Chapter Text
“Have we considered a selkie route?”
‘Selkies are seals, not otters.’
“Yes, but monsters do have the ability to evolve as time and circumstance dictate.” Gaster begins to carefully press his fingers through your fur, as if looking for the lining of a coat. Boney though he is, it’s almost like a massage and your whiskers twitch. “Do you feel any kind of…I don’t know, a zipper or button or something?”
‘All I feel is your hand on my technically naked butt.’
That makes a bright flare of purple cross his cheekbones and his hands jerk away. You chitter smugly at him, making him scowl.
“I regret ever teaching you hands,” he mutters. He crosses ‘selkies’ off a long list of mostly random words or ideas he has about the reason opening your magic pathways did this. His scrawl is sloppy, some kind of cross between his usual symbol font and letters you can actually read.
‘You don’t think this is my ultimately sexy form?’ you sign and roll on your back.
He hums thoughtfully. “Sexy? No, but I would say it’s one of your better looks.”
Wow rude. Still, this is a prime belly rub opportunity and since you’ve let go of the last of your pride, you wiggle until Gaster obliges you. Damn, dogs got this thing right.
Gaster’s attention drifts back to his computer as he scritches your belly, eye lights following the stream of numbers and gibberish as one of his programs works away at a simulation of reversing the transformation. He’s frowning at it, which makes a little twinge of apprehension go through you, despite the relaxing rub. You make a questioning squeak, and he sighs.
“Mistakes are the cornerstone of science but it’s damn hard to recreate one precisely on purpose so it can be reversed.” He pauses, sockets going wide as he quickly adds, “Not that I can’t do it! It’s just…irritating that it’s taking this long.”
Well, if you’ve got to spend the time waiting like this, it won’t be so bad.
“hey doc, you down there?”
You jerk and fail as you try to right yourself at the sound of Sans plodding his way down the stairs. What is he doing here?
Gaster hisses what you’re sure is a colorful swear in his font and then grabs you. Before you can do more than squawk, he’s shoved you under his sweater. The smell of bones, faint mint and that strange, otherworldly scent of ‘cold’ that always seems to seep from him surrounds you in the dark and cozy confines of his ‘stomach’ area.
What the hell is with this skeleton and his instinct to instantly hide you!? You can feel the base of his spine pressed against your back as you scramble to right yourself out of the uncomfortable upside down position.
“Sans, what are you doing here?” Gaster asks conversationally, his arms pressing down lightly to keep you in place.
You can hear the voice of the younger skeleton coming closer. “grillbz didn’t show up to work and he only does that if there’s a crisis. just wanted to make sure you guys were okay.”
“Well, as you can see, I’m perfectly fine.”
“uh huh,” Sans says in a tone that very clearly says he’s calling bull. “so why did grillby just point down here when i asked what was up? and where’s shore? she was supposed to meet up with frisk tonight.”
Oh, right you forgot about that. Frisk needs new water shoes and wanted your advice on the best ones. To be fair, you’ve been a little distracted. You keep wiggling to get upright.
“Uh, well, Shore’s busy.”
“too busy to call?”
“You know how it is sometimes, one gets wrapped up in different things-”
Oh lordy you’re slipping off his bony lap.
“And she’s been helping me with a little experiment-!” Gaster’s voice pitches up as you flail and grab onto one of his lower ribs to stop yourself from falling out of his sweater.
“you okay doc?”
“Hmm.” Gaster hums, shifting in place. It makes your back leg slip off his pants and your other paw grabs on to another rib. His whole body jerks. You know from -ahem- personal experience that his ribs are rather sensitive, but you can’t bring yourself to feel too bad at the moment.
“you’re going purple.”
“Just something I uh…ate. I’ll tell Shore to text Frisk so you can head on back-”
Wait a minute, why are you even going along with this?
“sure. just wondering, what’s this experiment you’re working on?”
Gaster’s arms press in tighter in an attempt to stop your squirming. “Just a study of human magic pathways, nothing too wild.” His fingers dance casually to your leg.
Ow! Did he really just pinch you? Fine, if that’s how he’s gonna be-!
You pull yourself up and chomp your teeth on the rib you’ve got gripped in your paws.
It’s not a strong enough bite to hurt. But it is more than enough to make Gaster shriek and bolt upright out of his chair. You let go of his ribs and tumble out from under his sweater, bouncing against the basement floor with a loud squeak. You look up to see Gaster doing some sort of full body shudder and shake while Sans stares down at you.
You stare back.
And you see the moment it clicks.
Sans is a funny guy who finds humor in a lot of things. But you can count on one hand the number of times you’ve seen him legitimately lose his shit.
This is one of those times.
Pure, unrestrained bellows of laughter break from Sans. His bones rattle from the force of his glee and you can see blue tinted tears gathering at the edge of his sockets. He is actually forced to brace himself against the desk under a real threat of his knees giving out.
“oh my god dings! you went full mad scientist!” he wheezes, hand on his sternum. “how the hell did you manage this?”
“I don’t! Know!” Gaster straightens out his sweater, glaring fiercely at you. “It was an accident!”
Sans closes his eyes and gives up on standing. He slides to the floor, giggling the whole way down. He cracks one socket open in time to see you waddling over and loses it all over again. Howling, he accidently smacks his head against the desk and winces. “ow.”
“Serves you right,” Gaster mutters. The holey hand on his face does nothing to hide the purple blush burning on his cheekbones.
It takes Sans another few minutes to catch his breath (that he doesn’t actually need). In the meantime, you crawl up close to his leg. He pats your head, digging for his phone.
“Sans, angel damn it-”
“bud, you’re not getting out of this. just let it happen.” He snaps a picture and looks at it with the tenderness of one looking at a lover. “i’m gonna print this and hang it on my wall.”
‘Can I sign it?’
Beaming, Sans puts his hand over his Soul. “i would have it no other way.”
“You two are ridiculous.” Gaster plops down in his chair with a heavy sigh.
“What do you think it’s like for me all the time?”
Your head whips around at the sound of Grillby. He’s grinning fiercely, sparking smug golden yellows as he leans against the doorway.
Gaster points with no small amount of rage but makes no move to actually get up. “I’m going to kick your flaming butt.”
“Consider it payback.” Grillby looks to Sans. “Do you think you can help change Shore back?”
Sans scratches at his skull. The scrape of bone makes the hairs on your back poof up. “uh, bio-magical studies aren’t exactly my area of expertise. but i can double check numbers if that’s what you need doc.”
Gaster sighs as if to expel the entirety of the earth’s air supply from his utterly inexistent lungs. “Yes, Sans. I would appreciate that.”
Sans pats your head and gets to his feet. From this level, you can truly see how nasty those slippers are of his. The fuzz of them is literally caked in dirt, bits of grass and something you’re praying is just dried ketchup. And the smell-! You sneeze and back away.
Sans peers at the computer screen. “oh my god doc, seriously, what the hell did you do?”
Gaster mutters in wingdings, the sound both sheepish and annoyed.
Grillby comes in and with a smooth motion scoops you up, tucking you close to his chest. The two skeletons don’t even look away from the data as you’re carried back upstairs. You paw at Grillby until he looks down at you and give a questioning squeak.
“If I’m going to skip work, I feel better having you in my sight instead of sitting around twiddling my thumbs,” he says lightly.
Fair enough.
“Also, I…might have stepped out for a minute and…got you something.”
Your furry eyebrows raise. Oh, do tell?
His gift turns out to be several dog sized sweaters and shirts spread out over the living room rug. ‘Stepped out for a minute’ your butt, the pet store is a good twenty minute walk away at least! Did he run there and back while you were hanging out with Gaster?
You fix him with an utterly flat stare.
“I thought you’d be more comfortable with something to wear?” he says helplessly as he gently puts you down. “You don’t…have to…”
Oh, damn him, he’s using his sad puppy dog voice. You sigh heavily and take a look over your options. Admittedly, he picked some cute choices. Some simple but cute shirts with little designs like stripes and dots and one with white hearts set on a black stretchy fabric. There’s also a shark hoodie that, while adorable, looks rather cumbersome. Maybe you’ll put that one on for him before you change back.
You finally select one that has a pattern of fish on ocean blue stripes because of course you have too. You squirm and wiggle into it as best you can. Which is to say isn’t much at all given your stubby and useless limbs. It gets stuck on your head and you bounce about, squawking loudly.
Grillby, flashing all sorts of bright blue and delighted peach, finally takes pity and helps you out, tugging the shirt down and guiding your arms through the rest of the way. As you shift around and get used to the fabric on your fur, he just sits there. He is…visibly vibrating as he stares at you.
You sigh again, holding your little arms up.
Needing no further encouragement, Grillby snatches you up, nuzzling his face against yours as his knees tuck in close to his chest. If you could blush, you’re certain your face would be beet red.
“You’re so cute,” he mumbles, as if he’s mad about it.
You’re cute?! He’s the one snuggling you like a teddy bear! It’s unbelievably easy to tease him like this and you do just that, licking his cheek. The burst of spice on your tongue makes your head spin.
He makes a strangled, breathy noise in his throat. “I know we want to get you back to normal as soon as possible but-”
You whap him on the face. He just grins in response. “No go?”
You stick your tongue out.
Using his thumbs to gently squish your cheeks, Grillby continues to flicker delightedly. “I suppose then I better get my fill now shouldn’t-”
An utterly massive crack sounds from the front door. Both you and Grillby jump so violently you nearly go flying through the air. It’s only Grillby’s lightning fast reflexes that saves you from yet another tumble to the ground. Tucking you in close with one arm, he springs into a defensive crouch as several people come barreling through the now kicked in door.
“Oh my GOD, Sans wasn’t joking?” Undyne is a flash of blue and red as she barrels towards you, followed by the wide eyed Frisk, Alphys and Papyrus.
“What the hell-my door!” Grillby bellows in an uncharacteristic show of rage as he leaps to his feet and backs away from the chaos storm fixated on you. “Undyne!”
“I’ll fix it later, there are more important things to deal with!” Her ear fins are absolutely wiggling with glee as she reaches for you. You have to hope that it’s because Grillby recognizes it’s a pointless battle to fight that he only hesitates for a moment before handing you over. Undyne lifts you up lion king style as everyone bursts into yelling all at once.
“WOWIE, YOU’RE VERY CUTE AS AN OTTER SHORE!”
“I knew there was a good reason you didn’t show up for shoe shopping!”
“This is absolutely incredible!” Alphys squeals, glasses glinting anime style. “I a-always wondered w-what would happen if a mage’s monster DNA was activated in a more physical sort of way. A-at least I’m assuming that’s what Doctor Gaster was trying to do.”
You squeak pointlessly which makes everyone coo and aww over you. They all have to pat your head and comment on how cool and weird this whole thing is. The commotion finally causes Sans and Gaster to emerge from the basement. The two of them have managed to get some kind of oil smeared on their skulls in the short time since you left them.
The doctor takes in the scene. You, looking incredibly put out while Frisk squishes your paws. Alphys going nuts with taking pictures. Grillby mournfully fussing over the massive dent in the door. Undyne and Papyrus looking through the scattered dog clothes on the floor, picking their favorites. He blinks once and proclaims-
“You did dress up time without me?!”
The moment you have proper hands again you’re going to make sure that skeleton gets the biggest noogie of his life. But in the meantime, you’re not opposed to ending Sans with the pure force of your glare. When you bare your teeth at him, he just shrugs and grins sheepishly.
“they were gonna ask anyway.”
“And you couldn’t have omitted this little detail?” Gaster asks dryly.
“i mean i could’ve, but what’s the fun in that?”
“My door,” Grillby laments in the corner.
Well. So much for a night of cuddling.
Admittedly, the rest of the evening is…fun. Utterly exhausting, but fun. The others can’t go too nuts with Grillby’s hovering threat of bodily expulsion from the house if you show any signs of distress. Mostly it’s just you showing off the various outfits Grillby got for you, lots of pictures and dozing in Gaster’s lap while he and Alphys discuss the data compared to what Sans saw.
However, you do perk up when Undyne suddenly gasps and whips her head to you. “Ocean!”
You blink.
“You’ve got to go swim in the ocean before you change back!” She gestures to you in all your otter glory. “Take it from me, swimming as someone who actually belongs in water is way better than doing it as a human.”
“HOW WOULD YOU KNOW THAT?” Papyrus points out. “MAYBE HUMANS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE THERE TOO.”
“If humans were meant to swim, they’d have gills!”
“OTTERS DON’T HAVE GILLS!”
“You wanna fight about it?”
‘I want to go.’
Everyone turns to you at the motion of your stubby paws signing. There’s a bright gleam in your eye as your tail thumps against Gaster’s side. ‘I want to go!’
Undyne grins, all teeth and glee. “Hell yeah! Then let’s go!”
She starts to leap for you, only to be snagged back by Grillby grabbing the neck of her tank top. “You’re not going right now, it’s late,” he says in that firm ‘it’s closing time’ tone he uses on drunks at the bar. “In fact, shouldn’t you be getting home Frisk?”
Frisk sheepishly glances at their phone before nodding.
“Ugh, fine,” Undyne grouses as she gets to her feet. She points to Gaster. “Don’t change Shore back til we take a swim, got it?”
“I think that’s best left up to Shore,” is his mild reply. He too stands up, keeping a gentle hold on you while Grillby shoos everyone out of the house. He spends a few long moments looking at the dent in the door. With a heavy sigh, he manually shoves it into place as best as he can.
“I’m making her buy us a new one,” he scowls as the three of you head into the bedroom.
The two boys change while you make yourself comfortable on your pillow, yawning widely. Good lord you’re tired.
Gaster is first to crawl in bed, tucking himself into the plush blanket. “You don’t have to go to the beach if you don’t want to,” he says, turning his skull towards you. “I think we’ll be able to reverse this by tomorrow.”
You chitter softly, signing, ‘Want to. Sounds fun.’
“Heh, well if you’re sure. We’ll just have to keep an eye out for sharks.”
“Don’t even joke about that.” Grillby flops on top of the blanket, groaning as he drapes an arm over his eyes. “What a day.”
What a day indeed. Still, despite the craziness and the anxiety and overall stress of being turned into an otter, it’s easy enough to slip into sleep, nestled between the two monsters you love the most.