papers with characters very different from each other. "This monster here is Suzy. Her archetype is one of a mean girl who grows to care for her friends, those she saves and even herself."

"Classic. The loveable mean person who grows to care. Some of the best characters out there in my opinion. Can't help but root for their redemption." Chara notes.

"They remind you of yourself perchance?" Dess jokes.

Chara stares unimpressed, but smiles like something clicked in their head.

"What. You think I'm a loveable person then?"

"Maybe not loveable.. more like tolerable."

Chara retorts by ripping a sheet of paper out of the notepad and throwing it at her.

Dess lets out an eek.

"Please strive to not waste anymore paper during the rest of our session. Please. And thank you."

Dess and Chara immediately correct themselves and turn back to the last hero sheet.

"This last hero shall lead the other two. Not too much to say about them as they will be a stand in for the player character. One filled with the player's courage to save the world."

This character sheet is much different from the other two as the character design is incredibly simple. Gaster sighs.

"It's their design I struggle with the most. I want them simple, but not so simple they feel out of place in the world. But how does one go about creating a main character the player's can see as themself?"

Dess, like any other teenager around her age, is a fan of video games. And she's got an idea almost immediately as he finishes his sentence. "I got it! A character maker. Make some like body and clothes options for them to mess around with before the game starts."

"Inspirational."

"No way. That's way too much, thought we were talking about basic things first?" Chara turns to Dess. "Now he's going to get in another weird fixation with like.. how many stripe varieties on shirts there should be and......... he's already off."

He indeed is. When Dess turns back around, the man is already seated back at his desk chair clacking away.

"Damn he's quick! He kind of reminds me of my neighbor. Heh, he once stayed up three days in a row working on a game of his own. "

"Did he ever finish it?"

"Nope. Got burned out cause he focused on one part of the game. Hope that doesn't happen to W. D."

"Trust me, he's far from getting burned out, what he needs to do is get back here and focus on the outline first!" They encourage themself and Dess to get up and see what he's up to.

They don't even need to speak before he starts talking. "Grateful you could join me again! While you two were talking I was busy starting on some designs to choose from for our playable character."

"How did you get this much done already??"

On the screen he clicks through some of the options there will be available. He even runs the program and allows them a sneak peak at how it will run.

"You words even inspired me to add some of my own ideas. Like this little survey, so players can feel even more as the character!"

Dess clicks at the different survey questions and squints her eyes against the light of the screen.

"There's no doubt this is all very impressive, but what even are some of these responses? Why is pain under the favorite food question??"

"Thank you Dess for pointing that out. I guess in my rush to create I mixed up some of the answers. I'll have to fix that..."

"Psh, geezer there's no reason to even make this. You're already overworked as hell, just make them play the same damn character. It's more advertisable that way too. Folks love a silent protagonist with basic hero-like qualities. Who says we hafta break every mold?"

They then slip their hands over the mouse and click out of every open tab regarding the character maker.

"Besides, don't it clashes with certain themes? I mean the, 'no one can choose who they are in this world'. The whole point is the characters feel like they can actually choose who they are in the dark world, because they feel like they can't in the light world."

Gaster stares at them gob smacked.

"What's with that face, huh?! I do pay attention to your lore dumps every now and then."

"While I feel appreciative that you aren't zoned out whenever I decide to open my mouth, it's also because I don't think I saved my work before you closed out."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Crap."
_____

In the end some of it was salvageable.
____

A few moments or so later

"No way! When the knight is revealed it should be someone from the main group. Think about it you've followed them practically through the whole game! Players will know them better, thus hurting more at the betrayal."

"But if it's someone the character has known through their own history and someone the player gets to learn about through lore bits frequently talked about in the game, it'll hurt the character more and in turn the players!" Dess argues back.

Gaster listens intently as the two in front of him bicker back and forth about which character should be revealed as the roaring knight. Seems his own unsurity has caused a bit of an idea rift between his two companions.

"What if the conclusion of our scheming instead leads to multiple knights!" Gaster gleefully gasps. "Oh my this take on the story could be quite interesting... Then both of your candidates for the knight could be chosen."

Dess and Chara stare at each other and the words sink in.

"Yeah I could see that working." "Makes sense, it's like its own kind of twist."

"Or maybe I should go back to choosing just one knight..."

"What do you want from us old man!?"
_____

Another moment later, but not as much as the last

"How lucky I am to come across not one, but TWO artists! How airheaded could one be to forget how integral concept art could be to visualizing stages? Truly a mystery."

This last discussion of his had been about his struggle with retaining stage designs, after which Chara had gloated about their art skills and claimed they could have rough sketches from his descriptions in no time.

Thing was, their art skills only revolved around background art and their attempts to sketch out a cleaner version of his characters didn't go so well.

Which was when Dess stepped in to fill the roll for improving the rough sketches of Gaster's own hands, to a fully realized and colored rendition of his characters into the backgrounds Chara would create.

"When class got too boring I would just doodle my classmates. Worked pretty well for developing my skills. Even the art teacher was impressed! She tried to get me to take her class but... mom just wouldn't allow me to waste time on a frivolous activity like that."

Dess says softly, despite the agitation in her voice.

"That sucks." Chara tsks. "It's stupid how many controlling freaks are out there. That's why I stick to down here. Down here is my own little freedom, which I guess some of it is thanks to the Doc I guess."

"Why did you just call him the Doc? All I've ever heard you call him is old, old geezer, old man-"

"Ok I get it! It's all in good fun, it don't hurt his feelings." Chara scoffs. "But it's cause he WAS a doctor once. Something with science. Renewable energy I think."

"Woah. That's impressive. What the heck led him to hunker down here and slave away at a video game all day like this, heh? Is he retired?"

"You could say that."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What is means is it's his own business and if you want to know ask him! Now hush I'm focussing."

Dess allows the subject to be let go and focusses on her own art. Doesn't mean she isn't thinking about it though. This human, well both of them honestly have a weird way of wording things downs here.

After what could be ten minutes of quiet granite against paper, Chara mouth opens and closes a few times before they speak up again.

"Did you run away from home?"

"Whaaa?! That's a strong change of subject?!" Dess gapes in disbelief.

"Eh sorry forget I asked." Chara mumbles back. "Just thought I'd ask cause of all the stuff you'd said about your mom."

"Sorry it just came out of nowhere." Dess laughs.

Her pencils stop moving as she ponders her next move. On one hand she hasn't known this human for that long. On the other she hasn't known this human that long and there's a chance they might not cross paths again.

"Sort of? I mean I definitely snuck out in the middle of the night to get away from her house, but I don't know about staying away for forever. I've got a little sister in that house. I really just wanted to clear my head somewhere else.."

There's a small moment of silence again.

"Well... is it working?"

Dess thinks on the question, but it doesn't take long to answer.

"Yeah."

She smiles. There had been such an influx of whacky and wild situations down here she realizes she hadn't thought about her mother for most of it.

"Very much."

"Hell yeah. Cheers for avoiding sucky mothers." The two clink their drawing supplies together and soon a comfortable crinkle of paper and crayon fills the room.

-

"These are brilliant! Absolutely brilliant."

Gaster beams as stares his newly acquired concept artwork. The ways he's described his visions for the backgrounds are almost perfectly replicated onto the paper. The characters as well.

"I might tweak the color palettes for a few, but these are more than sufficient."

"Better be. My hands ache." Chara cackles. Their ice cream sundae has finally started to melt the tiniest bit and with a bit of chiseling they could get a single bit of ice cream out and into their mouth.

"Well mine don't. Maybe you should work out your hands more." Dess cheekily quips.

"Hey you only drew and colored the characters! I had to do that for like one-hundred and ten percent more paper space!"

"You both did fantastic, end of discussion. You should both be proud of yourselves."

Dess feels her face grow a bit warm at the praise and quickly throws out a giddy thank you towards him.

"Now. Who's ready to witness what me and my new musical friend have been working on?"

"You have a new friend? Don't make me laugh now."

"New? No they're not a new friend, but we just recently discovered he has a talent for music, so while you two were drawing we were busy experimenting with our original soundtrack for the game."

Chara and Dess follow after the slippery man towards an area of the dark room that apparently has a piano in the middle of it?

The man pulls out some sort of remote and clicks it. A spotlight is turned on above the instrument.

Which reveals the panting face of the white dog they discovered trapped in the void of Gaster's body mere moments earlier, seated at bench.

"There's no way-"

"Hit it my canine companion."

And with that, the dog's paws reach downward onto the keys and pitter patters them across the length of the instrument with melodic harmony. The music it plays varies between a slow and thoughtful piece, to an upbeat tune that gets your to tap your feet along.

This dog, has the musical paws of Mozart apparently.

Dess can't help but stare slack-jawed at the performance.

And it's doing it all with that goofy look on its face.

When it finishes, the dog bows it's head as Gaster applauds and it soon falls asleep on the top of the piano.

"I guess there was a way...."

"H-how does it know how to do that?" Dess asks confusedly.

"Hmm I believe he's self taught." Gaster says with the clap of his hands. "Would you two like to see how I transcribed it into the music for our soundtrack? Piano for every piece of music played wouldn't fit every scene after all. I've tweaked this electronic synth and it sounds heavenly-"

Dess figures it's about time she stop questioning things and just start rolling with the weirdness.

Plus the electronic instruments using the backbone of the dog's piano playing really did sound heavenly through the speakers of the man's computer.

"And that's just the start." Gaster notes as he clicks the pause button. "I'll need your help rating how well suited each track is for their individually themed worlds."

"Sure. How many are there left to listen too?"

"Three-hundred and twenty-nine."

"I've said it once I'll say it twice. That is impressive Mr. W. D. And also pretty concerning at this point. Have you ever though about talking to a professional about this?"

"Yeahhh I'm gonna need to find something to drink before I start. You two have fun listening until then though."

Dess barely has time to call them a coward before the human has already ran for the hills.

_________

"Got any fives?"

"Angel damnit! Just take all of my cards while you're at it why don't you." Dess forks over her cards to a triumphant looking Chara.

"Not so fun to compete now is it?" They chortle as they slap down four sets of matching cards. "I win!" They boom. Then they grab the bottle of chocolate syrup next to them and gulp down, "Again."

Their sundae still isn't quite melted, but when they had taken a moment to run away from having to sit and break down several hours worth of music, they had spotted the unopened bottle sandwiched between some of the trash bags and claimed it as their own.

By the time they returned from their 'walk', the other two had only gotten halfway through the game's soundtracks. This was an adequate enough time to call for a break.

"Real humble." Dess sighs. During their little break, she had found out that while physical competitions were her strong suit, Chara seemed to do better with activities like card games and board games.

Not always abiding by the rules however. She's pretty sure they were swiping extra cards on their turns.

Gaster on the other hand.... well she wasn't sure what competitive things he was good at.

Except that very quickly went out the window when she found out what it was when she played against him in chess. If she thought Chara's fight against her through cards and skirting around board game rulebooks was hard, the mental toll it took on her to play strategy games against the strange man was astounding.

It was nice though when Chara offered her a sip from their bottle of chocolate syrup to cope against the scalding loss. (She lost in five minutes)

Though they all collectible sat in mental anguish when that annoying little dog woke up and joined them for poker. It obliterated them like no other card-playing dog had before.

"It does make sense though." Gaster states as he picks up the toppled poker table Chara had sent flying when it won three times in a row. "He was the one who taught me to play."

"Really now? It always wins hide and seek, it plays piano... what else has this dog taught you?"

"Why, he's the one who encouraged me to follow my dreams of creating a video game." The man reminisces. "Even taught me the basics. He struggles a bit with using the computer so I taught myself whatever I could after his beginner programming course."

The man looks like he's remembering a good memory.

"Such an inspiration he is."

"Can the dog speak?"

"Hmmm not in the way you and I are doing as of now, but you know, there are many other ways to communicate with others when the words are lacking."

"It's just insane to me how much that mutt can do." Chara complains. Seems they've finished sulking and are helping clean up their own rash mess. They toss poker chips and cards back onto the table Gaster re-set up.

"It makes sense if you were to gaze upon his diplomas."

"Its' what now? Where can I get a companion like this?" Dess sighs.

"Oh my. I just realize we've strayed a bit far in time from our original tasks.

"Chill Doc, a little break never killed anybody."

"You would think that wouldn't you."

A guilty look passes quickly through Chara's face before they're giggling nervously. "You know, I'm actually really ready to finish listening to the rest of your soundtracks. If you all are?"
_____

"But we NEED to adresss the elephant in the room." A delirious looking Chara rants as they smack their hands against a chalkboard. "How real do we want the Dark Worlds to be?"

"As real as they need to be. Until they're not."

"But why, how and when does that happen??" They gulp down the rest of their chocolate syrup and toss it behind them. "I need another one. Someone get me another one!"

"I think you've had plenty tonight. Look, you've still got your sundae."

"It's still. Too. Frozen! Because you ordered ice cream online like a dope, it was delivered as a soup and your liquid nitrogen re-froze it too good!"

"No need for blame! We're all doing our best here after all."

"Can you guys keep it down! I think I'm developing a headache..." Dess groans. She opens one of the files and pulls it over her face, blocking out the dim computer light and the other two from her sight.

Seems the stress of creating a video game might be starting to take root.

Chara and Gaster do not appear to have heard her as their argument continues.

"Never mind I'll make hot chocolate later, but back to the point at hand! Disillusionment with the Dark Worlds should start appearing around chapter six and come to climax in the final chapter then. Not full disbelief, but just the main characters realizing they don't need them anymore to grow as individuals. Letting it go entirely."

"Or true balance is achieved with the original Castletown Dark World remaining standing, but as time slowly ticks on, the Lightners will be able to move forward with their own lives in the Light World."

"I thought you said the prophecy was going to be reveled to be partially false?"

"Maybe I've changed my mind..?"

"Never mind I actually need that hot chocolate now." Chara grumbles as they walk off to another side of the room.

When the sound of cups clinking and the sound of a kettle being filled rings out, only then does Dess take the file off her face to look.

"You have a kitchen over there??"

"Duh. Why wouldn't we have a kitchen?"

"Fair point." Dess groans as she lays back down. "Can you make one for me?"

Chara sighs, but Dess hears a second cup being set on the counterspace.

"Uh, may I have one as well?" Gaster sheepishly asks as he writes something on the chalkboard.

Another much louder sigh, but a third cup clacks against the counter nonetheless.

Dess takes a breath as she enjoys the quiet moment. The sound of hot cocoa packets being opened, of water boiling, the clacking of chalk on the board and even the soft whir of the computer.

Even though the other two had been arguing mere minutes ago, she doesn't feel this overly choking sense of tension in the air within the silence.

Tensions never seems to linger too long down here.

"Alright here you two go. Make sure to leave a good review." Chara jokes with a yawn as they set the cups next to their respective owners.

"Thank you Chara."

"No need to thank me, let's just take another break. I think everyone's starting to get a little tired."

Gaster stares out to Dess sprawled out on the floor, Chara's flyaway hair and even the way his eyes droop a bit.

"Alright. I'm sure I can manage that." He says with a grin as he grabs the warm cup and brings it close to his face. "I suppose fitting dark energy, gravity and universal expansion as parallels to the story can wait."

Chara nods as they plop themself onto the floor. Dess removes the file from her face once more to take a sip from her cup. In the darkened room it almost appears black. It's delicious.

"What a time." Chara drawls out. "I don't think I've done this much of anything in like forever. Oh this next nap is going to be so good." They sink on top of a sprawling mess of papers that are full of rough draft sketches and ideas.

An ideal enough place for a rest in their opinion.

"I forgot..*gulp* how much work making video games could be." Dess says between gulps of cocoa. "And you were just doing it by yourself until tonight? Pardon my words, but you are a bravely stupid man W. D."

"Why thank you Dess. I get that quite a lot if you'd believe it."

"I do" Chara laughs as they get up and head towards the kitchen for seconds.

"Mr. W. D.. can I ask you a question?"

"Always child. Questions are what keeps us as species ever evolving."

"How did you decide what you wanted to do with your life? I heard from uh no one in particular you used to be a scientist? How'd you go from that to this? Was creating this game your true dream all along?"

The man makes a thinking face as he nurses his hot chocolate.

"This game hadn't been a dream of mine until much later in my existence. My earlier career was exactly as I saw fit for myself at that time and place. As is creating this game at this moment."

"Oh so you won't get it.." She turns her head and stares at the floor.

"Get what?"

She huffs. "Both of these jobs were something you wanted! Something you worked for I just- I....! I'm sorry. Didn't mean to raise my voice at you. I just thought.."

"Thought what?"

"That I could get advice. From someone who started with a career they didn't want and when it finally clicked in their head that you wanted to do something else, how did you break away from the familiar and go onwards with what you actually wanted to do?"

"Quite the conundrum indeed. If it does help with your query, my first career was born from a necessity as much as it was a passion." Dess' head perks up as he begins telling the story. "Where I came from, a sustainable source of energy wasn't always available. Laundry machines and lamplights would have outages on the daily. We were a struggling little community in a place still unfamiliar."

He hums into his drink. "My first career became that of a geologist who would study the surrounding volcanic land masses for the safest plane for extracting Geothermal Energy. With the help of me and my fellow research team, we were able to spread the good word to the higher ups and work quickly began on blueprints for a machine that could do just that."

"Wow. Now my problems feel a little insignificant to complain about.." Dess nervously laughs.

"No need to feel that way Dess. Your feelings are just as valid as mine. Extravagant careers are so heavily pushed on the young. Feel no shame for feeling pressured."

Dess stares at the darkness above her. She can't even see where the celling is.

"It's just this thing with my mom." Dess sits herself. "She's just got this THING in her head about me. About who I should be, what I should do with my life, who I should be friends with even!"

She scoffs and gulps down the rest of her drink.

"She wants me to take on the mantle of being mayor like her. Or preferably going bigger. She's got me enrolled in all these courses at school and she's got these colleges and universities she wants me to decide between. She just doesn't ask what I want! I'm lucky she even allows me to play for the school's whiffle bat team. And that's only because sports scholarships offer so much and look good on transcripts or something."

"And what about you?"

"What about me?"

"What do you want to do in your future?"

Dess.... isn't sure how to answer that. She thought she would have been prepared if asked. She's thought about it before. In the moments where she's burning in the face from screaming with her mother. When she's locked in her room until her schoolwork is finished.

Professional whiffle bat player, lead guitarist in a band, hell even a helping hand at the Flower King!

But when all is quiet and there's room to breathe, she can't say for sure which she'd like to pursue.

"I don't think I can answer that at this moment." She mumbles.

"There's nothing wrong with that. Do you know why she pushes you towards this path?"

"Beats me. I think she's afraid the whole town will fall apart if a Holiday isn't helping run it. It's weird."

"Sounds like crazy behavior to me." Chara suddenly states. like their stating a fact from a textbook. They plop back down onto the floor where the other two are sitting, mug already back at their lips. "The type you gotta play along with, plot and plan behind their backs, then run for the hills once you're of age. I mean does the town really need YOU that badly to become mayor??"

"..."

"..."

"Was that the wrong thing to say or something?"

Instead the human is met by Dess bursting into a fit of laughter. Clutching her stomach and all.

"What are you laughing at??"

"Ha, they don't. They really don't!" She wipes a tear from her eye. "Just imagining if I follow through with my mom's plan and successfully ran for mayor, I'd do something so stupid they'd remove me in the first term. That would show her!"

"Uh I don't quite think this is where I meant for this conversation to go. Or to be encouraged." He gives Chara the stink eye and they actually lower their head into the mug to avoid eye contact.

"Trust me I'm not that stupid." But I do feel like I can think about it a little clearer." Things don't feel as resolved in her head about her future as she would have liked, but there is one thing that rings clear. "Hey Mr. W. D? What do we need to work on next?"

Even if the man catches onto the fact she's only saying that because she doesn't want to talk about it anymore, he doesn't say anything. Rather he clasps his hands together and stands back up.

"I suppose now is as right a time as ever to polish up on some of my character sprites...."

"What about actually finishing the lore- anddd he's already gone."

The good ole sound of keyboard clacking and mouse clicking returns.

"Good to see I'm not the only one avoiding things."

"Ha ha real funny. Don't keep at it forever. Or you'll end up going exactly where you don't want to be." Chara returns to the chalkboard and picks up the eraser to wipe it clean. To start over? Who knows.

"Hopefully that's just a hypothetical and not a learned experience?"

"Who knows. We're not on that level of friendship yet."

"Will we one day?"

"Hmmm." The human tilts their head in fake thought. "I guess we'll have to see."
______

"Zzzzzzz *gasp* Angel where am I!?" Dess groggily snaps up from the claws of sleep and whips her head around the room she's in. The darkness is too thick for her eyes to adjust and she quickly forces her body to stand.

Something grazes against her head and she slaps it away instinctually. Only realizing after it swings back to smack her face that it's a string. A string that when she pulls down on it, reveals the bulb above her head.

In the new buzzing light she can see the rows of shelves stocked with cans, blankets, and first aid equipment dispersed between a vast amount of area for scared townsfolks to hunker down in, in the case of severe weather.

The spot on the floor she had just been on is covered in the same blankets found on the shelves.

"Oh wow. That.. that was one crazy ass dream..." She flinches for a moment looking around the room to make sure Noelle wasn't here to hear that curse before quickly remembering where she is. "Weather bunker yes.. I spent the whole night down here. Wait what time is it?"

She stares at the watch on her wrist and watches the unmoving hands.

"Great. Watch is dead. Whatever." She'll just see what time it is when she leaves.

She puts everything back where she found it, grabs her bag from its' spot on the floor and makes her way out. She closes it as quietly as she can before locking it.

It looks to be around the evening as she trudges uphill. Listing any an all excuses to herself that she can use whenever she gets home to her mother.

It's just as she's about to exit the threshold of the woods when her hoof steps on a sheet of paper. Normally she'd kick it off and keep going.... if it weren't for the fact that she sees her own face staring back from it.

"What the-" She bends down to pick it up and even with the dirt on it she can clearly make out the smiling face of herself printed on it. Along with her name and a big, fat MISSING at the bottom of the paper.

No way.

Her crazy mom's already started overreacting! How'd she even get these printed out so soon? Every excuse she had been practicing moments ago practically disappears at the grounding of a lifetime she's imagining when she walks through those doors.

"Ok so avoid the main streets to avoid anymore award situations. Got it." She can not deal with any other confrontations. She'll storm past her mother and let her father handle that part.

Sticking close to the edges of the forest she skirts past every shop and neighborhood she did last night.

When she gets to her house she contemplates climbing back in through her bedroom and strutting down the stairs like nothing even happened. See what kind of face her mom would make.

But she stops when she catches movement from behind the first floor window.

She ducks into the bush and waits a few seconds before peeking into her house.

Her dad seated at the dining table catches her sight first, but he eyes widen when they come across her younger sister.

Her little Ellie....

Is no longer so little.

Her sister towers closer to her father's height than she should be. No she's supposed to be half his size! But it's not just that. Her hair is long, her antlers have grown in, when she bites into her meal she can see bother her front teeth instead of one and her face is almost lacking the adorable baby fat that fills her memories.

But it's also the house. The table.. that's not the same table is it? It's supposed to be brown but the beige color it now sports burns her eyes.

There has to be an explanation. She just needs to go in there and-

 

She barely even remembers her body racing back into the woods. Thoughts racing, thighs burning as she stumbles against logs and branches. Ears buzzing as she hears the voices of kids she doesn't recognize, classmates whose figures are altered with age, new buildings, shops she once frequented boarded up.

She comes to a roaring halt as she almost careens into the lake.

She collapses onto a spot next to it to catch her breath. Her hooves shake as she runs them through her hair. Trying to make heads or tails of what she was witnessing as she feels the sun dipping below the horizon.

In the last bits of sun she lets out a shriek as she finally takes note of her reflection.

Of the dulled, grey fur that reflects back onto her retinas.

This-this can't be her. It can't be her true reflection she whispers to herself as she scrubs at her arm, hard enough that when she pulls her hand away, a chunk of grey fur comes with it. Confirming it is indeed her.

Her cheeks grow moist and she buries her face into her hands.

"This can't be happening, what's happening, where...?!"

She stares back into the woods. There's only one place to go for answers.
____

"MR. W.D!! CHARA! I NEED YOUR HELP!" Dess' voice booms in the same inky darkness she walked into last night. The same darkness she thought she had dreamed up a few measly hours ago. The darkness that only appeared when she reopened it once the light of the sun had vanished.

This time she runs. Runs as deep as it will take her. Until the bluish glow of the computer becomes visible.

There he is. Gaster. His head laying on his desk, eyes closed and the pixel characters on his screen repeating the same animation over and over.

Close nearby, Chara is asleep against a pile of the garbage bags they never finished throwing out.

"WAKE UP!"

Now that she's closer, her yelling quickly awakens the two of them.

"Ugh what the hell are you yelling for!?" Chara groans. They still have their striped pajamas on. As soon as their eyes open they immediately grab for the cup besides them. "Crap. My sundae melted again..."

Gaster wakes up with a gasp and a head stuck with a dozen sticky notes. "Oh yeah. Good morning to you all. Where was I again?" He taps something on the keyboard.

"You all need to wake up, some-something happened to me. I need your help. I went back outside and e-everything was wrong! The people the buildings-!"

"Woah. Look at you. You look like one of the old man's other acquaintances."

"Indeed you do." Gaster sits up from his desk to stretch. "How long were we working on this game?"

Chara stares up at a clock Dess didn't even know was there.

"With accordance with the outside? Looks like... six years or something. Is that a long time?"

SIX YEARS

"H-how is that possible!?" Dess screams. "We-we were working on a video game. A VIDEO GAME! What-" She gives a long stare towards the darkness she just ran through. "What exactly is this place?" She stares at the confused looking people? in front of her. "What exactly are you two?"

The two just stare at her like she's speaking gibberish.

"Uh human and monster." Chara states with a scoff. "Obviously."

Dess feels her eyes water.

"What am I?"

Gaster shuffles closer to her. Chara watches awkwardly from the side.

"Child do not cry. The plane of time can be so frightening can it not? So loosely it marches. I have not felt tethered to it for a while."

Dess stares numbly, confusedly, at the screen behind him.

One purple character, one green and one indiscernible characters whose only features are grey. Undecided.

"Would you feel better if we talked about something else? I was so excited to tell you I was thinking about changing the spelling of Suzy to Susie. I think it will look nicer."

Notes:

Had to get this out before Deltarune tomorrow

That moment when you forget the consequences of the flow of time because it is irrelevant in your void form and accidentally drag a normal teen into said gamer void room

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of Deltageek Gaster and his Roommate Quartet (The Crack Route)