"hey! stop! let go!" Sans's voice rang loud through his bedroom as he struggled against his father's tight grasp.
"What did I just say?" Gaster demanded, calmly.
"… don't flinch…" Sans answered, through gritted teeth upon his flinching skull.
"And what are you doing right now?" Gaster spoke again, as calmly and as collectedly as ever as he held the young boy down.
"… sorry…" Sans mumbled guiltily, trying his best to force his body to remain still through the sharp bursts of pain.
Gaster let out a sigh.
"I'm using healing magic." He stated, as a faint glow of purple magic began to spiral around Sans's fractured arm. He would have liked to keep the magic weak, so as to not startle Sans with its power or hurt him any further… but unfortunately, and regretfully, in this circumstance Gaster had to use the strongest magic he could. Even this wouldn't heal him fully. What had happened to Sans…? "It will take the edge of, but it's not going to heal that fracture, which is oddly suspicious…" Gaster commented. "Anyhow, if you don't mind…" He looked down at his son with a stern expression upon his face and ordered, "Explain."
"w-what?" Sans stammered feebly, as if he didn't know what Gaster meant.
"Tell me what happened." Gaster demanded, never flinching or blinking as he gazed down at the fearful boy. "You have an impact fracture, so you fell, and fell on an awful angle to receive such a nasty oblique split up the ulna like that." He explained it so professionally, so unbiasedly, and with such precision it was as if Sans was a mere problem to solve. "Where did you fall, why did you fall, and why were you attempting to hide such an injury from me?"
"am... am i in trouble?" Sans asked weakly, as a cold and sharp dread rapidly grew in his soul. This was far worse than the pain of his fracture. Far worse.
"Ha." Gaster grunted, and for a brief moment his face held a humane expression upon it. "That depends entirely on how fast, and truthfully, you can explain yourself." He said.
"promise you won't hurt me!" Sans cried, his eyes now wet with fear as he desperately stared at his father, like the frightened child he was.
"I am not going to hurt you, Sans." Gaster soothed. "I would never hurt you."
"p-promise?" Sans whimpered.
"I promise."
"o-okay…"
Sans sat up in Gaster's lap and relaxed a little, his mind briefly distracted from his pain as it struggled to think of a plausible lie. "i-i did fall…" He admitted willingly; that part at least was true. "i fell up the stairs, i'm a klutz…"
"Sans." Gaster didn't need to say anything else. His stern tone was indication enough that he did not believe the lie.
"okay, i fell out of a really big tree in the forest." Sans said. "i know you say not to climb icy trees, but…"
"Be truthful, that's strike two…" Gaster maintained his calm tone as he spoke, patiently waiting for Sans to run out of ideas. He knew Sans would get bored of this before he did.
"okay!" Sans cried, finally submitting the way Gaster had predicted. "okay, i was in the ruins! i fell in the ruins!"
Gaster paused for a moment. For a few seconds, just long enough to completely understand Sans's words… Long enough for Sans to become unnerved. A wave of guilt swept over the boy as the cold truth of what he had done suddenly began to weigh heavy upon his soul, drowning him in its sinful depths. This was worse than any pain Gaster could ever inflict. This long, horrible silence. Sans could feel Gaster's disappointment above all else. It was… sickening.
"Why would you have been in the Ruins?" Gaster spoke softly, his mind frantically trying to answer the question before he had even finished asking. He couldn't understand… What reason would Sans have to defy him! "The Ruins are the only location in the entire Underground that I have forbidden you from visiting!" He spoke angrily, infuriated by the horrifying truth. His body trembled slightly, an outward reaction to this shocking revelation. It was so unexpected. Never in his life would he have imagined Sans to do that. Why… Why would Sans do that? It was dangerous, above all else! Dangerous, and completely unacceptable. Why had it happened…?
Sans sniffed, and whimpered.
"i-i knew you would be upset if you found out." He sobbed, the weight of his guilt too much for his young soul to bear. He made a vain attempt to hold back his tears, but he felt so awful it was impossible to not cry. He felt so guilty… So sick. He'd let his father down. "i was too scared to tell you." Sans sniffed. "i was too scared to say anything!" He whimpered helplessly, his eyes dimming under the weight of his shame. This was the worst feeling in the world…
