[Papyrus cycles from shared-confusion, through realization as the question's topic sinks in, to a startled embarrassment.] That, uh... Yes, that was me! Sorry. I just... I didn't think it would actually work?
[Still, it was overstepping to just chase his curiosity without so much as a please, even if they do keep melting so there's no differences between them. Hardly a good start to a melting! (And maybe it's funny that he overstepped, given the ongoing and escalating situation with their feet. Heh.)
He leans forward a little, partly to get his face just out of halo range, partly to see Sans's leg melting from the outside. It... sure is a thing that's happening. At least the liquidity of it doesn't resemble either of their own deaths. That's something.]
It's okay. Just surprised me, 's all. [Maybe he should be more worried about it--intellectually, like looking over a math problem that isn't working, he can see the issue--but he just can't work up the emotional concern. It's Papyrus, so it's fine.]
This is gonna make going to work kind of complicated. [Maybe they could teleport back and forth?]
Oh my god, we can't both go to work! [It's a dismaying realization, that they'll need to choose one, or wear themselves out teleporting... or both call out. (Maybe not as dramatic as he makes it out to be, since it's a good distraction from thinking about unthinkingly moving Sans's wing.) The followup realization about how he worded that is no less dismaying.] ...Or. I mean. I guess, we both will.
[They'll both just need to... decide what they're going to do, if either. He can't really be involved in repairs at the shop if they're teleporting out every ten minutes to check on the dig, so trying to do both... It'd have to be part-days for each. The idea of Sans slacking off while he's at the autoshop, or of him stuck calling out from the autoshop indefinitely while this nonsense is going on... Neither's great, and there's appeal in just hiding in a bedroom while this settles out. But there's appeal in spending time joking around with people, or making something that makes the world better in some little piece of it. Indecision.]
It'd be pretty hard for just one of us to go. [Though, like there's some tiny, invisible crack, Sans's leg doesn't melt further at least for the moment. Not that he's about to admit it (even entirely to himself), but he likes his job at the dig site. But it should probably be Papyrus's job, if they're picking one, right? That's not even entirely a new thought; even if it's bolstered by the circumstances, Sans would put Papyrus's interests first under normal circumstances too. Just, uh, usually it's not quite so literal a matter of having to choose. Still.] Maka's good about sick time.
[The dig site in general is a more accepting place for the monsters who showed up there than a lot of places. Sans has more wiggle room. And he's better at talking his way out of this sort of thing than Papyrus anyway.]
Maybe too good, but I see your point. [Feels a lot more of the train of thought than he suspects Sans wants him to follow, for that matter. It's not good for them to always put Papyrus first, because even if he usually has more things that he wants strongly, they both have needs. Besides...]
...Auto-shopping, is a little harder to do, with goo hands. I bet. [He hasn't actually tried, yet, but it's harder to do with oil on one's hands, so having one's hands being goo is likely even more difficult.] And you're not usually digging, right...?
Nah, I'm not actually an archeologist. They make you go to school for that and everything. [Sans does a lot of math. It's mostly computer work, actually, which means he gets to sit under the tent and sun his wings and eat snacks. They do let him theorize and poke around the ruins, but nothing that might lead to him accidentally breaking any old buildings.
From this particular, up close and personal angle, it's very obvious how unnaturally the symbols sit in Sans's mind. They take up more importance in his thoughts than they should, even when he's only thinking about them incidentally as he thinks about the things he does at the dig site.]
Not all our arms are goo, y'know. [Sans has lost one but he's still got seven. Not as strong as Papyrus, but maybe if Papyrus uses them that'll be different...? He's not actually sure how that would apply. It's an extension of magic, so would it be an extension of Papyrus's magic in that case? Well, it's increasingly the same magic, so...]
Edited (lost track of how many arms sans has because it's an unreasonable amount) 2022-04-19 05:13 (UTC)
spider-sans, spider-sans, does some things that spiders do? no webs yet tho
Not yet, anyway... [It's hard to maintain any optimism that they're not going to completely melt into each other, after all. To some degree, he's almost hoping it'll happen and get over with already, instead of leaving them in this suspense about it. And so the idea of using Sans's ghost arms is appealing, if only because magic limbs seem unlikely to melt the way their bodies are.
But he's actively lowering the priority of this thought process and conversation, to focus more of his attention on the sudden distortion in Sans's thought process. It's not exactly jealousy, but he's uncomfortably aware of how important the symbols are, like they're taking Sans's attention away from where it should be. (Maybe it's a little bit jealousy? The symbols aren't that cool, and they don't remind anyone to eat healthy, that he knows of.)]
Hey, we've got plenty. The ones that're magic'll last. [Which is wildly optimistic for Sans, but when he hears Papyrus sounding so pessimistic he manages to pull it from somewhere. (From Papyrus?)
The symbols are definitely important to Sans. He's rationalized it as being something that must be connected to how they got here and will help with understanding it. They arrived in the ruins, and the ruins are covered in symbols, so it makes sense, right? But they're important on their own, honestly. Sans's mind came up with the reasoning just to explain to himself why he was so interested.]
[On some level, Papyrus muses that it's amazing the symbols aren't all circles, given the circular logic that he snags on the more he leans his attention towards those thoughts. It's no surprise when a few logic errors flag at him, but he waves them off impatiently and does his best to focus on Papyrusy things instead of sharing in a weird obsession with symbols.
(Maybe because it's not an unfamiliar obsessing, looking for ciphers or codes or mysteries to be solved in strange symbols. Some of the symbols that show up in the newspaper horoscopes... He knows they mean something. They used to. Hadn't they?)]
Okay, you're not wrong! But!! Can they wear gloves? It's important safety policies, that everyone be wearing gloves. Even magic ghost hands, probably.
[Sans put oven mitts on them once, but he only thinks about that for a split second, because he did that when he was in his leech-induced baking spree. Instead he replaces it with the funnier idea of each of his hands in a different glove, all of them seeming to float around behind him. This one in a boxing glove, that one in a winter glove, the other one in one of those fancy ballgown gloves that go up to your elbows...]
We could try it. They can pick things up, so probably, 's long as we kept enough magic in 'em to keep them kind of solid.
["Kind of solid" is how Sans thinks of their ability to touch and manipulate things while remaining invisible. Meanwhile, his leg has gone back to melting. Considering Papyrus is taller than him, he doesn't think he can reach the floor at this point if they got up.
As far as the idea of the symbols being circular logic goes, Sans disagrees, obviously. It's perfectly reasonable to study the symbols if you're studying the ruins. Sans is starting to hear that whispering again, but it's so common when he thinks too long about the symbols that he can mostly ignore it.]
[Things that don't emulate the leech time are vastly preferable, for all that it drives home that this really isn't that - go figure, that melting is a relief. The possibility of going from gloves to sock puppets comes to mind - they could run an entire puppet show, "single"-handed.]
We definitely can try it! With things we don't mind, uh. Melting around, maybe.
[So ix-nay on ock-puppet-say until they practice. And probably at least a day off work, as they practice various ways of getting around. Maybe a robotic extension for Sans's melting leg, so that they're more of a similar height...?
The whispers grab at his attention all over again. In theory, they'd just blend in with the ambient background signals of radio and phone and solar sounds. In practice, there's something about it that's different, and he's baffled by Sans's practiced near-ignoring.]
Once the melting stops. [Which it will, he's sure! ...For some reason. That's not really like him, is it? But actually it feels a lot better than his usual pessimism, so it's hard to worry about being optimistic. Anyway, if they don't stop melting, how are they going to put on The Best Puppet Show Of All Time (for a certain value of "best")?] We should probably skip work tomorrow no matter where we end up going. [Sans agrees with this "take a day off to figure out how their body is even going to work" idea. Getting a robo-leg sounds kind of fun, but Sans supplies Papyrus with the idea of Papyrus just carrying Sans around like a sack of potatoes forever. Finally, ultimate laziness.
When it comes to the whispering, Sans definitely doesn't like that Papyrus heard it, but it's more of a "hand caught in the cookie jar" kind of reaction, rather than the kind of feelings creepy whispering should probably invoke. This happens when Sans thinks about the symbols, it's not a big deal, nothing to worry about! But he'd been hoping Papyrus wouldn't find out anyway, because even with his symbol obsession, Sans knows the whispering is concerning.
(The whispering is getting louder. The more you think about the symbols, the louder it gets. That's the rule.)]
reread the whole thread to figure out where his phone was last mentioned
And... maybe... skipping, the ruins. For a bit. [The better not to be putting themselves in a place where neither of them wants Papyrus hearing the whispers, but physically can't avoid it while they're there. He shakes his head.] How do you even focus on research, like this??
[It is concerning, especially with how it gets louder the more they think about it, or think about thinking about it, or think about how the other's thinking about it, etc etc etc. But the worst thing about the whispers is how persistent they're proving to be, and how unsurprised Sans is by it. Apparently normal, for all the researchers who spend enough time studying them.
It's not outwardly obvious when parts of Papyrus's (ex-)rib cage begins melting, what with the clothing concealing his torso. But the cabel connecting to his phone is in that section, and the melting port sets off another set of attention-grabbing error notifications. His remaining fingers clutch around it, pulling it away enough not to risk melting directly into his chest. But is it even worth disconnecting, when the melting might already have gotten in it, too...?
We do stuff that's not working on the symbols, too. [There's an impression of Sans at work, looking through equations and calculations. He doesn't know all the specifics of archeology, though he's picking things up, but math is universal as long as you know the terms and variables being used. It's a different kind of place for Sans's mind, different from the symbols or even the usual constant tick of Sans's normal thoughts. With math--with science--everything aligns toward one task. It's work, but it's peaceful. He's always liked making things click together this way.
As far as the louder whispering, well, Sans usually isn't thinking about thinking about it recursively like this. It does get difficult if he sticks to it for too long, but he's just--used to it. Still, they should really stop thinking about it before they get a headache. (A side effect of the whispering he hasn't mentioned to Papyrus before.)
Sans thinks it's probably worth removing the phone, since if it melts into them, then it might connect Papyrus permanently to the internet, and Sans is still of the opinion that being able to disconnect from it is a good idea when your thoughts might get inadvertently broadcasted to the whole canyon otherwise.]
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spaghettimonster) wrote2021-07-31 02:32 am
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[Still, it was overstepping to just chase his curiosity without so much as a please, even if they do keep melting so there's no differences between them. Hardly a good start to a melting! (And maybe it's funny that he overstepped, given the ongoing and escalating situation with their feet. Heh.)
He leans forward a little, partly to get his face just out of halo range, partly to see Sans's leg melting from the outside. It... sure is a thing that's happening. At least the liquidity of it doesn't resemble either of their own deaths. That's something.]
no subject
This is gonna make going to work kind of complicated. [Maybe they could teleport back and forth?]
no subject
[They'll both just need to... decide what they're going to do, if either. He can't really be involved in repairs at the shop if they're teleporting out every ten minutes to check on the dig, so trying to do both... It'd have to be part-days for each. The idea of Sans slacking off while he's at the autoshop, or of him stuck calling out from the autoshop indefinitely while this nonsense is going on... Neither's great, and there's appeal in just hiding in a bedroom while this settles out. But there's appeal in spending time joking around with people, or making something that makes the world better in some little piece of it. Indecision.]
no subject
[The dig site in general is a more accepting place for the monsters who showed up there than a lot of places. Sans has more wiggle room. And he's better at talking his way out of this sort of thing than Papyrus anyway.]
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...Auto-shopping, is a little harder to do, with goo hands. I bet. [He hasn't actually tried, yet, but it's harder to do with oil on one's hands, so having one's hands being goo is likely even more difficult.] And you're not usually digging, right...?
no subject
From this particular, up close and personal angle, it's very obvious how unnaturally the symbols sit in Sans's mind. They take up more importance in his thoughts than they should, even when he's only thinking about them incidentally as he thinks about the things he does at the dig site.]
Not all our arms are goo, y'know. [Sans has lost one but he's still got seven. Not as strong as Papyrus, but maybe if Papyrus uses them that'll be different...? He's not actually sure how that would apply. It's an extension of magic, so would it be an extension of Papyrus's magic in that case? Well, it's increasingly the same magic, so...]
spider-sans, spider-sans, does some things that spiders do? no webs yet tho
But he's actively lowering the priority of this thought process and conversation, to focus more of his attention on the sudden distortion in Sans's thought process. It's not exactly jealousy, but he's uncomfortably aware of how important the symbols are, like they're taking Sans's attention away from where it should be. (Maybe it's a little bit jealousy? The symbols aren't that cool, and they don't remind anyone to eat healthy, that he knows of.)]
no subject
The symbols are definitely important to Sans. He's rationalized it as being something that must be connected to how they got here and will help with understanding it. They arrived in the ruins, and the ruins are covered in symbols, so it makes sense, right? But they're important on their own, honestly. Sans's mind came up with the reasoning just to explain to himself why he was so interested.]
no subject
(Maybe because it's not an unfamiliar obsessing, looking for ciphers or codes or mysteries to be solved in strange symbols. Some of the symbols that show up in the newspaper horoscopes... He knows they mean something. They used to. Hadn't they?)]
Okay, you're not wrong! But!! Can they wear gloves? It's important safety policies, that everyone be wearing gloves. Even magic ghost hands, probably.
no subject
We could try it. They can pick things up, so probably, 's long as we kept enough magic in 'em to keep them kind of solid.
["Kind of solid" is how Sans thinks of their ability to touch and manipulate things while remaining invisible. Meanwhile, his leg has gone back to melting. Considering Papyrus is taller than him, he doesn't think he can reach the floor at this point if they got up.
As far as the idea of the symbols being circular logic goes, Sans disagrees, obviously. It's perfectly reasonable to study the symbols if you're studying the ruins. Sans is starting to hear that whispering again, but it's so common when he thinks too long about the symbols that he can mostly ignore it.]
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We definitely can try it! With things we don't mind, uh. Melting around, maybe.
[So ix-nay on ock-puppet-say until they practice. And probably at least a day off work, as they practice various ways of getting around. Maybe a robotic extension for Sans's melting leg, so that they're more of a similar height...?
The whispers grab at his attention all over again. In theory, they'd just blend in with the ambient background signals of radio and phone and solar sounds. In practice, there's something about it that's different, and he's baffled by Sans's practiced near-ignoring.]
no subject
When it comes to the whispering, Sans definitely doesn't like that Papyrus heard it, but it's more of a "hand caught in the cookie jar" kind of reaction, rather than the kind of feelings creepy whispering should probably invoke. This happens when Sans thinks about the symbols, it's not a big deal, nothing to worry about! But he'd been hoping Papyrus wouldn't find out anyway, because even with his symbol obsession, Sans knows the whispering is concerning.
(The whispering is getting louder. The more you think about the symbols, the louder it gets. That's the rule.)]
reread the whole thread to figure out where his phone was last mentioned
[It is concerning, especially with how it gets louder the more they think about it, or think about thinking about it, or think about how the other's thinking about it, etc etc etc. But the worst thing about the whispers is how persistent they're proving to be, and how unsurprised Sans is by it. Apparently normal, for all the researchers who spend enough time studying them.
It's not outwardly obvious when parts of Papyrus's (ex-)rib cage begins melting, what with the clothing concealing his torso. But the cabel connecting to his phone is in that section, and the melting port sets off another set of attention-grabbing error notifications. His remaining fingers clutch around it, pulling it away enough not to risk melting directly into his chest. But is it even worth disconnecting, when the melting might already have gotten in it, too...?
no subject
As far as the louder whispering, well, Sans usually isn't thinking about thinking about it recursively like this. It does get difficult if he sticks to it for too long, but he's just--used to it. Still, they should really stop thinking about it before they get a headache. (A side effect of the whispering he hasn't mentioned to Papyrus before.)
Sans thinks it's probably worth removing the phone, since if it melts into them, then it might connect Papyrus permanently to the internet, and Sans is still of the opinion that being able to disconnect from it is a good idea when your thoughts might get inadvertently broadcasted to the whole canyon otherwise.]