Work Text:
He leaned back with a long, tired sigh. Rubbing his eyesockets he tried to think of a way to solve this problem. Maybe if he changed some of the components or… Another sigh. He had been working on this nonstop for who knew how long, even his assistant hadn’t been able to drag him away with his usual tactics. Gaster just simply couldn’t abandon this project when his majesty the king and everyone else of the Underground depended on him succeeding. Maybe another cup of coffee could wake him up enough so that he could continue. Slowly he dragged himself of his chair but didn’t even come far before almost stumbling into his assistant.
“You really worked yourself to the bone this time, huh?” Sans said, a smirk twitching at his lips about the pun he had made but there was also worry clear as day in his expression. The royal scientist himself couldn’t even manage to smile at the pun, even though he usually did. That alone was a sign of how exhausted he was.
This time it was Sans’ turn to sigh and he gently grabbed the older skeleton’s hand. Too tired to protest verbally – even though he tried to tug his hand free once but resistance seemed to be futile in this moment and waving his hand to sign something seemed to be just as effective – Gaster let himself be lead wherever it was his assistant thought was the best option.
He thought that he had blinked only once but in that short time it seemed that they had moved to another room completely, one where they had put a bed for whenever they couldn’t avoid sleeping at the lab. “I would tell you to go home but since you are so bone tired this will have to do for now.” Another tug at his hand and a gentle push and he found himself suddenly on the bed.
Once again he tried to sign something but Sans’ snort told him that whatever he had signed had either been gibberish or something else. “Yeah no way I’m letting you get off the hook if you sign such things.” The younger skeleton gently pushed the other till Gaster had no choice but to lie down. As soon as that was done, Sans seemed to let a blanket appear out of nowhere which he used to tug the other in. The scientist only managed to make some noises of protest and tried to sit up again only to be pushed back down. His own eyes met those of his stubborn assistant who definitely wasn’t backing down in this case. “As I said: no way. You have to get some sleep. You know, working yourself to the bone like that won’t help anyone, even less so if you collapse out of exhaustion. So unless you get several hours of sleep, I won’t let you out of this bed and will even stay here to make sure you don’t just get up before that.” With that Sans grabbed a chair and a book and sat down.
Gaster watched the other for a while with tired eyes, stubbornly keeping his eyes open despite Sans’ words ringing with truth. Yes, it wouldn’t do anyone any good if he collapsed but it also wouldn’t help if he didn’t finish that project.
Sans who seemed to feel the defiance simply started to read his book aloud in a quiet and smooth voice in an attempt to just lull Gaster into sleep. Surprisingly enough, it seemed to work. Slowly but surely Gaster’s eyes fell shut until he couldn’t fight it anymore. He fell asleep with Sans’ voice quietly reading the book and the knowledge that there was someone who would always come and drag him from work whenever it was clear that Gaster himself wouldn’t.