{Handplates chapter references: Healing, If i didn't know you better}

"1-S will not wake up. He does not respond to any magic I can muster – It's like holding water in your hands.
The magic signature I picked up from before also seemed to have vanished.

His soul is still intact, but he lingers between life and death, unable to commit to either. If he was doing this to spite me, I would not be surprised.
This would be less a serious problem if that were the case. The will to live is everything. Without it...

...I may have to consider other methods."

As Gaster pressed his hand against the touchpad, the lasers died immediately. His eyes darted to 2-P, who was sitting on the ground and mustered him with a hint of curiosity.

"Come with me.", said Gaster as he released a small breath through his nose.
"WHAT IS IT?"

"Do not dawdle. Come on."

2-P got onto his feet, trailing behind Gaster as he started walking.

"OKAY, THEN...WHERE ARE WE GOING? ARE WE GOING TO SEE MY BROTHER?"

"Yes."

2-P's reaction was immediate excitement and he threw his hands up, celebrating this revelation.
"OH YAY!! I WAS REALLY WORRIED ABOUT HIM! IS HE OKAY, IS HE GOING TO COME BACK-"

There was no easy way to break this to Subject 2, Gaster figured. Besides, he shouldn't care about his feelings and the possible repercussions anyway.

"1-S is about to die."

The excitement in Subject 2's chest was replaced by panic and fear: "WHAT?!?! WHAT HAPPENED IS HE-"

"His soul is stable but he refuses to wake up despite-"

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO FIX HIM!! I-" A sharp pain tore through Gaster's chest as he heard Subject 2 speak.

Yes, that was what he intended to do. Another one who he could not save despite his best attempts. There was yet another one dying because there was nothing he could do.
Maybe if he still had his healing powers, he could've already taken care of it but now that wasn't exactly an option anymore..

Gaster turned to 2-P, hissing: "Don't interrupt me."
2-P stopped talking and stumbled a few steps back before quietly listening to him finish: "...He refuses to wake despite my efforts. I need you to test my theory."

2-P flailed his arms around in confusion and desperation: "WHAT DO YOU MEAN HOW CAN HE NOT- THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE, YOU'RE SO MUCH STRONGER THAN US! YOU CAN DO ANYTHING!
WHY CAN'T YOU HEAL HIM??"

Gaster's pace slowed until he halted, his shoulders slumped down and his arms hanging down his sides. His gaze was fixed onto the floor.

He sighed, stretching out his arm a little to look at his hands: "Magic is an expression of a monster's soul. It reflects the self like a mirror. As a monster grows...or changes..."

With a heavy heart he held his own hand, subconsciously tracing along the holes in his palms: "so too does their magic develop and...shift."

He tried his best to rephrase this concept in a way that Subject 2 could understand. He looked back at his hands, silent for a moment.

"...Certain consequences are unavoidable. Since I...began this project, I've lost- I'm losing the ability to heal.", he finally breathes out, staring straight ahead into the darkness of the hallway that was stretched out ahead of them.

"REALLY? THAT'S...THAT'S AWFUL, I'M SORRY."

It was as if the words Subject 2 immediately bounced off of Gaster, he was too deep in his own headspace. A lot of feelings and thoughts stirred within him, but he brushed them off as quickly as they came, starting to walk again and building his walls back up: "I knew there'd be a price to pay. I've made my choices, and I will live with them. But it means I have to resort to other methods."

"LIKE...ME?"

"Yes."

2-P started to grow frantic again, doubting his own abilities: "BUT I'VE NEVER HEALED ANYONE BEFORE! I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW! WHAT IF I CAN'T DO IT??"

"Then he will die. But I believe my theory will be correct."

Gaster opened the door and it slid open with a soft whirr. Subject 2 basically fell through the doorframe, tears in his eyes as he rushed up to his brother: "BROTHER!!!"

2-P gently picked him up, cradling 1-S in his arms: "BROTHER!! BROTHER! CAN YOU HEAR ME?" Gaster stood back, silently observing how 2-P interacted with 1-S.

"Just as I thought. I don't have to explain a single step. He already knows what to do, right down to his bones."

Green light poured through 2-P's eyes as he held his brother closer, initiating the healing process almost immediately.
Soon, the entire room lit up in a bright, powerful green and it engulfed the two small skeletons fully. The magic was ebbing and flowing, wildly swirling around them.

"It lights up the air with sparks of life. Photons, electrons. Effortless as predicted."

"WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP", 2-p whispered, continuing to cradle his brother as the magic seeped through them.

"It echoes within, distant but familiar...and untouchable. But what else can one expect when sound hits an empty void?"

Gaster watched as Subject 2 desperately reached out for 1-S.
There seemed to be resistance, some kind of struggle.

2-P's tears streamed down his face more rapidly: "PLEASE...WAKE UP...PLEASE.."

1-S's eye sockets slowly fluttered open a hoarse "bro..?" coming from him. 2-P immediately opened his eyes, surprised that he managed or generally, that 1-S was awake.

He immediately teared up again, tears of joy and relief trickling down his face instead.

He smiled down at him: "THERE YOU ARE!" They kept hugging and comforting each other, the green aura around them slowly fading and disappearing into the room.

Gaster just stood there, watching them with a twinge of pain in his heart.

Oh, how he wished it would've exactly gone like this with you...

Life could have been so beautiful..

Gaster tried his best to not let his emotions take control of him but it was hard.

"We all make choices."

.
.
.

"so hey, i noticed something new in that cozy little home of ours."

Gaster rolled his eyes, his hand still resting on the touchpad: "Oh here we go."

"oh you already know what i'm talking about? so you're a mindreader and a sadist. did you have to kill a lot of babies to learn how to do that, or just a few?"

Gaster and 1-S walked into the room as 1-S kept bombarding him with snarky comments. It was one of the few ways how Subject 1 could get back at him. Sassing Gaster to provoke a reaction counted as a victory to him in these verbal battles. Not that he could hurt or harm him in any other way..

"Yes yes, you're very clever and I'm deeply wounded Let's not do this today.", Gaster said sarcastically and went up to his machine to adjust the settings properly.

Meanwhile, 1-S climbed onto the chair, a book stacked onto the chair to even out the height difference.

"hey, i don't want lasers shot in my eye again either. but I get the feeling it's gonna happen anyway. things don't work out the way you want sometimes, huh?"

1-S squinted his eyes at Gaster, taunting him further but Gaster did not react, strapping Subject 1 into the chair properly.

"I don't want to discuss it."

"you're pretty good at the mind reading thing. but not so good at the whole, you know...'kindness' thing. which is why i'm wondering...
how my brother got that color cube."
1-S finally brought up, causing Gaster to freeze.

"if he stole it, then you would've taken it back by now, right? but you seem pretty happy to let him keep it. why is that?"

Of course, what Gaster did would eventually come back to bite him. Nothing ever went unnoticed by Subject 1, and it was somewhat irritating.

Gaster had no words, no excuse to save himself from his questioning.

"...Subject 2 is an idiot. Practicing outside of the tests may improve his scores."

1-S glared at him, defending his brother almost instinctively: "my brother's not dumb."

"His results say otherwise."

"he's not dumb, you just don't get how he thinks."

"Poorly, by measures."

"but okay, fine. you say you gave it to him to practice with. okay. thing is, he told me..."
1-S rolled his eyes, acting nonchalantly and innocent.
Gaster didn't want to hear it, trying to direct the conversation into a different direction.

He groaned: "Ugh, you two talk too much."

"not like we got anything else to do. my bro said he apologized to you for taking the cube."

"As well he should. I still don't know how he managed it."

"you shouldn't underestimate him so much, you know."

Gaster walked up to the console of his machine, picking up the steaming hot mug of coffee.

"Spare me your lectures."

"he said you flinched when he apologized."

Gaster immediately twitched in response, his face dropping for a moment, morphing into a mixed expression of surprise and dismay.

The flinch caused Gaster to knock the mug against his screen. The black liquid jumped out of the mug onto the console. Gaster tried to save his face, looking down at the stains and pulling down his sleeve to dab them away, putting his most nonchalant face on that he could muster.

That's it. That was exactly what Subject 1 had been working towards to. He finally got a reaction. He won. 1-S continued to push, his words leaving his mouth as if they were a skillful choreography of attacks.

"yeah. he noticed. he's more observant than you think, too. so then he said he asked you when i'd be coming back, and when you didn't know, he got real upset about it."

1-S turned his head to Gaster. A smug grin was plastered on his face as he studied Gaster's face.

"Subject 2 can be emotional.", Gaster tried to justify himself.

"not like you, huh? which is what i don't get. 'cause he told me that's when you offered to give him the cube. if i didn't know you better, i'd think it was because you felt bad for him."

Gaster averted his eyes, not knowing how to react or what to say.

"but hey. you never feel bad about anything, do you?" Subject 1 shrugged and turned his head back towards the machine in front of him.

Gaster's hand went to one of the buttons of the control board and he started typing so he wouldn't have to face 1-S.

He was too perceptive. If he would just drop his guard for one second, he would be able to immediately slip through the cracks and that's the least he wanted.

"That's enough talking."