Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Many years ago, before Asgore was even king, there was a school built for monsters and for monsters only. The academy was named Monster Academy, courtesy of Asgore’s grandfather of course (it runs in the family). The said academy was complete from pre-school to high school; it also has a branch for the college level named Monster College.

It was the start of a new school year and a certain skeleton named Wing Ding Gaster, known more as Gaster and as the Math and Science Genius of his batch, was about to start his first day of high school. The season the school year started has just the right temperature; not too hot nor too cold and a bit windy sometimes. The condition of the weather that morning had given Gaster a good mood.

Gaster was standing near the entrance of the high school building, waiting for his childhood friend, the current prince of the monsters, Asgore Dreemurr. Even though Asgore is the heir to the throne of his father, he couldn’t remember things and is sometimes late to school. Sometimes Gaster wonders if his soft-hearted childhood friend can handle the responsibility of reigning over the monsters.

But as the skeleton waited for his companion, he noticed a fire-elemental about his age (at least he thinks they are) pass by him. Gaster immediately turned his head towards the direction of the elemental as they approached to the school building.

‘A new elemental student and they’re fire! This is the first time I’ve seen them though… I hope that we’ll be in the same classroom’

Gaster thought as he continued to look at the direction of the elemental. Every person the elemental passed by began whispering to each other in excitement. Though it is not that rare to see elementals as students, it’s just that the elemental he saw was neither in his elementary batch nor in his middle school batch. Gaster turned his head around and continued to wait for Asgore, resting against the gate wall.

“They must have been home-schooled then…” Gaster murmured to himself.

“Who was home-schooled Wing Ding?”

Surprised by the question, Gaster yelped as he was cut out of his trance by his friend, Asgore. Gaster said,

“Asgore you’re finally here! You surprised me there seriously…”

Asgore chuckled and replied,

“Howdy, sorry for making you wait today. I woke up late again. C’mon let’s go inside.”

Gaster nodded to Asgore’s suggestion and the both of them proceeded to walk to the school building. As they walked through the hallways, Gaster scolded Asgore,

“You know that we cannot be late on the first day of school Asgore. What did you even do to wake up late?”

“Come on Wing Ding I didn’t wake up that late,” Asgore sheepishly rubbed his neck, “I was up last night reading the kingdom’s old records and I didn’t notice the time. What classroom are we again? It’s Class 1 – A right?”

“Yes you’re correct, and here we are”

Gaster answered. The pair stopped in front of a classroom filled with students, chatting away the spare time they have. The skeleton’s eyes observed the classroom but he could not find the elemental he saw earlier. Gaster sighed as he and Asgore entered the classroom, feeling a bit disappointed. Looking around the room for spare chairs, Gaster decided to sit down on the seat near the back of the room next to the window. He really didn’t want to burden his classmates just trying to look over his back just to see the teacher. Asgore followed and choose the seat next to Gaster.

When he finally sat down on his chair, Gaster was suddenly struck with realization,

‘Wait, why am I disappointed about not being classmates in the first place?!’

Gaster blushed at the thought of the fire-elemental and quickly slapped his cheeks.

‘No no no Wing Ding, get yourself together! This is completely nothing at all! You’re just curious!’

“Yeah let’s go with that excuse…” Gaster whispered to himself.

“What excuse Wing Ding?”

“Gah! It’s nothing Asgore, just talking to myself” Gaster quickly replied to Asgore, not wanting to get suspicious. Asgore smiled at him and said

“Alrighty then, I’ll be back in a bit Wing Ding”

Gaster nodded as he watched Asgore approach their other classmates. He slumped in his chair and began eavesdropping to his other classmates’ conversations.

“Hey, did you see the new student earlier?”
“Yeah I did! He was a fire element, a really bright one”
“He’s in our batch, I saw him enter Class 1 - B”

Gaster eavesdropped on some of his female classmates’ gossips

“You saw him too right?”
“Uh-huh! The new elemental is a real hottie!”
“I don’t like the pun but you’re right, he’s cute”

Apparently the girls in his class are now interested in the elemental too.

‘Class 1 – B huh?’ thought Gaster. ‘Geez I feel like a stalker right now’

As Gaster sulked the school bell rang, indicating assembly for the school’s opening ceremony. Gaster stood up and approached the crowd of students of his classroom to line up with them.

‘I wonder who he is…’

Chapter Text

Through the crowd of students, you could easily spot Asgore and Gaster walking through the crowd because of their height. But as the two walked, Gaster easily spotted the elemental he was searching for earlier walking ahead of them. A blush suddenly crept on the skeleton’s cheekbones when he realized he was staring at the fire elemental from behind. To distract him from gazing at the new student, Gaster said

“Hey Asgore, what do you think high school has in store for us?”

“I really don’t know Wing Ding, but I hope we’ll have fun”

Asgore replied. Gaster smirked as he took the opportunity to poke at his friend,

“I hope that you muster up courage to talk to Toriel, Asgore”

The skeleton laughed as his friend immediately got flustered at the mention of his not-so-secret crush. Even if the whole batch knows about Asgore’s crush on Toriel, he still couldn’t talk to her casually. Gaster thinks he heard about Toriel being interested in Asgore also but he wasn’t quite sure. Apologizing for the teasing, the skeleton and his companion continued walking to the gym, where the opening ceremony was being held.

*~*~*~*~*~*

All of the classes arrived at the gym and proceeded to fix their lines. Being two of the tallest monsters in their batch, Gaster and Asgore ended up being the last 2 students in their male class line. Asgore was the last monster of the line and Gaster was in front of him. As Gaster stood in line, he suddenly felt a teensy bit warmer than usual.

‘That’s weird; I know this time of the year isn’t that warm’

He turned his head towards the direction from where the heat was coming from when he saw the fire elemental beside him in line. Apparently he and the elemental were the same height, meaning they’ll be standing beside each other every morning ceremony. Gaster quickly faces ahead of him so that the elemental would not catch him looking.

‘I cannot handle this, wait why am I reacting like this?’

Gaster shook his head to shake off his thoughts and blush, though it didn’t shake off the feeling he has in his soul that kept pounding. This is completely weird to Gaster, he felt like he caught a disease of some sort. A hand on his shoulder woke Gaster up from his thoughts.

“Wing Ding, are you okay? The opening ceremony’s finished, let’s go” Asgore told the skeleton. Gaster nodded and the two of them returned to their classroom.

Upon walking back to the classroom, Gaster couldn’t get the new student out of his mind. Seeing his friend’s irritation, Asgore questioned Gaster

“Wing Ding, are you sure you’re alright? You’re not yourself this morning”

Gaster was surprised at Asgore’s statement and replied

“I’m completely fine Asgore, just got something in my mind. By the way what’s our first period?”

“Um… I think its Biology, Language, and History?” Asgore assumed. Gaster sighed and commented

“Thank God the first week doesn’t have actual lessons. I still don’t have my Biology book yet”

The both of them laughed as they walked towards their classroom to start their first period of classes.

*~*~*~*~*~*

The school bell rang signaling lunch time for the whole school. Gaster stretched in his seat, hearing a pop or two from his body. He stood up and said

“Let’s get some lunch Asgore”

“Sure Wing Ding, let’s go” Asgore replied as he stood up to go to the cafeteria with Gaster. As they paced slowly through the hallway, Gaster looked around but he couldn’t find the elemental. Suddenly he felt a wave of heat pass by him and he and Asgore saw the fire elemental pass by them, heading towards the direction of the cafeteria also with his friends. Neither of the two commented about it and continued walking to the cafeteria.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Gaster and Asgore sat down on a table with their tray of food, not minding the noise around them. Gaster took a sip of his drink as his companion asked

“Wing Ding, you saw the new student pass by us right? The fire elemental?”

Gaster suddenly choked on his drink loudly, surprised by the prince’s question. A part of the cafeteria looked at their table, surprised by the skeleton’s sudden choking. Coughing, Gaster looked around the cafeteria, checking if the elemental saw him. He saw the elemental sitting on a table with some of his former fire elemental classmates, facing away from them. His friends were howling in laughter.

‘Thank God the elemental didn’t see me…’

The skeleton cleared his throat to regain his composure and replied calmly (well at least he thinks so)

“Yes, I have seen them. Why?”

“I just think it’s rare to see new students arrive in our batch, ya know? Especially an elemental”

Asgore answered, patting Gaster’s back as an apology for making the skeleton choke on his drink. Loosening his tie a bit, Gaster sighed at how he reacted to his companion’s innocent question. He believes that he is completely overreacting about this new student. Gaster shook this feeling off and continued to eat with his friend.

Chapter Text

It’s been a week since Asgore Dreemurr noticed that his friend, Wing Ding Gaster, has been acting very weirdly. Every time he mentions about the new student, Gaster would instantly get flustered for some odd reason. Even when they only pass by the elemental, Gaster still gets flustered. The goat prince couldn’t really put the puzzle pieces together to see the whole picture about what’s going on with his friend until something happened this very day.

It was lunch break then and Gaster was waiting outside the classroom for Asgore, since he couldn’t find his wallet. When Asgore finally found his wallet in his bag, he went to Gaster only to see the skeleton staring at the fire elemental across the hallway with some of his friends. Gaster had a hint of blush on his cheeks as he stared at the elemental.

It had finally clicked together; Gaster’s flustered reactions about the elemental, constant daydreaming, it had clicked all together. Wing Ding Gaster has a crush on the new elemental! And Gaster doesn’t even realize it! Wow, Asgore really does know Gaster more than Gaster knows himself.

*Asgore proceeds to pat himself on the back for his wonderful deducting skills.

Asgore approached Gaster quietly, intentionally to surprise him from behind. Asgore teased Gaster

“You have a crush on them huh, Wing Ding?”

Gaster yelped rather loudly, enough for the whole hallway to hear, in surprise and embarrassment. The spooked skeleton could feel the eyes of the monsters around him and he saw the elemental he was staring earlier looking at him too. Gaster felt his face burning up in embarrassment not only because of his outburst, but also because Asgore found out what he felt for the elemental (which he didn’t realize himself). Growling softly in irritation, the skeleton grabbed the goat prince by the neck and immediately started to noogie the poor goat.

“Asgore, you bleater you didn’t have to say that outloud!!”

“Wing Ding, I’m sorry! Hey it’s hurts! Stop! Hahahaha”

As he kept noogie-ing his friend’s furry head with his bony hands, Gaster could see the certain fire-man from the corner of his eye laughing silently; his mouth a bit open in a wide grin. His blush increased ten-fold when he saw the elemental grinning at his antics

‘Oh my God they have a mouth, AND IT’S SO ADORABLE WHEN HE LAUGHS OH NO’

Once the other monsters in the hallway stopped staring, especially Gaster’s new crush, Asgore was finally released from the skeleton’s arm. The goat-man rubbed the top of his head and whined

“That hurt Wing Ding…”

Gaster suddenly felt guilty of what he did and apologized

“Sorry Asgore but what you said was too loud! I’ll treat you to golden flower tea at the cafeteria to make up for it. Let’s go”

Asgore pouted as they walked towards the cafeteria, still feeling a bit of pain on his head. Meanwhile Gaster was completely in deep thought

‘I have a crush! On the new student that I haven’t met nonetheless! This is crazy! Even Asgore figured it out before I did!’

Gaster slapped his cheek to shoo away his thoughts and asked Asgore

“Asgore, how did you figure out about my um”

“About your crush?” Asgore bemused, “It was simple really; you were acting like I was when I first saw Toriel”

The goat prince and the skeleton chuckled. Hearing that from Asgore was something new to Gaster. He teased

“Yeah I guess I am acting like how you first saw Toriel, especially the I-can’t-talk-to-them-because-I’m-too-shy part”

“Wing Ding!” Asgore exclaimed out of embarrassment. Gaster chuckled and they continued to go to the cafeteria.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Weeks passed that turned into months; Gaster had always kept an eye on the fire elemental he’s interested in. Now on this particular day, their teacher instructed them to do some self-reading while he had to attend something. Gaster didn’t bother reading because he had already read the chapter they were assigned to read. Resting his chin on his hand, the bored skeleton looked out through the window to look at the open field.

Coincidentally, Class 1 - B has Magic Class on the open field. It seemed to Gaster that they were doing sparring matches, nothing harmful. His eyes wandered a bit and he saw the elemental conjuring a fire magic attack against his friend, the green fire elemental. The elemental was fast in attacks and reflexes, though as he sparred he didn’t let his magic touch his partner. Gaster stared in amazement as he saw how graceful yet potentially powerful the fire-man’s magic was. His heart pounded as he became mesmerized by their magic.

The fire elemental managed to pin down his sparring opponent on the ground, making him the winner of that match. The victorious elemental was congratulated by his classmates, completely impressed by his magical abilities. Somehow, the elemental’s eyes suddenly connected with Gaster’s, making the skeleton jump a bit. The elemental looked away and continued with his class.

Gaster rested his head on his arm that were on his desk. He was caught staring at the fire-man, well at least he thinks he was. He felt his face hot with blush as he kept replaying the scene in his mind.

‘Of all people, why did I have to get infatuated with a person I haven’t even talked to?’

Gaster asked himself. He could’ve just gotten infatuated with the monsters he already knew but no, he had to fall skull-over-heels with a monster he hasn’t talked to yet. Hell, he doesn’t even know their name! It was really great for Gaster, yep so great. The skeleton cursed to himself,

“This crush is going to ruin me…”

Hearing the school bell ring, Gaster look out of the window again to take a last glance and he saw the elemental going back to the school building, still burning a bit hotter than usual but was noticeably cooling down. Gaster turned his head and sighed. How could he even bring himself to actually talk to the elemental when he is the ultimately the most socially awkward person (and the nerdiest) of his batch? He sometimes wonders what the elemental’s point of view is…

Chapter Text

Gripping the handle of his bag tightly, a particular fire elemental named Grillby, was walking to his very first school he’ll attend, Monster Academy. Ever since he was a child, Grillby had been home-schooled. You see, a fire monster’s ability to control their flames isn’t actually born with them; they have to learn how to control it. That also goes with the other elementals. All of the fire-elementals get home-schooled first, to learn how to control their flames, and then they enter school when they get the hang of it. Grillby’s flames were different, a very different story.

Grillby’s flames burned the brightest than the other fire elementals as a kid, thus making it a bit harder to control. Even though he shined the brightest, Grillby was a timid and soft-spoken kid. Since he didn’t want to harm any monsters he would meet, Grillby started learning to control his flames from a very young age. He mastered controlling his flames by his first year of middle school but just to be safe, Grillby’s parents decided to let him still be home-schooled during middle school, so that they could monitor if Grillby can handle his flames more, and he did.

Now back to present day, stepping on the pavement nervously, Grillby could feel the other student monsters he passed by stare at him. He could feel his flames lessen in temperature, due anxiousness. As he was approaching the school gates, he noticed a skeleton the same height as he is, leaning against the gate wall. Grillby’s flames flickered in curiosity as he saw the skeleton gazing towards the sky.

‘Oh a skeleton, this is the first time I saw one…’ Grillby thought as he observed the skeleton.

Suddenly the wind blew, making the leaves of the school’s trees fly around. Somehow, the wind that blew and the leaves that fell around the skeleton made it into a breath-taking scene. Grillby stop in his tracks, completely mesmerized by the sight. He could feel his flames burn brighter than usual, turning blue at the tip even. Grillby immediately calmed down and continued walking his path, looking at the pavement as he passed by the skeleton.

He successfully walked past the skeleton without suddenly burning up and entered school premises. Grillby could feel his soul beating louder than ever, a feeling that he isn’t used to. That will be a matter later but first, Grillby needed to go to his assigned classroom, Class 1 – B. Upon approaching the building’s entrance, Grillby saw the school bulletin board which had a map of the school building.

The fire student stopped by the board to locate on where he should go. On the building diagram, it appears that Grillby was on the ground floor, and the floor above it was the first floor which contained the 1st year classrooms.

‘Right building, 1st floor, second room’ Grillby thought to himself. He continued to walk to his classroom, ignoring the stares and whispers. Climbing up the stairs he saw the sign ‘1st Year Floor’, which will be much easier to aid him than getting a map of the whole building. When he climbed the last step of stairs, Grillby looked around the hallway. The half of the hallway had 3 rooms while the other side had lockers. Pacing through the part of the hallway with the classrooms, Grillby looked at the signs that were on each door of the classrooms.

‘Class 1 – A… Oh Class 1 – B’

Grillby went inside Class 1 – B and he had gained attention as he walked into the room. He immediately chose the seat at the back near the window so that he won’t be noticed so much. Waiting in his seat, Grillby waited to see if the skeleton he saw earlier would be his classmate. Seeing that it looked like they weren’t classmates, he started to look out the window.

Grillby could hear the mumblings of his classmates that had started when he entered the room. He simply had one thought in mind

‘This is going to be a long day.’

The school bell rang suddenly and Grillby saw his classmates fall in line.

‘Must be time for the opening ceremony’

The fire elemental thought as he followed his classmates. Being the tallest monster of his class, Grillby ended up being at the end of the line but he didn’t mind.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Grillby’s class finally got into the gym and positioned next to Class 1 – A. The opening ceremony started and the principal had this dull speech with a gloomy voice. Grillby silently let his eyes wandered a bit as the principal continued to blabber when he noticed the skeleton beside him. It was the same skeleton from earlier that made Grillby stop in his tracks. He turned his head towards the other direction as he felt his fire burn a bit warmer than before.

‘So we have the same height…’ Grillby thought to himself. This is practically the closest he’ll ever get to this skeleton (or so he thinks so). The opening ceremony finally ended and Grillby walked with his line back to his classroom.

*~*~*~*~*~*

“Good morning monsters! I am Ms. Eera, you’re new home teacher. I will be teaching you History this year.”

Ms. Eera cheerfully introduced herself. Grillby paid attention to her as her ears twitched joyfully. Ms. Eera continued,

“Even if I assume all of you know each other, there is a new student among all of you correct? Can the new student raise their hand?”

Grillby silently raised his hand, getting the attention of the whole class.

“Could you introduce yourself, dear?” Ms. Eera asked, smiling supportively.

This made Grillby calm down a bit and he spoke up,

“My name is Grillby and I had just transferred here. I hope we can get along”

Ms. Eera smiled even more and said,

“Now class, try not to ambush Grillby later with questions. You might make him uncomfortable, alright?”

The class replied a chorused yes and Grillby nodded at Ms. Eera as thanks. Grillby sat in his chair as the period continued.

*~*~*~*~*~*

The school bell rang indicating lunch break. One of Grillby’s classmates approached him and introduced themselves

“Hello Grillby, I just wanted to introduce myself. I am Toriel, nice to meet you”

Toriel smiled at him, and Grillby was relieved. Grillby replied,

“It’s nice to meet you too, Toriel. Um can I ask you something?”

“Of course” Toriel replied.

“How do you to go to the cafeteria?”

“Well, you go down this floor and go to the direct-“

Toriel didn’t get to finish answering the question when one of Grillby’s classmates called out,

“Grillby, some people want to see you!”

Grillby looked at the class entrance and he saw his neighbors/childhood friends, which were also fire, waiting for him. A girl that flamed the color yellow exclaimed,

“Grillby!! Want to eat with Blazen and I?”

A male that burned in the hue of dark green was beside the girl, waiting for Grillby also. Blazen said,

“You better hurry up G, Flare’s flaring in excitement now”

Grillby turned to Toriel and apologized

“I am so sorry for my friends. But thank you for helping me Toriel, I’ll be joining them”

“It’s alright Grillby, I understand” Toriel replied, still smiling cheerfully.

Grillby bowed a bit then went to his friends.

Chapter Text

Upon joining his friends, Grillby fist-bumped Blazen and he high-fived Flare. Even though it doesn’t look like it, Grillby, Flare and Blazen were really close childhood friends. Flare was one of the fire elementals that burned the lightest but when you talk to her, she has this fiery hyper personality. Blazen was a bit off both Flare and Grillby, though unlike Grillby, he is a bit more expressive of his emotions. Grillby is the quiet member of the trio, only speaks when you ask his opinion or something, but you can still hear him laugh one time or two.

So Grillby and his friends are now heading to the cafeteria with Flare telling Grillby how fun this year is going to be. As Grillby listened to his friend’s excited babbling, he saw that they were going to pass by the skeleton he had seen earlier. He didn’t say anything but he could feel himself burn a bit hotter than usual yet again as they passed by the skeleton and his friend.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Flare, Grillby and Blazen placed their trays of food and sat down; Grillby and Blazen next to each other and Flare sat in front of them. Flare suddenly brought up a topic,

“So G, since it’s your first time at school, have you found someone you might like yet?”

Blazen backed away from Grillby in surprise because the questioned elemental suddenly burned hot in his seat, the tips of his flames scorched in blue. Even Flare was shocked by Grillby’s reaction. Apparently a part of the cafeteria felt the sudden change of temperature made by the embarrassed flame student, still flushing blue on his face.

Grillby pacified his flames at once, realizing the change of temperature he did. Flare and Blazen looked at each other and then looked at Grillby, and started howling in laughter. Grillby glared at them as he was found out.

“Wow G that was some reaction you did. So, who’s the lucky person?” Blazen asked.

“Yeah G, come on tell us” encouraged Flare. The two flames looked at Grillby in curiosity. Crossing his arms, Grillby replied

“Not telling you guys, nope”

“Aww G, come on! At least tell us what year are they in”

Flare said, pouting at Grillby’s stubbornness. Blazen elbowed Grillby at his side and said

“We don’t have to know who they are G, just the year”

Sighing, Grillby confessed

“Well, I guess I should tell you what year they are. They’re… the same year as we are…”

Flare and Blazen yelped ‘Eh?!’ in unison. Grillby ignored their reaction and started eating. He remarked

“You two better eat before your food gets cold”

His friends started eating and they bombarded Grillby questions but Grillby avoided their questions.

*~*~*~*~*~*

It has been a week since Grillby entered Monster Academy and his friends, Flare and Blazen, kept asking more hints about his crush; the skeleton student from Class 1 – A. Right now it was lunch break and Grillby was being interviewed by his friends in the hallway, near the windows. Ignoring their questions, Grillby could see the skeleton waiting for his companion in front of their classroom. The elemental quickly averted his gaze so that his friends won’t catch him staring at his… crush.

‘It’s weird that I don’t know them yet I have a crush on them…’ Grillby thought.

Suddenly a yelp pierced through the hallway that came from the skeleton. Flare, Blazen and Grillby looked at the skeleton that was completely red in the face from embarrassment. He suddenly… noogie-d his friend?

“Asgore, you bleater you didn’t have to say that outloud!!” The skeleton shouted at his friend, ‘Asgore’.

“Wing Ding, I’m sorry! Hey it’s hurts! Stop! Hahahaha” Asgore replied.

Grillby couldn’t resist the urge to laugh at the skeleton’s antics, though his laugh became like a wheezing-like laugh. Flare and Blazen looked at their laughing friend and laughed with him. After they stopped laughing, Blazen remarked

“Man, Asgore and Gaster are pretty funny to watch sometimes”

“I agree with ya there Blaze” Flare approved.

Grillby looked at them, puzzled by who are they talking about. Flare saw Grillby’s reaction and explained

“Well you see the tall goat G?” Grillby nodded and Flare continued, “That’s Asgore Dreemurr, the prince of the monsters! Though you might get intimidated by his royalty, he’s a soft guy. Heck, we all know he likes Toriel (a.k.a the goat from your class) but can’t even bring himself to talk to her”

Blazen and Flare laughed and Blazen continued to explain,

“The skeleton is Wing Ding Gaster, but we usually call him Gaster. Gaster is the Math and Science genius of our batch and he’s Asgore’s childhood friend. Usually he’s quiet and all but busts out not-so-good to terrible jokes once in a while”

‘Wing Ding Gaster huh?’ Grillby thought as his friends continued overwhelm him with questions.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Months passed and Grillby secretly looked at Gaster whenever he had the chance. Presently, his class had Magic Class in the open field. Grillby summoned an attack and blasted it towards his partner, the attacks nearly touching him. The opponent struck him with an attack but Grillby gracefully and quickly avoided it. After a few spells and sidesteps, Grillby managed to pin down his classmate on the ground.

After a few seconds, Grillby helped his classmate up while he was congratulated by his classmates, a thing that he was not used to. Grillby managed to look up at Gaster’s classroom windows but didn’t expect Gaster to be watching him. Their eyes connected and Grillby instantly diverted his gaze to his classmates. He felt himself scorch hotter but he soothed his flames slowly.

The school bell rang and Grillby and his class began walking to the locker rooms in the school building. As he walked slowly to the locker room, Grillby muttered to himself

“This crush is all new to me…”

I mean, how could he, Grillby, talk to his crush? He’s too quiet to approach anyone, even his classmates. The fire elemental could only wish something to happen so that he and the skeleton would cross roads.

Chapter Text

As the weeks pass by, Gaster and Grillby’s feelings bloomed further. It was autumn already and Gaster was happy to wear his sweater vests with his uniform (though he wasn’t allowed to wear his precious turtle necks). He was in his classroom at the moment with Asgore, but class hasn’t started yet. As Gaster wrapped his scarf around his neck more, he commented

“You got it lucky Asgore; you don’t have to wear winter clothes…”

“At least you got it easy during hot weather Wing Ding…” Asgore responded. Both of them laughed, recalling a memory from their young days. During the summer, Gaster would find Asgore just sitting in a tub full of water the whole day because of the heat. The school bell rang stopping the two friends from laughing, indicating the start of classes. It was a good thing they were allowed to wear scarves during class hours because Gaster was chilled to the bone, seriously. As much as he loves his sweaters, Gaster really didn’t like the fact that he can get cold easily.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Grillby was also in his classroom, looking outside the window. He enjoyed the cold season because that meant he could lessen the control of his flames, even his seatmates enjoyed him warming them up with his flames. Grillby stretched his arms in comfort in his flames’ temperature. Earlier as he was walking to his classroom, he saw Gaster walking with Asgore, completely wrapped up in his scarf (which Grillby thought was adorable). Recalling this memory, the fire man thought

‘Does that mean Gaster gets cold easily?’

Grillby suddenly pictured him and Gaster, walking together; Grillby warming him up as Gaster walked beside him, laughing. Grillby began heating up in embarrassment of what he was imagining, and shook his head to dismiss the idea.

‘That would be impossible to happen…’

Grillby thought and sighed as he heard the school bell ring.

*~*~*~*~*~*

The whole day Gaster was freezing, especially during Magic Class. During Magic Class, they had to spar in the open field because the third years had to use the gym for their Magic Class too (they have different teachers). They weren’t allowed to wear their scarves during their sparring matches, so Gaster ended up wearing the school-provided jacket and his sweater over his gym uniform; his scarf was left at the side of the open field where it could not get harmed.

He was sparring with Asgore that time and his bones shivered in coldness as he attacked Asgore. As Asgore attacked him, he could only dodge it because he couldn’t even manage to defend himself at the moment. Desperately wanting to end his sparring match already, Gaster summoned up a Blaster and fired it in front of Asgore, making Asgore fall to the ground. The freezing skeleton pinned down the tall goat right away, much to Asgore’s surprise.

After a few seconds, Gaster freed Asgore and instantly sat down at the side where his scarf was. He immediately wrapped his scarf around his neck, feeling a bit warmer than earlier. Asgore sat down next to him and remarked,

“You rarely use your Blaster during sparring fights, especially on me. Are you really that cold?”

“Yes I am freezing, but I’m sorry I used the Blaster on you. I just didn’t want to spar in this temperature”

Gaster immediately replied. The skeleton hugged his knees in an effort to make himself a bit more warm. Gaster didn’t know that Grillby was watching him the whole time since the skeleton started his class. Grillby felt concerned as he saw the skeleton shiver as he sparred.

‘Gaster does get cold easily huh?’ Grillby thought, as he wanted to throw a fireball at the freezing skeleton. Sadly, he couldn’t summon a fireball in his classroom for it was against the rules to conjure magic in the school building. The fire man sighed out of disappointment as he continued to listen to his teacher’s lecture.

*~*~*~*~*~*

The school day finally ended and Grillby was at his locker collecting the things he needed to bring home when his friends, Blazen and Flare, approached him. Flare said

“Sorry G, we might not be going home with you today! We have a group project together to do”

“It’s alright, I understand. Good luck with the project” Grillby replied.

He began noticing the romantic feeling his friends emitted when they are together. Blazen had already told Grillby that he’s beginning to like Flare but Flare hasn’t told him anything yet. But if you would read Flare’s actions, she usually sticks with Blazen more. Grillby sighed as he closed his locker and went down the building.

He stopped by the building’s exit, looking up at the sky. It was a cloudy afternoon then, making it chillier than ever. He was about to leave when he heard a joke cracked behind him by a very familiar voice,

“It’s getting harder to breathe in here. Is it because you’re smoking hot ?”

Grillby turned around and saw Gaster behind him, grinning at his own joke. Gaster was about to walk home alone because Asgore is always fetched by his father’s employees. Grillby rolled his eyes at the terrible joke and countered,

“Well isn’t your joke ghastly to hear”

Gaster and Grillby looked at each other for a moment. Gaster was surprised at the elemental’s pun; even Grillby was surprised to hear his self say that awful pun. Both of them laughed and Gaster stated,

“God that was a terrible”

Grillby chuckled and replied,

“That was the very first time I had said that, thank you very much”

It was Gaster’s turn to laugh and introduced himself, approaching Grillby

“I’m Wing Ding Gaster, from Class 1 – A, but you can call me Wing Ding if you want to. Nice to meet you”

“I’m Grillby, Class 1 – B. Nice to meet you too”

Grillby responded, shaking Gaster’s bony hand. When their hands touched, there had been a spark that made their souls beat faster. Gaster didn’t want to let go of the elemental’s warm hand but he had to, unless he wanted things to be ultimately awkward. After shaking their hands, Gaster asked

“Do you mind if I join you for today? I could treat you to something for cracking you a terrible joke.”

“Sure Wing Ding, if it’s okay with you. Where do you go home anyway?”

Grillby asked. The elemental could feel his soul pounding in his chest as he looked at Gaster. The skeleton answered

“I go home to ***, how about you?”

“*** is where you get to the park and then take the left road, am I correct?” Grillby questioned. Gaster nodded and the elemental continued, “I go home to ****, I take the right road of the park”

“So do you want to stop by the park? I know a food stall there that’s delicious. Plus, it’ll be much more convenient for us…” Gaster suggested, rubbing his neck in nervousness. Grillby nodded, and the both of them started walking away from the school building, their souls beating in sync and anticipation.

Chapter Text

As Gaster and Grillby walked beside each other to the park, they couldn’t speak another word to each other. They were at least a foot apart from each other. But even if they were quiet, Gaster could feel Grillby let his flames burn hot enough to make him warmer. Gaster smiled at what Grillby was doing and said,

“You know, I’ve never seen a fire elemental burn bright as you do; your flame is much warmer than others.”

Grillby blushed at Gaster’s compliment and spoke

“As a kid… I had the brightest flame than my kids my age, so I kind of burned warmer than the other kids…”

Gaster looked at him, attentively listening to his story. Grillby continued,

“I had to learn how to control my flames at a young age, about 4 to 5 years old. By the time I mastered how to control my flames was when I was 12 years old. Since I really didn’t want to harm anyone, I decided to continue home-schooling until the end of middle school…”

“Woah…” Gaster remarked, he really didn’t expect Grillby to tell him that. He continued,

“I enjoy the heat of your flames Grillby; they’re really soothing to me…”

Grillby chuckled and said,

“Thank you. Since I am made of fire and all, I was thinking of having a resto-bar of my own…”

“That’s amazing. Someday, I want to become a scientist with my own lab.” Gaster confessed, “I want create inventions that could benefit monsters that need it”

Grillby gazed at the skeleton as he smiled softly about his goal. As they paced slowly to the park, the skeleton and the elemental began sharing stories of their experiences, hobbies, likes, dislikes and so much more.

Somehow, the more they talk, the less awkward the atmosphere became. They finally arrived at the park and Gaster pointed to a food stall that had the sign, ‘Mackie Monster’ on it. Gaster said

“There’s the food stall I was talking about! Let’s go”

Grillby followed his companion towards the food stall, beginning to be curious about it. When they reached the food stall, the skeleton asked

“What do you want Grillby? Burger or fries?”

“I’ll be having what you’re having” Grillby answered. Gaster nodded and said at the stall owner,

“Two burgers please”

The skeleton handed his money to the stall owner, and they waited for their food at the counter. The park was filled with little kids that came from school, playing happily in the playground, and their guardians or parents. Gaster and Grillby’s eyes suddenly met and Gaster flashed a huge grin at the elemental. Grillby felt his soul skip a beat at how cute the skeleton’s grin was and couldn’t help but chuckle at it.

They got their food and as the elemental and skeleton search for a place to sit, Grillby suggested,

“I know a place where we can eat our food, follow me”

Gaster nodded at the elemental’s suggestion and went along with him. Grillby lead Gaster to a tree at the secluded part of the park. The tree was surrounded by a barrier made of cement that somehow served as a bench to sit on also. Gaster asked

“How did you find this?”

“I was allowed to go out and play one day as a kid, and I just wandered into this place. I’ve been coming to this place ever since. Come on Wing Ding, let’s sit down”

Grillby replied as he sat down on the bench. The skeleton followed him and sat beside him. The atmosphere suddenly became awkward as they ate. Gaster couldn’t think of a topic to talk about because the beating of his soul kept echoing in his ears. That went with Grillby too, his flames getting hotter by the second.

They placed their trash by a nearby trash can and sat beside each other again. Coincidentally, Gaster and Grillby’s hands were right in between them, just a mere 10 centimeter gap away from each other. Gaining some courage, Grillby spoke

“I noticed you’re pretty wrapped up even though it’s still autumn; do you… get cold easily?”

Gaster was startled at Grillby’s question, not expecting the elemental to notice it that quickly. Gaster sheepishly replied, rubbing the back of his neck

“Yes, I do get cold easily. During cold weather, I would wear tons of sweaters and scarves as a child. But the high school level doesn’t allow that, I can only wear one sweater and scarf for the whole day.”

As Gaster continued to tell one of his experiences with cold as a kid, Grillby listened to him attentively. Soon the awkward atmosphere disappeared and they continued to talk and share their experiences.

*~*~*~*~*~*

“Oh, it’s about to get dark soon…”

Grillby said, looking up at the sky. Gaster nodded in agreement and said,

“I guess this is where we separate paths. See you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow too Wing Ding” Grillby replied.

The skeleton stood up and started walking away, but he suddenly turned back and nervously asked,

“Hey, um, do you mind… if I call you Grillbz instead? I mean if it’s not okay with you then I’ll settle in calling you Grillby instead”

“Grillbz…” The elemental couldn’t stop smiling at the nickname, “It’s nice. You can call me Grillbz instead”

The skeleton flashed a grin at the fire-man and exclaimed

“Okay then Grillbz! See ya tomorrow!”

The elemental waved his friend good bye as they ran home. When his friend was nowhere in sight, Grillby stood up, dusted his uniform, and walked towards the open area of the secluded park. He let his flames burst up for he couldn’t contain his happiness.

Grillby had finally talked to Gaster for the first time! Without stuttering!

The happy elemental calmed down his flames, took his bag, and went home.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Gaster arrived at his home, trying to hide his blush the whole way. He managed to talk to his crush, through a very TERRIBLE joke. As he entered his household, Gaster heard his mother say

“Wing Ding, dinner’s ready”

“Sorry mother, I’m not eating today. I… have to do something in my room”

Gaster quickly answered as he brisk walk his way to his room, leaving his mother puzzled. Gaster could hear his mother asking his father, ‘What’s going on with him?’

He entered his room, dropping his bag on the floor, and jumped on his bed. Hugging his pillow, Gaster murmured to himself,

“Maybe I do like him…”

As he laid there in his bed, the love-struck skeleton slowly fell asleep.

Chapter Text

The next day, Gaster felt his soul beating in anticipation of seeing Grillby again. He felt really giddy inside as he remembered what they did. The skeleton breathed into his scarf as he walked towards the school gates in an attempt to get warmer. He saw Asgore waiting for him by the school gates and he was greeted,

“Howdy Gaster, you look happy today. Did something happen yesterday while I was gone?”

Gaster blushed, recalling the memories of what happened yesterday and replied, tucking his face in his scarf in an attempt to hide his blush

“Kinda, you’ll know what happened when you see it. Let’s go”

Asgore smiled at Gaster, puzzled by his answer, but entered the campus with his friend. Upon approaching the school building, Gaster and Asgore noticed Grillby walking ahead of them. Gaster said,

“Can I go ahead for a second?”

Asgore simply nodded as he saw his friend walk ahead of him approaching the elemental. Asgore thought

‘What is Wing Ding doing?’

Asgore was really surprised when he heard his friend call out to the elemental he hasn’t spoken to yet, at least he think so,

“Hey Grillbz, good morning!”

“Good morning to you also, Wing Ding. You got home safe yesterday?”

The elemental responded to Gaster, momentarily stopping in his tracks so that the skeleton could catch up. The shocked goat completely stopped, surprised at how his childhood friend had approached his crush casually. He’s also amazed at the fact that the elemental calls Gaster ‘Wing Ding’ and Gaster calls the elemental ‘Grillbz’. Still standing in his spot, the tall goat suddenly felt someone bump into his back. Asgore turned his back to apologize but he couldn’t utter a word because it was Toriel who accidentally bumped into him. Toriel smiled apologetically and said

“Oh! Good morning Asgore, I’m sorry for bumping into you early in the morning”

Asgore couldn’t help but stutter on his words as he felt his face burn up. Looking at her closely, he noticed something off in her appearance and he managed to stammer,

“U-um, it’s a-a-alright Toriel… Um, you kinda h-have… b-b-bed fur…”

Toriel looked surprised at Asgore statement and giggled, whispering

“Shh, don’t let anyone else know about this. Thank you! Bye for now, Asgore!”

Toriel ran off to the school building and Asgore was left there still processing at what happened. Realizing he was still in the same spot, Asgore hurriedly walked towards the school building.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Grillby and Gaster managed to go to the 1st floor together and once they did arrive, Gaster said

“Well this is where we part again; do you… want to hang out again later at the park? At the same place?”

“Sure, I’ll fetch you in your classroom later then”

Grillby replied. The both of them bid farewell to each other as they separated ways to their classroom. Gaster entered his classroom, going directly to his seat. He sat down in his chair, looking out the window, breathing into his scarf in another attempt to keep warm. He couldn’t believe that he was going home with Grillby again today. Asgore finally arrived at the classroom and sat down beside Gaster. The skeleton turned to his friend to apologize for suddenly leaving him but he couldn’t say a word because of his goat friend’s face.

Asgore’s fur was untidy and he was beet red with his mouth ajar, not one word coming out of his lips. Gaster waved a hand in front of Asgore’s face to get his attention and questioned,

“Asgore, did something happen? Earth to Prince Asgore? What, you finally got the chance to talk to Toriel?”

Gaster confirmed his suspicion because of Asgore’s flushed reaction. Hearing his companion mumble his name under his breath out of embarrassment, Gaster laughed. He spoke,

“Okay, tell me what happened then”

“You explain to me first on how you and the elemental started talking”

Asgore murmured under his breath. Now it was Gaster’s turn to go red in the face. Nodding, Gaster started to explain on what happened the day before.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Hearing the school bell ring from a distance, first period finally ended. Patting his pocket to make sure his wallet is there; Grillby rose up and walked out of the classroom to join his friends, Blazen and Flare. When he got out of his classroom, he saw his friends waiting for him at the windowed side of the hallway. Grillby approached his friends and asked,

“So how was your project?”

“It’s going great! But we’re only half-way done with it, so we might not join you again after school.”

Flare replied. Grillby smiled and said

“It’s alright, I’ll be joining someone later after school”

As soon as he said that, Grillby saw Gaster going out of his classroom with Asgore. Their eyes connected and Gaster flashed him a goofy smile paired with a peace sign. Grillby returned the peace sign and the skeleton continued to accompany his goat friend. Grillby turned his gaze back to his friends, only to see them gaping at him. He blinked at them, confused by their reactions when Blazen suddenly exclaimed

“You’re already friends with Gaster?! How did this happen?!?”

“I’ll explain later, let’s head to the cafeteria first”

Grillby bluntly replied as he started walking towards the direction of the cafeteria. Blazen and Flare looked at each other, bewildered by Grillby’s reply, and ran off to follow him.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Laying down their trays on the table, Flare demanded

“Okay G, spit the fire at us. How did you and Gaster get close?”

“We haven’t seen you two approach each other at school the whole year, and now you’re all chummy. How did that happen, G?”

Blazen continued. Grillby became hesitant to tell his friends what happened because of how they look at him. They look like parents that suddenly discovered their child has a crush on someone! Oh wait that’s kinda true. Grillby started to explain, fidgeting a bit in his seat

“Wing Ding, or Gaster to you guys, approached me yesterday at the school exit after class-“

“Wait, he lets you call him Wing Ding?!” Flare interrupted Grillby. The orange flame nodded but titled his head at confusion of his friend’s reaction. He asked

“Why? What’s wrong with calling him Wing Ding?”

“G, he would never let us call him that, except for Asgore. Okay, you can go on with your story”

Blazen said. Grillby continued,

“So Wing Ding approached me yesterday at the school exit after class with a terrible pun”

This earned a groan from his friends. Blazen began sipping on his drink (?) and Flare asked

“What pun did he use on you?”

“Um…” Grillby stopped for a while, touching his chin in thought, “I think he said ‘It’s getting harder to breathe in here. Is it because you’re smoking hot ?’ I’m not sure-“

Grillby jumped as he saw the green flame beside him choke on his drink and suddenly flaming up in surprise. The yellow fire in front of him banged her hands on the table and also burned up in surprise. Their reaction had suddenly caused the whole cafeteria to heat up a bit. Grillby shot a quick glance towards Gaster’s table and saw the skeleton looking contented about the instant heat up. Grillby looked back at his friends to see them looking at him, still shocked.

Grillby could feel that he is about the get bombarded with questions and scoldings.