Mystery

Work

Avery refused to neglect her duties today. She made sure to wake up with the brothers and prepared herself for a day at work on the boat. The cloak felt nice and familiar on her shoulders as she headed out, bidding everyone goodbye. She took a shortcut to the banks of her boat, where she was unsurprised to see MK waiting. "Tra la la, good morning, young one." She said as she climbed in. She was surprised, however, with his words. "Dude! Thank goodness you're ok! Everyone was worried about you!" Avery gave him a startled look, not that he could see it, and smiled. "Tra la la, even a being such as me, as a home to go to. I am sorry to have worried all who were in a hurry." MK snorted. "You suck at rhyming. Anyway! I'm glad to see you're ok, dude!" The little monster ran off, tripping over himself and landing on his face before he got up again to go home. Or maybe tell the town? Avery wasn't sure. It felt nice to be back, though.

🛶🛶🛶

Her first customer was actually Gaster, who wanted to help Alphys at the lab. Avery was glad to see him trying to regain his sense of normality as well. "You and Sans have been doing a lot of catching up. Will he be returning to the lab as well?" Avery asked as the boat moved along. "I don't think so. That is quite alright though, he seems content where he is right now, and I don't desire to ruin that." Avery nodded, knowing exactly why Sans wanted to be there. "Avery... does Sans seem a little... off, to you?" Avery hummed. "Off how?" Uh oh. Gaster was picking up on it. "I... he doesn't seem like himself. He seems... unmotivated. Depressed." Avery's shoulders slumped. "He is. You have been... gone a long time. Sans had to do... *everything* alone. He is dealing with... things that have sent his HoPe to an all-time low. But, I am sure that things will improve now that you have returned. Just give him time." She reassured, and Gaster smiled in gentle worry as they landed at Hotland. "Yes, thank you, Av- Riverperson." Avery chuckled softly and gave a small hug. "Of course, Gaster, Tra la la. Have a good day at work!"
"And you as well!" Gaster got off to go to his lab.

🛶🛶🛶

Avery felt happy to carry people to and fro once more. The break had been nice, but after so long in the water, this felt right. Back to work and waiting for the human to show their face once more. Would this time be different, with Dr. Gaster back? Would she be killed now that she could leave? Or would she be able to fight back, with her and Gaster's shared magic? Avery decided to stop dwelling on that and focus on her brothers. Sans didn't seem interested in getting close to her and she could more than understand why. She should have been there to help him, even if she couldn't leave the river. It didn't help that she, like Frisk, was a human. He had an understandable distrust for humans stemming from the days filled with dust and broken dreams. Was he waiting for her to show her true colors? Or perhaps he was trying to get an understanding of her before he decided to freely pass off his trust to the likes of her. Either way, Avery would never let Sans down again. That was a soul promise.