spaghettimonster | We're Still Here

[These are four texts.]

hey papyrus
you're up right

papyrus

hey

wait
are you asleep?

[He is, indeed, asleep. Very asleep, with a mask on to protect his sleepy eyes from stabs of sunlight come morning and everything. But maybe the radio buzzes with the texts, or maybe he happens to wake coincidentally around then.

Either way, it's about five minutes - an impossibly long time - before Papyrus answers.]

I -WAS- ASLEEP.
DO YOU NEED TO COME IN?
IS IT ZOMBIES?

[Somebody woke up on the guilt trip side of the bed this... midnight? Sans, why.]

[Wow, don't make Sans feel bad! Luckily it only works a little bit.]

sorry
not used to you actually sleeping
anyway now that you're up
i don't need to come in but you need to come outside
no zombies

[Sans isn't a slow texter by any means, but these are coming faster than usual, indicating excitement about one thing or another.]

[Ugh. Don't remind him about the sleeping crap.]

OKAY...
YOU'RE BEING MYSTERIOUS.

BUT THAT'S COMPLETELY NORMAL.
BE RIGHT THERE.

[Even slowed down by banter and guilt trip, Papyrus still appears at the door with almost typical-Papyrus speeds. He's got an evening robe pulled loosely around his shoulders, as though he'd started rushing down while texting, just in case it was something serious.

Being half-asleep, though, it takes him a few seconds to fumble with the lock.]

[Sans meets Papyrus at the door. In fact, as soon as it's open, he grabs Papyrus by the arm and drags him out away from the house.]

Look, see? [Sans points up. Apparently midnight is just Looking At Stars Time, as decided by Sans right this second.]

[What surprising energy! Papyrus is so startled by it that he just lets Sans drag him away, and obediently enough looks up to squint at the sunless sky.]

I... see dark? Maybe a hint of a cloud...?

[He may not have glasses in any of his icons, but the mild near-sightedness that let him miss the hints of a human behind a conveniently shaped lamp followed him to this body. Sometime during October he learned that was part of the challenge in driving, and addressed the matter... but they're not on his face this second.]

Nah, on the other side of the cloud. We can see stars up here. [Which is obvious, of course, but he can actually see real stars right now.] There's that park in town, it'd probably be better there, but once it's late enough most of the lights are out here anyway. [Which is why Sans is out here at midnight.]

Oh... oh! Seeing real stars! [He's only just getting with the program - Sans is all excited because outer space. He squints futilely at the dark for another second, then nods.]

Okay, I need to go grab... a few things. Like real shoes. Hold on a minute!

[He's just in slippers, here. And, mostly, he needs those glasses if this is to be an outing he'll enjoy.]

[Sans is also in slippers, but of course that doesn't bother him.] Sure, I'm not going anywhere. [Sans is just going to keep staring at the sky, actually. There's a huge difference between seeing drawings and photos and seeing the real thing.]

[Sans's feet must already be numb, because Papyrus's get cold in slippers at this temperature. It's a couple quiet minutes - in part to avoid waking anyone else up - as Papyrus puts on socks, sturdier shoes, glasses, and a warmer jacket before returning.]

Okay! What have you got to show me? [Go ahead, brother, chat Papyrus's ear off about sciencey things.]

Okay, so I found Ursa Minor--that's this bear constellation--so that means Polaris's gotta be that star right there. [Sans points, though admittedly it is kind of hard to point to one specific star in the sky.] It's the North Star, 'cause it's always north. Uh, if you're in the northern hemisphere, anyway.

[It's not really important to their situation--trapped here in human bodies and shoved into fake lives. It's silly. But even so, there's that little spark to Sans's tone he doesn't get very often anymore.]

[Looking up with the glasses, instead of some faint blobs he sees a lot of outright dots of light. They're maybe not as colorful as the glowing crystals, nor as large... but more numerous, and more importantly, they're inspiring rare spark of enthusiasm and energy in Sans. One to be encouraged, when it isn't about annoying Papyrus! But any annoyance tonight, between texts and reminders of the need to sleep, was pretty clearly incidental, so he can give it a pass and focus on staring up.]

The small north bear star... It doesn't bear much resemblance to the name. [Nyeh heh heh. Remind him how constellations work?]

[Heh.] Yeah, it's also this other constellation, the little dipper? Like a ladle. That one works better. See, those four are the ladle and then those three are the handle, with Polaris at the top. [Sans is attempting to point again.] The bear's kinda... Abstract. Bearly there.

Heheh. [It's too late at night for some proper NYEH HEH HEH-ing, but quieter chuckles sneak out anyway. Thankfully the stars Sans is trying to point at are fairly bright, easier to see.]

Yeah, I see a ladle. If I imagine lines, between the brighter stars...

[It doesn't look like any kind of bear he's ever seen, but ladle, sure. Just like the ones for serving soup, or doling out sauce. He hums, thinking back to the other point. Why did they call it a bear...?]

Oh. Wait. Maybe the naming is the other way around. Polaris... bear... polar bear? [There's some polar bear monsters in the underground, surely. And, failing that, plenty of commercials of soda-loving ursines among the trash that trickled underground. Maybe they dole out soda with ladles, in some of the commercials that monsters never saw.]

If it ain't a polar bear already, it is now. [They can decide things like that, probably.] The handle's supposed to be the tail, and then the spoon bit's the body, if you're lookin' for the bear. Let's see... Ursa Major's over there, and you can tell Orion by the belt... [Okay Sans is getting a little caught up in just being able to see constellations for real, sorry.]

[Unless the astronomy police roll into town and make them stop crafting their own lore, they can definitely decide things like that. Papyrus might start making up his own constellations just for fun. But for now...]

What, two bears? [He almost regrets the question, interrupting Sans on a roll as it is. But he follows Sans's finger and sees the second ladle quickly enough.] Oh! There it is.

Yeah, they're buddies. [This is the superior constellation lore.] If you can find the bears, you can find Polaris, and then you can tell which way north is. It's like a navigation thing. [Sans is only incidentally interested in that part.] And Polaris looks like one star from here, but it's a triple star system, so there's three of 'em all orbiting around each other. They're like 300 or 400 light years away.

[SPACE FACTS.]

Three hundred light years... [He remembers this term, from previous Sans enthusing about space times. Mainly he remembers because the scales involved were mind-blowing if he let himself think about it all for long.] The sun... is a star. But its light reaches the planet in... less than an hour?

Eight minutes, twenty seconds. Light's real fast, but with space, everything's just--big. [The kind of big Sans likes. Sans has read about space making people feel small, but for Sans, it's reassuring. There's an infinity of other things going on outside his own head.]

[Less than a tenth of an hour, so multiply all the distances he was thinking about by six... And he's not exactly how sure how far away the sun is, but whatever answer his brother offers will probably be way larger than anything Papyrus has had reason to really imagine. And that's not getting into:

...That's one of the brighter stars. Or. Triplet stars. Are the dimmer stars... further away...?

[Just how far away does space get, Sans. It's a little unsettling, standing on the outside of the world like this, without gravity magic... What if there was an earthquake, and he was knocked into orbit? Would he drift for thousands of years...?]

It's a combination. Farther away, or smaller, or both. The farthest star I've heard of is this blue supergiant fourteen billion light years away. You can't see that one with your eyes, though. Besides the sun, the closest one's like 4 light years away. [Everything is very big in space.]

"Bill"...? Sans. You accidentally said billion,, with a b. [Didn't he hear that the Earth was something like a few billion years old? How could there be "super giant" stars more than ten billion light years away? How... how big is space. He doesn't even look at Sans for the answer, just stares up at the seemingly dark spaces between the stars he can see. How many stars are too far, too tiny to see?]

Are there stars, we can't even see... because the light hasn't reached us yet...?

I said billion 'cause I meant billion. And that's just the farthest one humans have seen. There's all sorts of stars y'can't see 'cause the light isn't here yet. And 'cause the light we see's so old, some of those stars up there are already gone. [Like the soul of a boss monster, hanging around for just that little bit longer even with the body gone.]

Some of them...? Oh, wow. [That part gets a little more sincere wonder, even if the existential dread of it all is still underlying. The scale of things isn't exactly heartening for Papyrus, not the way it is for Sans. But that piece draws his attention somehow.

Like photos and books that people still see and read after the creators - or subjects - have fallen. History underground isn't the most popular subject, since it invariably dwells upon their captivity and loss... but it's the most popular with the elderly, those who are realizing that all they know is about to be forgotten, if people don't stop and listen. He's stopped and listened to Elder Puzzler more than a few times, and taken to the more classical schools of puzzle-building in part because of a solidarity of that fear.]

Is there any way to tell which ones are... already gone?

Nah, they're too far away. Even if the sun disappeared all of the sudden, we wouldn't know for eight minutes. Not that it's goin' anywhere any time soon. [In general. Sans can't say when a reset will happen and take it away from them specifically, but it's not as if they'll even remember having seen the sun, so it's fine.]

Uhhhhhhh. [Look at that, the existential dread is returning, and now it's bringing a friend. Papyrus's eyes drift down to the tree line, which seems reassuringly unlikely to wander away or burn out while he watches.] How long. Is the sun. Supposed to live.

[Is live even the right word for the sun? If it was secretly a very large and distant monster, it's not like humans could have done anything to stick it in a mountain.]

Like seven or eight billion years. Plenty of time left. [Especially if it keeps looping, but Sans isn't going to think about that right now.]

I see... That's billion with a b again. Okay! [As long as it's a length of time that's challenging to even conceive of, Papyrus can be pretty sure that everybody he's ever known, besides maybe Toriel, will be fine.]

It's space, the numbers are big too. [But the last thing anyone has to worry about right now is the sun dying.] 'S reliable like that.

[Time and distance scales that stretch so far beyond comprehension that the idea of one human with a lot of Determination even seems small by comparison. When Sans reaches for the barest grasp of the scale involved, the idea that the human could impact things on that scale is silly. He can't do anything about them, but they can't possibly do anything on the scale of the universe.]

Then why... is it such a small word? [There's other things on his mind, but this is the easiest to talk about while avoiding the more serious things.] 'Space.' Only five letters... It should be big to match. And capitalized all the time.

[You know, as if Papyrus was the one enthusing about space. As is, he tucks gloved hands into his pockets and continues looking up, feeling smaller than he's ever felt - even as a baby bones. Would it feel easier, if he was still a skeleton, aware of where his friends were at, on a surface with the technology he expected? Or would the enormity of space be just as disorienting?]

'Cause "the observable universe" is too long to say all the time. [Laziness! It's important.] And 'cause it's mostly just space. Empty with stuff scattered around here and there.

Super big emptiness... [If he spends long enough at it, maybe he'll think of P, A, and C words to substitute for big, and make a whole S.P.A.C.E. acronym.

But he's distracted entirely by a brief streak of white that flares and fades in hardly a blink.] What was that!?

[Sans lights up. This is a very rare Sans expression. Collect 'em all.] A meteor. Some people call 'em shooting stars. You saw it first, you get to make a wish.

[That is not scientific, but it reminds Sans of Waterfall when he was little, and so it's important in that way.]

A wish? [That does seem like the Waterfall room. See stars, make wishes. And they're not even crowded by creepy echo flowers. But.] Do I have to say it out loud...?

Is it somethin' embarrassing? [Of course Sans has to tease.] But nah, you don't have to.

[Papyrus grumbles wordlessly, which is probably twice the affirmative either of them need.]

A wish... [There's a lot of things to wish for. Seeing missing friends again. Seeing them, back underground, instead of seeing human faces with familiar voices. Everyone being above ground, happy and safe, without any hostile decor enforcers... More surprise nights like this one...

Well, there's a lot of options. He picks something or another, and even the narration will respect his privacy on that.]

[At some point when Papyrus isn't looking, Sans sneaks the following under his tree at Papyrus's house:

One white-and-silver-foil-wrapped present from Santa, with the tag rewritten to be for Papyrus, which contains racecar bed... slippers.

One Christmas gift bag with some red and green tissue paper stuck haphazardly on top, from Sans, which contains this toy robot.]

Edited (html!!!) 2020-12-15 23:52 (UTC)

[When Sans wakes up feeling magic humming through his soul again, he knows there's only one thing to do: wait for Papyrus to be alone in his backyard. Sans is very patient; he stands by the fence, waiting, until he's sure it's only Papyrus anywhere nearby and, just as importantly, that Papyrus is turned away from the fence. Then he hops up onto the stepladder he has dragged over to said fence for specifically this occasion and pulls Papyrus over to the fence and then up with blue magic, just out of reach of being able to touch the ground.]

Morning, bro. [It may or may not actually be morning.]

[It's not Christmas anymore, and the Christmas village itself disappeared, which would seem to imply that the time for decorations is passing too. Papyrus is leaving up the various lights, especially the string lights around the rooftop - they're cheering, reminiscent of the decor in Snowdin, and might be helpful if more antlered carnivores or dripping zombies show up. But he's cleaning up the other yard decorations, gathering wooden reindeer and Santa sleigh and so forth into a box to exile to the garage, or perhaps the attic.

He's focused on the task, working hard to avoid thoughts of why he wants to reduce the Christmas reminders, so there's a lot of things he isn't expecting at the moment. Among the highest would be a sudden return of magic. When there's a yank in his sternum and gravity shifts to pull him into the air, he yelps and flails as gracelessly as if he'd never experienced it before. By the time he recovers and Sans sets him to hovering just out of reach of the ground, his face is bright red.]

Sans. A-Are you... [He sputters, torn between indignation at the prank, his reaction, and the surprise of it all.] Your magic's working??? [Clearly, Papyrus's isn't, as he keeps trying to tug back control and get his feet on the ground.]

[Sans tests the drain of his magic as he lifts Papyrus just a little bit higher in the air, grinning widely, chin in his hand as he leans on the top of the fence.] Just this. Figured I'd lift your spirits. [Holding Papyrus in the air is definitely draining his reserves more than he might expect, though with Papyrus just flailing around it's not too bad. He could use it in a fight, still, if he had to. Well, more pointedly, he could use it to get away from a fight. The drain wasn't as bad as when he was testing it on smaller things... Well, he's never lifted a human before. They've got a lot more mass, so...

Anyway Sans is just kind of wiggling Papyrus around experimentally in the air as he considers these things. Sorry Papyrus.]

[All of that extra human mass is asserting itself in Papyrus's awareness right now. He never had a conversation with Undyne about vomit basketball hoop puzzles, (unfortunately...?), but if he had, he'd be thinking of that conversation now. Nausea's still a relatively unfamiliar experience, and he crosses his arms to hide that he's holding himself for comfort.]

Consider them lifted! [Another attempt to flip Sans over the fence fails, and Papyrus heaves a sigh.] I'd return the favor, but, somehow, it isn't working... what did you do??? How'd you get it back??

[Sans puts Papyrus back down, finally. He probably shouldn't waste all his energy on pranking his brother right now when he might want to prank his brother again later in the day.] Just woke up with it. Didn't do anything in particular. [Hardly did anything, as a general rule.] I kinda figured we were just gonna be stuck like this, but maybe it wears off?

[It being whatever magic is in place that deprived them of their own magic and stuck them in human bodies in the first place.]

[Papyrus stamps his feet as he settles down, not in a tantrum way, but to test that gravity's reasserting itself - that the blue magic's released. The reassuring solidity of the stomps is familiar, the ripple from all the fleshy stuff isn't. Clearly the same blue magic, even if it's out of his reach.]

Wears off... I hope so. Going without magic, when things happen...! It's so inconvenient. [Being dropped over the lake wouldn't have been a problem, if he could have tugged himself to safety. At the least, he probably wouldn't have been caught by that light Agatha, Erwin, and a few others did. Thank goodness that wore off, too. Hopefully the guess that all the very normal humans in town were once like them is wrong...]

Hmmm... You have some magic back, and you were fine all month. And I... [Well, he doesn't need to go into that.

Instead, he frowns and puzzles. Blue magic on himself, failing. Blue magic on Sans, failing. Bones... Suddenly, bones. Three of them materialize before he realizes it's working.] Oh my god!! Sans, look!

Edited (the post comment button is not the preview button, fun fact) 2021-01-08 23:59 (UTC)

[Sans was about to make a joke about how he doesn't know if spending all that time in a freezing lake counts as fine when Papyrus manages his own magic.] Hey, look at that. Between the two of us we've almost got a whole pattern down. [You know, except for the light blue bones. But not all of their patterns use those. Just the one Sans finds funniest, where Papyrus pulls the surprise blue magic trick.]

[In fairness, having spent some time dropping into the frozen lake, Papyrus would admit it's not fine. But as he's blissfully distracted by talking on and on until this unexpected success, Papyrus grins brightly and outright grabs the bones out of midair. They remain solid and real in his hands, and go back to floating when he directs them out again.]

This is a whole pattern! An introductory pattern. [Maybe that's why only three came when he pulled on the energy, thinking of just the basics. Hopefully that's not all he has... but he can spin this, before making another attempt.] Just the sort for teaching someone to dodge.

I already know how to dodge. [Don't throw any bones his way, he might fall off the ladder. But probably not. Sans hasn't done an introductory pattern since he was helping Papyrus learn magic, and Papyrus caught on real quick.] You gonna start surprising the neighbors with training?

Oh. Hmm... [Papyrus eyes the nearby fence, then scans around the adjacent houses, with the windows on second floors facing this way.] I guess that'd be pretty surprising... Maybe somewhere else.

[But before he does the safe, careful, and responsible thing of dismissing the bones or putting them out of sight, he tries again to summon more. With talking to Sans, the pattern of white and blue alternating is foremost in his mind: and it works, to a point. White, blue, white, blue, whit... Another five bones pop into existence one at a time, but then nothing more. He frowns intensely, a little sweat accumulating as he strains to will more into existence, but it doesn't work. The others continue revolving around the brothers in a wide arc without blinking out, at least.]

[Sans watches the bones arc around. Papyrus seems to be struggling, and Sans remembers the way his own blue magic had drained him.] Yeah, I'm pretty sure the stuff we got back ain't exactly up to standard.

[Papyrus's posture slouches ever so slightly with that, but he gathers the bones back in towards him, letting them wink out and back into existence.]

Eight bones, that's loads more than zero... an undeniable improvement! Maybe it's just because I'm out of practice. [Easy enough to test with these some more, and put more strain into it again later. Like exercise. But he notices that pronoun, and looks sidelong at his brother.] Yours too?

It's takin' more out of me 'n usual. [Sans shrugs.] Might just have to adjust to the whole mass change thing, dunno. [But with Papyrus also having some issues, Sans thinks it might just be the magic in general.]

Hmmm. [He spreads his hands, considering the skin stretched over them, the wrinkles and occasional hairs that break it up.] Maybe... it's hard for magic to get through skin. There were barely any human mages ever, right?

[From the little anecdotes Toriel's dropped, and the human he encountered, and the various books and other human media he's consumed over the years... it didn't seem like there were very many. It seemed like they barely even thought magic existed. And no wonder, if they couldn't do it at all.]

Yeah, and usually when they had magic it wasn't that strong. [Of course, there were exceptions, but everyone in the Underground knows about that giant, barrier-shaped exception.] Maybe it's just a training thing.

[Sans isn't sure about that, but he thinks it would give Papyrus something to do.]

[Papyrus nods, also thinking of that big exception.] I guess strong souls, substitute for magic, if you know what you're doing...

[A thought trickles from there. If monsters, magical but weak-souled, couldn't take down the barrier... And humans unusually strong in magic, with those strong souls, were the ones to make it... How powerful was whoever or whatever that plucked the two skeletons out from within the barrier to stick into human bodies...? And, how deep does the transformation go? Are their souls, now also...?

He carefully disengages from the whole train of thought with a shake of his head.]

Well, if that's it, then I'll be back to normal in- soon! [He can't exactly say in no time, with his ongoing issues with - ugh - needing to sleep.] All my past training, and training anew to get up to snuff, and before you know it.

Great, then I won't do anything and we'll compare results later. [It's a scientific experiment!]

You always volunteer to be the control. [It's a sincere complaint about laziness, but not one of wanting the job instead. Playing games of scientific experimentation as kids is much the same as any other game, with lingering grudges about who did what too much.]

'Cause there's no way I'll train and there's no way you won't. [Swapping is impossible.]

[Papyrus grumbles rather than deign to admit Sans is entirely correct. Instead he ponders the last couple minutes, then very gracefully changes the subject.]

Hey, are we keeping this secret from everyone??? It might be hard, to hide practicing from Kiara... or anyone else in the house.

[He glances back at the building, as his memories of the last few days have a few confusing bits. Encountering other people in the house, but like they're not always there, starting from the morning of January 1st, 1961. But he doesn't want to give Sans reason to worry that maybe his brother's mind is slipping, so he covers his grimace with a different reason:]

And, I may have accidentally admitted to magic... existing. To Lorna. Before.

To Lorna? [Sans's voice keeps its even tone, but he looks a bit concerned. The vagueness of "anyone else in the house" is left unexamined in favor of the more concrete concern.] Back when we both first woke up in the house, she told me she used to be able to do somethin'. Manipulating metal, she said. 'Course, I didn't say I could do anything.

[Sans doesn't yet realize just how caught out in that lie Papyrus may have accidentally gotten him.]

What'd you say?

Well... The first time, that a door brought me to the Christmas village. I thought it was you, with magic. [You know, that classic household spacetime prank of putting your brother in random places.] I'm sure I said the word magic... But I did my best to say, it was a joke!

[He's partly being evasive out of not wanting to admit a wrongdoing, but mostly out of trying to recall. It's hard to remember the specifics of the conversation, having happened something like a month ago.]

[Honestly, Sans kind of brought that on himself with all the pranks he's done over the years. He can't blame Papyrus for wondering, and Papyrus often does his wondering out loud, emphasis on loud.] Well, I'll just deal with that if it comes up. [Procrastination!] I guess there's more people around here with magic and stuff than I expected, anyway.

[Also everyone might be from different worlds entirely?]

[It's rare, but times like this, Papyrus is perfectly happy to let Sans take the job of dealing with it and put the job itself on hold. Especially when there's a perfectly good change in subject in front of them.]

Yeah, there are. Magic, and "witchcraft," and angels and things... Even a few superheroes. [It's all almost enough to make him think, maybe Undyne and Alphys's animes were on to something real after all. But thinking about either of them, after basically losing touch with either with the change in leadership, isn't a happy thing. Right now he'd rather focus on the question:] So, if other people find out about magic, it's hardly a problem at all.

[Sans still wants to play his cards close to the chest. But he knows he always wants to do that, and he knows Papyrus isn't as good at it, at least as far as directly lying goes. He's seen some of the discussions Papyrus has had on the network.] You wanna start talkin' about it?

[That's basically what Papyrus is saying there, but he might as well ask outright.]

[Outright lying was so much easier as a skeleton. Most people took his smile at face value, after all. It was mostly just when he stammered, or they already knew part of the truth, that they caught him out in lying. Here... He nods, wary.]

We're all in the same boat. Neighboring boats. Similar boats. [They can't all be cool ex-skeletons, but they're all kidnapped and human and without magic, until now.] I'm sure we can help each other better, if we use all the tools we've got. Like magic.

If you wanna talk about your magic, I'm not gonna stop you. [Emphasis your, except Sans isn't going to directly say 'don't tell people about mine'. Still, he would prefer it. Even if it's not a big deal, people might get expectations.] But the skeleton thing should probably still wait. [There's a guy who works as a monster hunter running around.]

Oh my god, I don't want to tell everyone about skeletons. Maybe other monsters... [He has used the word 'monster' with at least two other not-quite-humans already.] Magic's easy. If they ask about yours, I'll just tell them, you're too lazy to practice!

[That isn't quite true in multiple ways, but he trusts himself to be able to rant and complain about Sans's inactive lifestyle at the drop of a hat. Really, the honesty would sell the whole thing.]

Yeah, that sounds about right. [Not quite true but basically true. Spiritually, or something.] Have you met other monsters, or just other people who aren't human?

[Nobody from the same place as them, right?]

Well, just other people who aren't human-human. [He heaves a disgruntled sigh.] After all that time I put into making posters... nobody even recognized Mettaton.

[What truer test for monsterhood could there be, really.]

Maybe they only want skeletons. [That probably has nothing to do with it. Actually, if everyone is from different worlds, it's a miracle--or something--that both of them are here at the same time, unless there really is a criteria for this sort of kidnapping.]

That makes sense to me! Who wouldn't? [Not to be incredibly biased, but he is pretty confident that skeleton monsters are the best monsters. He laughs briefly, but sobers as he admits:] Even if it's personally inconvenient, for us, being here.

Yeah, I'm still not feeling all this skin. [Except in the literal sense, which he also dislikes, given how sensitive it is to temperature.] But the stars are pretty cool.

[Sans does like those, even if it would be better if Toriel could see them, too.]

It's still one of the upsides. Even if the snow blocks it sometimes...

[He vaguely knew of that aspect of weather, the way dramatically rainy scenes had the skies fill up with clouds so complete they could have been softer rocks. But it's another thing to experience the changing weather and sky visibility.]

Well, I'm pretty sure it doesn't snow all the time on the surface. The season'll change eventually. [Actually, the whole snow thing happened pretty quickly. Sans isn't sure if that's normal or not. But there hadn't been any snow in October. Of course, that does require remaining here and time going forward long enough to get to another season.]

That's true. There wasn't any snow in October, I think!

[He remembers clearly that the air was warmer then, only "crisp" rather than outright cold. And other fragments of visuals... The grass had been mostly uncannily green, and some of the trees had been like the one in the Ruins - empty branches, surrounded by colorful leaves.]

Yeah, pretty sure it was fall then. [Sans knows the seasons only in an academic sense, though he draws the same connection to the Ruins when he thinks about it.] Which makes sense, 'cause that's when we dropped in.

[Heh.]

[Papyrus snickers at it, a quick nyeh heh that gets out before he can help it. But this one, at least, he doesn't feel the need to pointedly not laugh at. Positive reinforcement for non-skeleton puns.

He then pulls his attention back from the question of their arriving here, with its general anxious fog of figuring out all the how-to-human things, and focuses on the bones at hand. Literally, the bone he summons and balances on a fingertip. It feels different than bone on bone attack, but that's his magic, familiar as anything else from childhood.] ...Wow. I really missed this.

[Sans's grin definitely widens at that positive joke reinforcement. Making people laugh is fun, even if making them roll their eyes is fun too.]

Yeah, now if any more weird creatures show up I can put 'em on a roof or something. [That is probably not the best way to deal with them.]

[Papyrus nods along until halfway through the sentence, then recoils, baffled and annoyed. That's a terrible way to deal with them?!]

And give them the high ground? The benefits of a new gravity attack??? [You know, when they inevitably jump off the roof at their prey.] Oh my god, Sans, no.

[Is it time to go grab those toys and go over some theoretical battle scenarios? Because it seems like time for some very serious tactics discussions. With the aid of toys.]

Well I'm not gonna put 'em up there if I think they can just jump down. Maybe I'd go for a swimming pool or somethin' then. Or out in front of a car.

[Actually that last one sounds like it would be gross and messy and in general something Papyrus might disapprove of depending on specific circumstances. But it would probably let him get away.]

Not in front of my car, thank you! [It's not much of an improvement to trade Sans getting hurt for Papyrus getting hurt, after all. But also, please don't throw zombies or murder reindeer at his car.

The narration wasn't joking, either - Papyrus is outright heading into the house to grab some toys and other placeholder models. He calls out, as he heads in:] Maybe the HOA will let us install some spike traps! As modern art.

[Nooo, Sans doesn't want tactics discussion time. What if he just slides down off the stepladder back onto his side of the fence?]

Maybe they've got paperwork somewhere for it you can fill out.

[Sans better make that retreat fast, because Papyrus means business in retrieving these toys. He grabs some paper and a (time appropriate) pen while he's at it, to better write down some reminders for Sans to take home and post up himself... since sticky-notes aren't a thing yet.]

[Yeah, Sans is just... Going to... Go.

Bye, bro.]

[Sans is almost never awake this early, but he figures that's exactly the time he should head off to dig up old newspapers and magazines, because nobody would be looking for him anywhere. While there's plenty of weird holes in the selection, Sans has managed to piece together enough pictures of Halloween costumes to get an idea of what kind of costumes were worn when.

But, almost buried behind piles of old papers, he isn't really aware of who else might be in the library right now.]

[Papyrus is no longer as consistently awake at this time as he'd like to be, and it's an ongoing trial for him. Why is it that humans, so notoriously sturdy and strong-souled, would need so much sleep? There's nothing about water that makes people sleepy, so being mostly made of water shouldn't change anything... yet it does. Thankfully, there's caffeine. He's managing to wake up early like this thanks largely to the teamwork of alarm clock and coffee, with generous portions of the latter. One cup's even along for the ride, though its contents were gone before he even grabbed a book, and now it's sitting on the chair next to him cooling.

Unfortunately, he's still yawning as he starts to read - huge yawns that blind him at random. Once he loses his place for the third time in a page, it's clear:] This is a situation... for more coffee.

[He pushes himself to his feet, rubs at his eyes, and retrieves the mug. The diner's not too far away, after all. And he goes to put the book back in the return slot, to reclaim when he's a little more awake... when he notices a familiar face. He pauses, blinks and squints. Maybe it's someone else, but that'd be an uncanny coincidence.]

...Huh? Sans?

[Sans has to resist the wild impulse to sweep his arm across the table, send all the papers scattering to the floor, and escape. During that instant of thought, he stares owlishly at Papyrus like he got caught at something. Then his expression smooths out again, because the thing to do here is act like he's not doing anything.]

What's up? [He has put on his best casual tone. If he acts like it's completely normal for him to be up early and at the library, then it becomes true, maybe.]

You, somehow. Mysteriously... [Papyrus keeps squinting at his brother, but the focus is on his face, rather than the papers all over the table. One step at a time. He has priorities, here.]

How do you... keep being awake, when I'm not. What's your secret? [It seems like ever since they woke up as humans, Sans has had a renewed well of energy and drive, while Papyrus is weighed down and exhausted constantly. It's backwards and agitating, and the more he pushes himself to do better, the worse does. But surely embracing the laziness isn't the answer, is it?]

[Really, Sans would rather be in bed. Going back to bed is on the list of potential things to do after this, which he could make a joke about, but then it would lead to the question of what Sans specifically woke up for just to go back to sleep after.]

I take naps. Got a real good one in yesterday at work. [He shouldn't be doing that, but of course he is.] You're still up more'n me, if you line up all the hours.

Oh, so that's how. Sleeping on the job, as always... [Of course he is. Papyrus rolls his eyes, then glances around the rest of the situation here. These don't look like anything space-related, so it's not just enthusiasm that has his brother awake and out so early... His coffee can wait just a little longer, while he fishes.] Is that what all these papers are for? Makeshift pillows?

[They're mostly newspapers, but some magazines, too. They all have a focus on Halloween in some way.] Yup. Libraries are great for naps. Quiet, and sometimes you can find one where the lights go out if you don't move.

I see... I'll take that expert advice into consideration. [You know, if he ever has a midday desperate yearning for a nap, and can't go to his house for some reason.

But more seriously, Halloween? Why is Sans looking at this? Is he studying up on how the holiday normally goes...?] Hey, all this Halloween stuff... have you seen, were the zombies normal? Does that happen every year?

That wasn't normal, I'm pretty sure. [That wasn't specifically what he was looking into, but it is a safe conclusion based on all this Halloween evidence anyway.] And all those kids and that principal are still officially missing, anyway. [Even though that was before time repeated. But the way things work here is obviously not quite the same as at home, even if there are plenty of similarities.] So I guess it could happen again next October.

[He starts nodding slowly as he listens, taking what glimmers of insight Sans has to share, when the middle bit catches his attention.] Wait. What? They're still missing?? But, they went missing in 1961...?

[You know, the year that it supposedly is now? What gives, Sans.]

[Sans shrugs.] Yeah, but that's how it is. Ain't like I know the rules of this place. [Still, all the stuff Sans is surrounded by is more Halloween costume research rather than research on missing persons.]

Yes, I'm sure you're not the mastermind behind this. [Not to say that Sans couldn't be a mastermind, if he put his mind to it! But this town is just not Sans-inspired in the slightest.

Regardless, Papyrus is finding he's just not awake enough for wheedling the details slowly out of his brother. Best to get to the point.] And you're looking at costumes... instead of sleeping... because why?

Would you believe I'm plannin' my costume early? [Sans is entirely sure Papyrus won't believe that, which is why he's wording it the way he did. He's more testing to see how much Papyrus is going to nudge at him for information. Sharing info on the photograph isn't really a big deal, is it? He was going to give the info to some other people to deal with anyway...]

You, working early. [It scarcely needs to be said, Papyrus is skeptical of this and makes no attempt to hide it.] Then again... I guess it's not really work. Not job work. Or a chore.

[More like loitering in the woods reading car magazines, as a thing to look forward to happening someday in the future, now that cars are a part of their life already.]

[This sounds to Sans basically like permission to keep dodging the subject, even if he knows it's really not.] They've got skeleton costumes. What d'you think? [Sans holds up a magazine showing this thing, horrifying mask and all.]

[No, it's not, but Papyrus isn't sure if he wants answers on the subject, especially if things like this are what he has to look forward to.]

Oh my god?? [He outright recoils from the magazine for a second or two, hand to his chest as affronted as any leading lady on the television.] That's... That's supposed to be a skull? Have they ever seen a skeleton??

Well, real skulls aren't that scary. [At least not to Sans, who is admittedly incredibly biased.] Maybe they're goin' for a scary costume.

Edited 2021-02-09 20:56 (UTC)

If they want scary skulls, they could go for blasters, or something. [Those are at least scarier than your average person's skull, in his opinion. They're both biased on real skulls.]

They probably haven't seen those. [But having the only two people Sans knows who can use blasters right here makes him wonder if whoever kidnapped them, at least, might have some idea. But the kidnappers probably aren't responsible for costume design.] Guess I'll just have to go as this next October instead.

[Okay, now Sans kind of is planning his Halloween costume. And it's a horrific skeleton thing. Whoops.]

[He nods along to the first point, because fair enough. They weren't a common thing in the first place, and with how magic barely works here, it's almost completely unlikely anyone else here has ever seen one. But.]

Sans. [Why? No.] I could paper maché a better skull in my sleep.

Sure, but that's not the point. The point is this. [He holds up the magazine displaying the mask, specifically, over his face.]

The point of, you wanting... a disguise...? [He drops his voice a little on the last words. There's no way Sans came here to plan a costume for gathering candy, considering the effort involved. But if there's a more mysterious or nefarious purpose behind the costume, that almost might make sense.]

[And here Sans had hoped he'd misdirected the conversation enough they could just keep going on tangents the whole time.] Nah, just--thought something was weird and wanted to check it out, that's all. [Something besides the skeleton costume.]

...Weirder than everything else? [Consider the tangenting belayed, because, Sans. They're suddenly humans, in a weird surface town in the past of maybe an alternate Earth, and time recently reset to the beginning of a year they (probably) hadn't been around for. Whatever's weird enough to stand out from that backdrop has Papyrus's interest.]

I didn't say that. [Being suddenly humans is still weirder. But other things can be weird, even if by comparison they're not quite so much.] I just saw this real old picture of a couple kids in some Halloween costumes, so I went to look up how old the costumes are, and they're modern for this place. That picture looked older than the costumes.

[So it's linked to the 1961 weirdness, specifically.]

An old photo, of "modern" costumes... Maybe they were ahead of their time. [He's already considered putting together some cutting edge tailoring, to be more at-home in his home away from home here. But that's the kind of project he'd get up to when he had the middle of the night available, and as it is, he has to cover a yawn. And he freezes, mid-yawn, connecting the dots that Sans is probably caught on.] Or maybe, it's been 1961... for a long time.

Yeah. [That's what Sans was thinking.] It felt like the photo was gonna fall apart when I was holding it, so I'm guessin' it's not just some real fashion-forward kids.

Oh. [He wouldn't call the cold sweat breaking out across his skin refreshing, by any means, but it's sure waking him up. Or maybe that's the spike of fear and alarm that's causing the sweat.

Time looping, until they figure out what's supposed to happen, and help it to go right, huh? That... that conclusion comes to his mind awfully quickly. Like a thought he's thought before. But he doesn't even have any guesses who might be doing the looping, aside from that Wrath guy's theory about Santa.]

I guess, even a town as great as this, has its downsides. Nyeh heh heh... heh.

hey
text me back when you see this
or call me or whatever

[Listen. It's time for bedtime stories, and just because Papyrus is missing doesn't mean Sans is going to miss it. Of course, he can't have a proper conversation with Papyrus right now, but what he can do is record himself reading Fluffy Bunny--or reciting it from memory, rather. He's read it enough that it's not difficult.]

G'night, Papyrus.

[See you in the morning, maybe? But probably not.]

[For tonight's bedtime story, it's another fluffy bunny tale! Not the original, and not one Sans knows quite by heart, so if Papyrus does ever get to listen to this there are a few paraphrased sections. Sans can imagine Papyrus protesting at how Sans breezes over the details he forgot--no style at all, not how anyone should be telling a story!]

Night, Papyrus.

[Please don't be dead.]

[Sans is making up a story tonight! Not something he's done much since Papyrus was a kid, but not completely unheard of. This story is about a very brave and cool and handsome skeleton knight who saves a kingdom from an invading army by first beating the leader of the human army in a test of wit and skill and then convincing everyone to be friends. Kind of skimpy on the details except for the emphasis on how super cool the protagonist is. They're a very cool protagonist. The coolest.]

Goodnight, Papyrus.

[What if he's dead right now? He could be. Sans has no proof either way. But considering the creatures this place sicced on them in December, kidnapping people to kill them seems like it would be unnecessary. But Sans can't be sure.

Please don't be dead. Please.]

[Sans knows Papyrus can't receive these. Sans has Papyrus's watch, along with Sayori's, and he's been hanging onto them for safekeeping. But how else is he going to do this bedtime routine?

So, tonight's story is Sans doing a not-so-great job of trying to recite things from Advanced Puzzle Construction for Critical Minds. Gotta say, not Sans's idea of great bedtime reading. He's never been that into puzzles beyond the delight he gets from Papyrus's excitement over them, and it shows in how he has to skip around and hesitate, with lots of "um"s and "uhh"s and paraphrasing and jokes about how you just "you know, hook up the wires to the other wires and don't get electrocuted". Papyrus would be so mad about this rendition. He really wants to hear Papyrus get mad about it later. Maybe he'll get to hear this later.]

G'night, bro.

[Sans doesn't know what to do. Sans doesn't know if there's anything to do.]

[Apparently there's some holiday happening today? Sans probably heard about it before the kidnappings, but it's the last thing on his mind afterward, and he doesn't notice again until all of the town weirdos are talking about it. Still, he's left a box of candy in Papyrus's room for if he theoretically comes back, because that is how this holiday works, he guesses. Frankly, he's still very vague on the specifics of what's happening.

It's more important that it's another evening, and that means another story. Sans reads from a book he actually bought here last month: a book on the constellations and their stories. He'll read through some of those, starting with Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.]

Goodnight, Papyrus.

[Sans figures he'll just keep doing this until he knows what happened for sure. If he doesn't ever figure it out, maybe he'll just keep doing it forever? Sure, why not.]

hi uncle papyrus!!! 'u'

[More exclamation points and affectionate nickname means she is More Fine...obviously.]

sooooo my hair is pretty messed up because it turns out half of it got shaved off while we were in that dumb lab u_u;;;
but sans told me youre a hairdresser now!!!
so i was wondering if youd help me fix mine <3

[A brief pause, and then:]

i dont really want to ask one of the salons in town to do it so you seemed like the best person to ask
but you dont have to if youre busy!!

HI SAYORI!!!!

['Niece Sayori' just doesn't flow as well as 'Uncle Papyrus', though maybe he's biased in thinking so... Either way, they're on the same page about the meaning of exclamation points. The more exclamation points, the more sincerity and enthusiasm, of course! How could anyone think otherwise!!]

SANS BROUGHT YOU TO THE RIGHT UNCLE.
NORMALLY I'M VERY BUSY, WORKING AT ONE OF THOSE VERY SAME SALONS.
AND HOUSEWORK, AND COOKING, AND LOTS OF OTHER THINGS.
BUT RIGHT NOW, THE SALON'S MISSING MY COMPANY.
I'M ON A LITTLE, R&R SABATICAL.
SANS HAS GOOD ADVICE, SOMETIMES.
AND HE'S A... GOOD? EXAMPLE? OF HOW TO TAKE IT EASY.

[For reasons that nobody in this conversation needs to dwell on, Papyrus has called out of work for a couple weeks. It's fine! All is well!! Time heals most wounds!!!!!]

BUT! FOR MY FAVORITE NIECE! OF COURSE I'M THE BEST PERSON TO ASK.
I DON'T WANT TO TAKE IT TOO EASY.
OR LET MY SKILLS ATROPHY IN THE COMFORT OF COUCH SURFING.
SO COME ON BY!!!
I'LL UNLOCK THE DOOR.

We're Still Here - IC Inbox

text; midnight; early December

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being human will not stop me from using this icon when I can

Extremely fair use of it tbh

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sad headcanons ahoy

good sad headcanon

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I thought I remembered December being good for meteor showers

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December 25

action; early January

the mandatory 'i am in the air and didn't mean to be' icon

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gonna go ahead and keep it ambiguous to continue

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figure mostly wrap-up to switch focus to library thread?

sounds good

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