Progress was slow, both in his studies and in building their new home in the cave. Slowly, the cavern almost began looking like something livable, but with each step came more set-backs. He couldn't understand all of the discussions when it came to problems, but even with his limited vocabulary he knew that morale was low.

A lot of it was due to the struggles they had with building. "That should hold" and "Look out!" were becoming the two phrases he knew best. In a week, three structures went up; two came down. One monster didn't get out of the way in time.

On the brighter side, he could speak the language now, sort of. He'd managed to work out a system, assigning a sound to each of his hand signs. It often took him a few tries to sound out what he wanted to say—the sounds were still strange and never seemed to come out of his mouth quite right—but it got the job done. And he suspected it took some of the pressure off Toriel when it came to teaching him. Oh, she did her best to stay cheerful during the lessons, and he was very grateful for that, but it did barely anything to hide her stress.

"What is wrong?" he finally asked the day after the collapse. He expected her to be affected—after all, it was always her who was there to help any monster in need—but she looked even more tired than usual. She met his sockets, then gave a light, mirthless laugh.

"You should stop using your hands with simple phrases, my friend," she said. He gave her a wry smile in return.

"Please, it...er, it helps. But you, er, you..." His browbone furrowed, and he slowly signed the word. "...ch...chah, chay...change the subject."

Toriel sighed. "You are very perceptive." She gestured to the rubble still at one end of the cavern. "But I am certain you have noticed we are not rebuilding well."

He grimaced, but nodded. Toriel buried her face in her hands.

"We cannot survive if we are unable to even house ourselves. Asgore and I have been trying so hard, but..." She shook her head.

He looked at her sympathetically, hesitantly reaching out to pat her arm. Asgore. He'd heard the sounds from the other monsters here and there, but he hadn't even considered it would be a name. "Who...er, who is Asgore?"

Toriel lifted her head and took a deep breath. "My husband," she explained after a moment. "He has been discussing strategy with one of our top warriors for days, and he is no closer to figuring out this...situation than I am." She shook her head. "I am half-afraid he will dissolve from the stress. He has not been king for very long and..."

"King?"

Toriel looked up. "Well, yes."

He gaped at her. True, skeletons didn't have monarchies, but he wasn't an idiot. Kings were important. And if Toriel was married to the king... "Then...so...so you-you are...are the..."

She eked out a half-smile. "The Queen, yes."

He stared at her silently, then covered his face in embarrassment. "Oh, god." He didn't need to sign that phrase. "I...I waste...so much of time!"

"Oh, no! No, no, not at all, my friend!" Toriel assured. Now she was the one patting his arm. "You are learning quite fast, especially your writing. And, if you do choose to make a home with our people, then I would like you to be as comfortable as possible." She smiled a bit and added, in a whisper, "And, between us, I have always wanted to be a teacher."

He looked at her curiously for a moment, then smiled. She returned it, then pressed a claw to her mouth, brow furrowed in thought.

"Show me what you have been working on," she said suddenly.

He blinked. His sketches? That had to be what she meant. "Er...yes, okay." He got to his feet and brought her over to the sketches. They had grown substantially since he'd first begun drawing in the dirt, with so many notes written around the diagrams they were nearly illegible. Around them was a circle of rocks, to keep them from being swept away by a careless monster. Toriel crouched down to examine them, and his hands fluttered awkwardly before he managed to speak.

"Er...it...it is a p-l-plan. For booeel...for building. Er, efficient. More safe." He grimaced at his garbled explanation, then stood silently as Toriel continued looking over them. Finally, she looked up with a smile.

"My friend, I think you will need some paper."

~

It turned out that there were more "rooms," so to speak, in the cavern, though still very, very few monsters. Toriel guided him through the path, weaving easily between fallen rocks and stalagmites. She occasionally stopped to speak to...well, her subjects, but was always quick in returning to his side. Even so, it was still strange to think of her as a Queen. He still wasn't quite sure what monarchies were like, but he never expected someone so kind to be royalty.

She stopped at the base of a very steep hill, glancing back at him worriedly. "I am sorry, but this is the only way to where we must go."

He half-smiled. "I am...fr...I am not fr...er, fray..." He shut his sockets with a quick breath, figuring out what he wanted to say. "I am not fr-frail as I appear." He smiled again. "I can walk."

Toriel returned the smile. "Follow me, then."

They made their way up, until they were on level ground. Toriel guided him to an almost closet-like niche. His sockets widened as he saw the books, papers, ink, and even jars of honey and preserves hidden inside. "How...?"

She sighed. "We had known an attack like this was coming, so Asgore and I planned for the move to Mt. Ebott when the time came. We tried to move whatever valuables and necessities we could manage down here, to create a hiding place." She shook her head. "But the food will only last for so long. We should have started earlier. I should not have brought so many books..."

"Do not be," he quickly said. Given her strange expression, he guessed that wasn't his best translation. He gave her a smile. "I...I could not have le...lea...leayrned without your book."

Toriel glanced up at him. "Learned, my friend," she corrected gently, mouth barely turned up. "The 'a' is silent." She looked back to the stack of books in the corner. "And I suppose...it will be useful once we are settled. Children still need to learn." She stepped inside the niche, pulling out a few sheets of paper and a couple pencils. "And they need somewhere to live." She handed him the supplies. "I think this will be far nicer to work with than sticks and dirt."

He looked down at supplies in his hand, then sent Toriel a wide grin. This would be much better. He could write his notes more legibly, detail the supports for the structures, show the angl—He looked up Toriel touched his arm as she looked down the passage. She gave his arm a small tug as she said, "Come."

His browridge furrowed, but he followed after her. He clutched the papers to his chest protectively as he heard two voices in what sounded like a heated debate. Was this something to fear? He looked up at Toriel. Judging by the smile on her face, not something to fear, but...still. He had the feeling he was going somewhere he didn't belong.

They reached a wide room of the cavern, where a tortoise-like monster seemed to be lecturing another monster who looked like a bigger, blonder Toriel. The tortoise-monster spoke in a quick, urgent manner, making translation nearly impossible. He was able to pick out a few words, such as "stay here," "foolish," "safe," and some inconsequential pronouns, but other than that it was a mystery. The other monster crossed his arms; his face looked focused, but his eyes were somewhere else. Toriel cleared her throat, and this monster looked up. The worry melted from his face as he walked up to her.

"Tori!" In two quick steps, he was in front of her and hugging her tightly, burying his face in her white fur. "Oh, you have no idea how happy I am to see you, dear."

Toriel smiled and rubbed his back. "I have an idea," she replied, then murmured something that almost sounded like "Fluffybuns." But surely Toriel would never call someone a name so horrible. She stepped back after giving her husband an extra tight squeeze, then cleared her throat and stepped back. "I would like to introduce you to Gaster. From the skeleton village."

He almost corrected her; after all, Gaster was his family name. But...well, it did sound much better than Wing Ding did out loud, and...it wasn't like there would be any confusion.

Really, going by his last name might be the only chance the Gasters had to keep from being forgotten.

He smiled and dipped his head respectfully. "I am, er..." Oh, god, he couldn't sign with his arms full of paper. What were the sounds? He carefully pulled one arm free and did little half-motions. "I am...pl-pleased to m-meet you." There. He got it.

Asgore smiled at him, reaching a large paw out to shake. Gaster prepared to lose his arm, but the shake was surprisingly delicate. "Howdy, Gaster. I'm Asgore." He motioned to the tortoise. "And this is Gerson, the Hammer of Justice, as the people call him." He chuckled, but Gerson merely looked at him impatiently. He said something, but again it was that quick voice that Gaster couldn't decipher, so he gave him an awkward smile in reply.

"The skeleton village, though. That's a good ways away; how did you find Mt. Ebott?" Asgore asked, stroking the white fur on his chin thoughtfully.

"Gorey, I do not think this is the time..." Toriel started to say, but Gaster shook his head.

"It is fine," he said. He let out a breath, setting his mouth in a straight line. "The humans...we had to..."

Asgore sighed before he could say anything else. "I understand." He gave Gaster a sympathetic look before patting his thin shoulder. "But...well, I promise that you and the other skeletons will be more than welcomed into our community."

Gaster stayed silent, but his mouth twitched and his throat tightened. What others? He looked away as Asgore drew back, then curiously looked back at his shoulder as a smaller paw rested on it.

"Before you resume your strategizing," Toriel said, making Asgore turn back from Gerson, "you should know that Gaster has been designing ways to improve our structures. Perhaps you could take a look when you are free?"

Asgore smiled. "Of course." He stepped forward, gently taking her shoulders and pulling her close to nuzzle snouts. "I'll see you soon, honey."

Toriel gave him a wide smile and a kiss on the cheek, then returned to Gaster's side. "Come, my friend. We will get to work at once."

He gave Asgore one last deep nod, then followed Toriel out. As they picked their way back down to the other monsters, he looked at Toriel with concern.

"I...I am not...er, not, erm...er..." He still couldn't sign, not if he didn't want the papers flying as they walked. "Why you...did you..." He let out an annoyed grunt. What were the words?

Before he could get too frustrated, Toriel paused. "Why did I mention your work to Asgore?" she finished, then turned back to him. "Because, my friend, you are the only one thinking of improvements rather than resigning ourselves to our current situation." She gave him a smile. "And that is exactly what we need."

~

With all the work being done to make up for the collapse earlier in the week, Gaster wasn't able to work on his plans until the other monsters decided to call it a day. Again, progress was slow, but this kind of planning was much more enjoyable than stacking rocks and learning sounds. So he sat up long into the night (well, he assumed it was night), sitting as close as he could manage to the dying communal fire for light and drawing diagrams until his eyes couldn't focus.

He'd gotten about three full blueprints done and was working on his fourth when something tapped his shoulder. He jumped up nearly a foot, just barely keeping a hold of his paper. He looked up, and his browbone rose as Asgore crouched beside him.

"I didn't mean to scare you," he whispered. Gaster shook his head.

"It is fine," he said slowly. "Er...why...why you here?"

Asgore sighed. "We're stuck on our next plan of action. Food's running low and..." He gestured to the ramshackle structures. "We can't survive like this. So I thought I'd see what you came up with."

Gaster frowned. "Now?"

Asgore shrugged. "I had a feeling you'd be awake." He lightly touched the completed blueprints. "May I?"

"Er, yes." Gaster set down his current paper, turning fully toward Asgore. "It...er, I am not..." He huffed. "No ex...experi-ence. But it, er...it is close to my home. I-I mean..." His hands shook a bit as he tried to sign the words he wanted to say. He'd never had to say this much to anyone aside from Toriel. "Er, it is...skeleton-style."

Asgore looked up at him. "The way things were built in your village?"

"Yes! But also...like a skeleton..." He shook his head and covered his face in embarrassment. He sounded like an idiot. "I am sorry. Bad ex-explay-explanation."

"No, no. Take your time, Gaster," Asgore said kindly.

Gaster let out a breath, then held up his hand and pointed to it. "You see...erm, you see how the hand?"

Asgore blinked. Gaster huffed.

"It...it fit! Together!" He pointed to his carpal bones, then down to his radius and ulna. He then jabbed his finger at his wrist joint, where they all met. "It fit! Like this!"

Asgore frowned a bit, then snapped. "Oh! It all locks together?"

"Yes!" Gaster smiled, relieved that the message finally got through. Asgore nodded, then looked over the blueprints again.

"There's a lot of materials we don't have in here, though," he murmured thoughtfully.

Gaster's expression fell. He hadn't thought of that. He sighed, then crumpled his current paper and tossed it into the fire. Asgore's eyes widened.

"Why did you do that?"

Gaster frowned. "Useless. No ma-materials."

"I didn't say that it was useless," Asgore said with a smile. He looked over to the entrance to the cavern. The guard was still there. "But I think it may be time for an expedition."

Gaster stared at the opening, then turned back to Asgore, hands moving as he quickly whispered, "Can't...we can't...no one can go. Not there. Not allowed!"

Asgore grinned and gave Gaster a wink. "Good thing I'm the king, then, isn't it?"

(Thank you for reading!! Votes and comments give me life!)