[As far as Sans can tell, Papyrus isn't lying. He's too fine with things, but it seems genuine. Of course, Sans could be wrong. He's hardly objective about Papyrus on a good day, and this isn't one of those days. He can't push away the paranoia that he might be missing something.] Fine. Just do that here so I can keep an eye on you.
[So he can make sure Papyrus doesn't lose his charge or have some dramatic emotional change or turn into a gooey puddle or whatever else. Could be almost anything.]
Yes, okay, okay. [He says it to placate and doesn't hide it, pointedly settling in more on the couch comfortably. It's not that he feels annoyed by the clingy demand, for all that memory and the projections both say that this is wildly atypical for them both... But maybe joking about it will help Sans feel more normal? Or at least help identify specifics of the fucked up emotions.] Just one eye, are you sure?
One eye minimum. [Sans plays along automatically, fixing a few more of the eyes of his halo on Papyrus, but it's just that--an automatic response. It doesn't do anything to make him feel better. Nothing seems to be working as far as making Sans feel better. That's not Papyrus's fault.]
Phew, as long as I'm under constant surveillance, I must be safe. [He says it, but again there's a lack of actual annoyance under it - it's wry and amused, like reading off a script. Fits with Sans's own weird tone and expression, which don't quite seem to match.
Papyrus shifts in place to maximize the comfort, fidgets with his wire hair to get it to some kind of aesthetic, and hums thoughtfully at nothing visible. The tracker's giving him... some kind of bizarre message, not based on any of the preset alerts. A discrepancy with duplication? Was it doing some backup upload when the power went out, and now it's trying and failing to complete it...?]
No such thing as safe here. [It's an automatic response, fitting with the paranoia he feels jittering around. But at least if he can see Papyrus, he can maybe see some of the bad stuff coming. Normally Sans might pull out his phone; it's not as if he can't multitask when it comes to keeping an eye on something. But no, he just keeps watching Papyrus, as if he might vanish if Sans looks away.]
[Papyrus glances back up at a few of Sans's eyes, the response taking a minute to process with his other train of thought. He hadn't divided his attention, lacking nervousness about seeming rude as he normally would, and it's only now that he partitions it.]
Hmm... You're not wrong... Relatively safe, then? Since some of the dangers are too big and omni-present to do much about.
Yeah, those ones. Can't stop thinking about those ones. [He can't. Obviously Papyrus can.] But yeah, nothing we can do about 'em. Might be able to stop you from shutting down due to low power, though.
You keep saying that... [It's confusing, the emphasis on this idea. A ping clarifies it should be worrying - whether because Sans knows something he doesn't, or because the fixation means something's wrong with Sans. But they already know something is. Maybe distraction isn't the approach here, but something more...]
Does it reassure you any, to hear that I ate fine during my lunch break? Not long before the power went out. I promise.
No. [It should, though, shouldn't it? But no, there's no reassurance. He absorbs the knowledge as if it was a completely neutral fact, feeling nothing at all about it. He scrubs at his face.] Doesn't make me feel bad. I know that's a good thing. Like, objectively.
If things are working normally, then you shouldn't lose power. But it's not like the power loss was normal. No proof the drain won't increase. No proof you won't suddenly start drawing more power accidentally. No proof something else won't happen. [It's easy to travel down this particular emotional spiral of paranoia. No comfort, all concern.]
[Papyrus visibly considers these notions, compares them with what he remembers of the last several months - no proof those memories are real either, considering, but working with what he's got...]
Yeah, I guess that's a good point. Okay, watch on! And if you want a book, for while you watch, we can go grab one from my room.
[Of course, there's a couple coffee table books about space, space telescopes, and so on to be found in the living room already.]
Suit yourself! [It's said brightly, without signs of discomfort at the unflinching watchfulness - the discomfort is somewhere else, after all. He settles in for a while of being here, focusing on internal processes for a time.
It's not the same as that openly numb waffle breakfast, but it's not that different. Papyrus is nearly motionless, agreeably staying put and minimizing his activity to help preserve energy - without fears of sedentary backslides, self consciousness about the mechanical behavior, or worries about Sans alike, to rile him into nervous/hopeful motion. Internally, he reads up on the various notifications he's been getting, along with the efficiency of different forms of power generation - would something with steam be viable? Why is the tracker insisting it's running two instances on two separate phones, but the contents of the phones are identical?
Eventually, for all that worries aren't driving him, hope for Sans's wellbeing and awareness that his brother tends not to say everything that's relevant spur him to at least say:] You're not bored, or hungry, are you? I can take a nap, if that'd help anything.
[Sans isn't really bored with his mind bouncing from one negative possibility to the next, looking for any sign of something wrong. And so, speaking of signs of something wrong:] You want to take a nap? [Is Papyrus lower on energy than he thinks?] Maybe you should, if you're offering. [Unless this is a sign of some personality change. Or...] Unless you're just sayin' that so I'll leave you alone.
[He shrugs, briefly but with enough motion to be visible to what he's found average human perception catches - watchful Sans will surely catch the deliberateness of it.]
No, I really don't mind. I promise! Maybe I normally would... [He's pretty certain he normally would, going by his memories and the framework's projections of his norms.] But right now, well. Minding seems like one of the feelings I'm not really feeling. I'm fine. [The fine Papyrus again, except he's more sincerely amused when he chuckles about it.]
Lucky. [Sans grumbles, mostly to himself. But maybe not. Who knows what sorts of dangerous things Papyrus might just "not mind" in this state?] Don't suppose you got a battery level display I can look at. [He knows Papyrus is aware of his own personal charge, but as for putting it up on a monitor or something, Sans isn't sure if Papyrus would have ever seen the need even when he wasn't fine with apparently everything.]
No physical display in my arm, or anything. [He's amused and somewhat thoughtful at the idea - something to flag for revisiting, when he's doing upgrades next.]
But I track it... Should be easy enough to share with you! Maybe if I set something to text you, when it changes by... Oh, 1%? [His hands aren't moving, aren't grabbing for his phone, but there's a slight change in his posture and expression and tone like he's already drafting something.] Then you can monitor by that! Fair's fair, and all.
Alright. [Sans can't not wonder if that will just drain Papyrus's battery more, but it seems worth it if Sans can be sure Papyrus isn't fine-ing himself to death. He'll just have to grab even more batteries. Not right now. Later. Tomorrow night, maybe. Of course, that's more time for other people to grab them first... Sans pulls out his phone finally to check what news he can get under the no power circumstances.] You can charge from any battery, yeah?
[Maybe if he steals some car batteries...]
can't deny that worry has some merit - fearlessness leads to kender behavior
As far as I know! Haven't tried them all, but I haven't had any really bad reactions to any. [This is said with an ease and casualness about the times he has had negative reactions, mostly unmentioned.] Are you thinking of any in particular...?
[Meanwhile, a text pops up from Papyrus's number. It's not formatted like his usual texts - not capitalized, not even in his namesake font - but like he's used a form message and set a few numbers to auto-populate it before sending.]
Battery charge: 92% EBSM: 29% Willingness to take a nap: 78% Hope this helps!
Car batteries. Not from your car, other batteries. [Papyrus didn't object to the stolen smaller batteries, so he probably won't object if Sans talks about the theoretical car batteries. Of course, Papyrus doesn't seem like he can object.
Sans looks at the stats Papyrus has offered. He feels like the "willingness to take a nap" statistic should be funny, but it's an academic point; he doesn't feel anything about it.]
Oh, that's a working name. I'm sure I'll think of something better soon! [Not that he assumes Sans was critiquing the acronym, exactly.] 'Emotions Below Standard Maximum' - a little something I've been keeping watch on. It was a little over twice that, earlier yesterday...
[The abrupt drop would be worrying, if he could worry. Which is itself a part of the reason for worry - hopefully not infinitely compounding. At least this way maybe his brother can do his worrying about something relevant, instead of scheming to do more crimes or something. And on that topic, before Sans can react to the emotion thing:]
Hey, how about the batteries from those lemons? I'm not doing any monster car stuff with the power out like this.
[Sans is very capable of worrying and he's doing that right now. Papyrus's distraction doesn't pull his thoughts entirely away from the emotion issue, but he does at least look away from his phone, as much as he ever looks away from anything.]
I can't do anything about the emotions right now. [Not unless he wants to drown Papyrus in negative feelings, which he doesn't.] Grabbing car batteries out of some cars, sure, I can manage that. [It's not much, but at least he's not entirely useless.]
No, that's fine! I don't need it all right now, and it's a misleading number anyway. I'm feeling some things at about seventy eight percent, and other things I'm... not really feeling at all! So it's an overall number.
[The way he dismisses the idea of willingly taking those sorts of feelings back is something he doesn't dwell on, or anticipate how it might make Sans feel. The fact that he can quantify his emotions, that he's been quantifying them for some time without saying so, can also go without pointing out.]
A few car batteries, and I'm sure I'll be set for ages. Excluding any unpredictable weirdness, which there's really no preparing for, so no use worrying about it.
[It doesn't surprise Sans that Papyrus doesn't seem worried about the feelings he's missing. Who would want to feel like Sans? Sans doesn't even want to feel like Sans. That Papyrus doesn't want that is just reasonable.]
Yeah, I'm worrying about it. [He can't not worry about it. He looks back down at the phone, staring at the battery charge. If he can see the rate it ticks down, he can figure out how long in concrete time Papyrus has if they completely lose access to charging. He's going to feel awful knowing that. He's not going to be able to stop thinking about that either. But he's going to calculate it anyway; he knows that like it's an already calculated fact.] Once it's daytime maybe you should talk to other people who know what they're doing with this stuff.
[Sans is no electrical engineer. Alphys would be more useful here, but no, Papyrus is stuck with Sans. "Papyrus is stuck with Sans" is a running theme of their lives, now that he thinks about it.]
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spaghettimonster) wrote2021-07-31 02:32 am
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[So he can make sure Papyrus doesn't lose his charge or have some dramatic emotional change or turn into a gooey puddle or whatever else. Could be almost anything.]
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Papyrus shifts in place to maximize the comfort, fidgets with his wire hair to get it to some kind of aesthetic, and hums thoughtfully at nothing visible. The tracker's giving him... some kind of bizarre message, not based on any of the preset alerts. A discrepancy with duplication? Was it doing some backup upload when the power went out, and now it's trying and failing to complete it...?]
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Hmm... You're not wrong... Relatively safe, then? Since some of the dangers are too big and omni-present to do much about.
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Does it reassure you any, to hear that I ate fine during my lunch break? Not long before the power went out. I promise.
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[He just doesn't feel anything about it.]
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[He's not sure whether conviction, in that sense, is a feeling - let alone one like Sans seems too low to really feel.]
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Yeah, I guess that's a good point. Okay, watch on! And if you want a book, for while you watch, we can go grab one from my room.
[Of course, there's a couple coffee table books about space, space telescopes, and so on to be found in the living room already.]
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It's not the same as that openly numb waffle breakfast, but it's not that different. Papyrus is nearly motionless, agreeably staying put and minimizing his activity to help preserve energy - without fears of sedentary backslides, self consciousness about the mechanical behavior, or worries about Sans alike, to rile him into nervous/hopeful motion. Internally, he reads up on the various notifications he's been getting, along with the efficiency of different forms of power generation - would something with steam be viable? Why is the tracker insisting it's running two instances on two separate phones, but the contents of the phones are identical?
Eventually, for all that worries aren't driving him, hope for Sans's wellbeing and awareness that his brother tends not to say everything that's relevant spur him to at least say:] You're not bored, or hungry, are you? I can take a nap, if that'd help anything.
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No, I really don't mind. I promise! Maybe I normally would... [He's pretty certain he normally would, going by his memories and the framework's projections of his norms.] But right now, well. Minding seems like one of the feelings I'm not really feeling. I'm fine. [The fine Papyrus again, except he's more sincerely amused when he chuckles about it.]
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But I track it... Should be easy enough to share with you! Maybe if I set something to text you, when it changes by... Oh, 1%? [His hands aren't moving, aren't grabbing for his phone, but there's a slight change in his posture and expression and tone like he's already drafting something.] Then you can monitor by that! Fair's fair, and all.
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[Maybe if he steals some car batteries...]
can't deny that worry has some merit - fearlessness leads to kender behavior
[Meanwhile, a text pops up from Papyrus's number. It's not formatted like his usual texts - not capitalized, not even in his namesake font - but like he's used a form message and set a few numbers to auto-populate it before sending.]
Battery charge: 92%
EBSM: 29%
Willingness to take a nap: 78%
Hope this helps!
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Sans looks at the stats Papyrus has offered. He feels like the "willingness to take a nap" statistic should be funny, but it's an academic point; he doesn't feel anything about it.]
EBSM? [Extended Breathing Shell Model? Probably not.]
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[The abrupt drop would be worrying, if he could worry. Which is itself a part of the reason for worry - hopefully not infinitely compounding. At least this way maybe his brother can do his worrying about something relevant, instead of scheming to do more crimes or something. And on that topic, before Sans can react to the emotion thing:]
Hey, how about the batteries from those lemons? I'm not doing any monster car stuff with the power out like this.
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I can't do anything about the emotions right now. [Not unless he wants to drown Papyrus in negative feelings, which he doesn't.] Grabbing car batteries out of some cars, sure, I can manage that. [It's not much, but at least he's not entirely useless.]
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[The way he dismisses the idea of willingly taking those sorts of feelings back is something he doesn't dwell on, or anticipate how it might make Sans feel. The fact that he can quantify his emotions, that he's been quantifying them for some time without saying so, can also go without pointing out.]
A few car batteries, and I'm sure I'll be set for ages. Excluding any unpredictable weirdness, which there's really no preparing for, so no use worrying about it.
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Yeah, I'm worrying about it. [He can't not worry about it. He looks back down at the phone, staring at the battery charge. If he can see the rate it ticks down, he can figure out how long in concrete time Papyrus has if they completely lose access to charging. He's going to feel awful knowing that. He's not going to be able to stop thinking about that either. But he's going to calculate it anyway; he knows that like it's an already calculated fact.] Once it's daytime maybe you should talk to other people who know what they're doing with this stuff.
[Sans is no electrical engineer. Alphys would be more useful here, but no, Papyrus is stuck with Sans. "Papyrus is stuck with Sans" is a running theme of their lives, now that he thinks about it.]
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