No One is Happy with This (Undertale)

70 ~ "I Am Responsible"

Several days after Christmas, Gaster calls you to the lab to try out a new staff design. Upon arriving, you are pleasantly astonished to see Matt, fitting in perfectly with the rest of the intern group. He greets you with a bright smile and wave. When you ask him why he's not on Christmas break, he says working at the lab is much more fun than any break.

You decide this is more because of Matt's relentless optimism than Gaster making the environment a fun one for his interns. You also decide it's easy to see why Matt and Papyrus get along so well.

Gaster is blunt as usual in his greeting you; in fact, he barely greets you with anything more than a slight nod of the head, instead immediately launching into how the testing of the new staff is going to work, how he'll have to hook you up to some sensors to make sure there's not another power surge when you use your Magic, and things like that.

Overall, the staff testing goes pretty well, but you only manage to summon a red-tinted spark. It feels a lot harder to use your borrowed Magic than with the old staff. Gaster says he'll work on that.

As he guides you out of the lab, you both see Matt and Elise talking. It would appear Elise came to visit her husband at work...

And Gaster seems to be quite enraged at this. "You-" He jabs a finger in Elise's direction. "Get out of my lab."

"Wha-"

"Now!" He roars. "Get out!"

"Gaster!" You protest. "You can't just kick her out!"

"Yes I can, Frisk! I'm the Dog-blasted Royal Scientist, and this is my lab! I-"

"That's not a good enough reason!" You shoot back. "Maybe she just came to say hi to her family!"

"That's besides the point, Frisk! The lab is an incredibly dangerous environment!"

You look up at Gaster, appalled. "Are you trying to suggest that it's more dangerous for her because she's a woman?!"

Gaster's face turns into a look of pure surprise and complete incredulity. "Annoying Dog, Frisk! I'm shocked, and quite frankly, more than a little disappointed in you! Heaven knows some of my least irritating employees are women!"

"Then please explain to me why the lab is soooo much more dangerous for her than anyone else!"

"Who said anything about it being more dangerous for her?"

"You did!"

"No, I didn't! You just didn't let me finish."

You pause a minute. "Fine. Explain."

Gaster scowls at you. "First of all, this is my lab, and I am also your senior, both in age, rank, and wisdom. You have no right to make any sort of demand of me like that." He gives you a pointed look, then continues. "And second, I don't care in the slightest if Elise puts herself in danger, that's her choice. But the lab is a dangerous place, and it's even more so to unborn children who aren't even halfway to the point of being developed enough to live outside their mothers, and she has no justifiable reason to bring a living being who is physically incapable of voicing protest  or even understanding enough to do so, into a place that could get it killed at any second. Annoying Dog, she could be breathing in some sort of chemical affecting the child right now! And if anything, anything at all were to happen here, because this is my lab, it would be my responsibility. To reiterate, the death of her unborn child would be on my hands. Do you understand?"

You blink, struggling to comprehend what Gaster's just said. You look from him to Matt and Elise, who have been listening, just as shocked as you, and then back to Gaster. Then you look back at Elise. Her belly looks pretty flat (though she is wearing a pretty bulky sweater.)

Finally, Elise bursts out what everyone but Gaster just be thinking. "B-but I'm not pregnant!"

Gaster snorts. "Yes, you are. Barely more than eight or nine weeks, but yes, you definitely are."

You scowl. Gaster wouldn't make something like this up just to get Elise out of the lab, would he? "How do you know? Especially before Elise does!"

Gaster gives you a look of contempt, as if he's disgusted that you don't believe him. "Because, Frisk, I spent multiple eternities in the Void, and as such, have become incredibly sensitive to every aspect of reality. I can feel every speck of life, every ounce of energy in the vicinity. And there is, most definitely, a developing Soul in her belly."

For a moment, everyone is silent, letting that sink in. Then Elise pivots in her heel and grabs Matt up by the lapels of his lab coat. "Matt! You're gonna be a dad!" And then she kisses him, right on the lips. When they pull away, they both start making excited, incomprehensible noises, barely able to articulate their happiness.

Gaster just groans, dragging a hand down his face. "Yes, that's all good and well, now get out of my lab!"

You just laugh and take Elise's hand, guiding the excited new mother towards the door.

§

A/N

Gotta be honest, I've been planning this moment since it was decided Matt and Elise would be sticking around.

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!

...hmm, it's been almost a year since I started using that outro. Maybe I should change it soon?