UnderCorrupt

20 ~ Traitor

He was mostly awake when Gaster came back.

He was still pretty certain he wasn't Sans, but he had decided that he would be Sans. Having someone there for you to be was convenient, and he wasn't going to let the opportunity go to waste.

Several hours had passed. A nurse had come, changed the IV bag, left, came again later and removed the IV completely. He had fallen asleep, woken up, and fallen asleep again.

He had had plenty of time to think.

"Sans?"

He moaned slightly and opened his eyes, blinking. "mmmhhn?"

Gaster smiled down at him from where he stood beside the bed. "How do you feel?" Gaster's voice was pleasant enough, but there was an underlying anger. It wasn't directed towards him, but he pitied whoever was to be on the receiving end.

"alright." He replied. "still kinda tired, but alright."

"And... do you remember anything?"

"... nothing more than what you told me." At Gaster's crestfallen look, he added, "sorry."

Gaster sighed and shook his head. "...It's not your fault, Sans." After a moment, he switched topics. "... If you're feeling up to it, we can head home."

"...okay."

"Can you walk? Or would you like me to carry you?"

"i... i think i can walk."

Gaster nodded.

Slowly, he slid his bare feet out from under the covers, and swung them over the edge of the bed. After a moment's hesitation, he slid off the side of the bed, his feet landing on the floor. No longer under the thick blankets of the bed, it was colder than he had expected, and he had no more than the thin hospital gown on.

As if reading his mind, Gaster slipped off his black coat and offered it to him. He accepted it gratefully, and pulled it on. As he was so much shorter than Gaster, the lab coat fell nearly to his toes, and his hands were lost within the sleeves. But, it was comfortingly warm, however wrong it might seem.

"thanks."

Gaster just nodded. "Ready?" He offered him his hand for support.

He took it with a small smile. "yeah. let's go."

As they walked, he made an attempt at small talk. "so did you find- ... um..."

"Papyrus?"

"yeah."

Gaster sighed. "No. We probably won't be able to just find him. We did find security footage of him- there were Corrupters, and they- they took-" He noticed how the hand of Gaster's that wasn't holding his rose to the red scarf he was wearing.

"oh." The mention of Corrupters stirred something in his chest, something he struggled to suppress for the time being. "i'm sorry." He felt no real sorrow. He did not know Papyrus, had not connection to him, but he felt a show of sympathy would be the right action in this scenario.

Gaster shook his head again. "No. No, it's not your fault. You have nothing to apologize for."

Still. He saw the small glimmer of appreciation in Gaster's eyes and knew he had chosen right.

They were out in the street now. Monsters murmured and pointed in his direction, but Gaster waved them away. He stayed close to Gaster. The attention made him feel uncomfortable. He wasn't supposed to receive a lot of attention. It was wrong.