in the words of thomas jefferson, "what'd i miss?"

[skelepun]

Who: Sans & YOU
When: The 24th, spanning from early in the morning to the evening
Where: All around the ship
What: Sans is back! It is unclear to him at this point what "back" means, both for him and for everyone else.
Warnings: Alcohol (er, well, ketchup, but y'know), Undertale spoilers out the wazoo

Groggy doesn't begin to describe. Sans knows groggy, like any guy who spends most of his life exactly that. No, this feels as if someone methodically stuffed his skull with cotton until it was fit to crack.

In other words, he has a headache.

Rolling up out of (bed? If it was, it looked more clinical than comfortable) wherever he was, Sans took a moment to take stock of his surroundings. For one, he wasn't dead. Guess the kid finally reset after all, and further back than he expected. To that point, there are his memories to consider. Much like the first time he awoke after death on the Moira, his memories were all exactly where he left them. The feeling of disintegrating, the indescribable expression on the kid's face, the slice of their knife...

No, not knife. Cup. It was a cup this time. Heh. What a way to go.

Yawning, Sans shakes out the last of his stiffness. One of the upsides to losing your memories each reset was blending in. When your brain simply reloaded, it knew exactly what to do and where to be. Like this, Sans has no idea what day it is, let alone if he's got a mess duty or not.

And people wonder why he takes such relish in laziness. It makes for great cover when the world decides to rewind and leave you stranded.

Papyrus would know -- he always knows exactly where Sans is supposed to be and how late he is getting there. With a bounce in his step, Sans steps outside with the intention of finding his brother.

closed to papyrus; outside cryo

He doesn't have to look very far.

"... Bro?"

Papyrus is parked outside the cryo lab, deliriously going over a puzzle book. The page he's on appears to have already been solved... twice? No, three times. Incorrectly, correctly, and then incorrectly again. Huh. For once, his little brother's superior perception seems at a loss -- he doesn't appear to notice Sans' presence at all.

Leaning against a wall, Sans is content to watch for a while -- though his smile can't help tightening when he notices just how out of sorts Papyrus looks.

"Figure out this page many more times and you'll need an upgrade to the senior scramble, bro."

ota; around cryo/halls/nomo deck

Parting ways with his brother, Sans rubs at his eye socket. The exchange was... bizarre, even for the two of them. All the component parts were right, but they wouldn't fit together. His brother scolded him for his laziness, encouraged him to shake a leg to work, talked at length about his exploits around the ship...

All together, it should be normal. But then Sans thinks about how he fell asleep right there against the wall, how tired he looked before that, how bone deep his exhaustion seemed to penetrate, and it's not right. Something happened, and Papyrus isn't telling him. Then again, he didn't ask. They really were the poster children of talking about their feelings, weren't they.

Hands shoved deep in his pockets, brow bone furrowed deep in thought, Sans makes his way in the direction of his room. Maybe he could find some answers there about where the reset spat him out...

closed to miles; his office

Welp.

Welp.

Sans doesn't bother mincing words. He doesn't bother walking, either, teleporting with careless agility. It's a miracle he doesn't wind up in another wall.

"Miles!" He barks, in a tone entirely unlike any Miles (or, well, most people) has heard from him. "I know you're in there, I can hear you being smug from out here."

closed to roomies; nomo deck

It couldn't have been more than half a day since Sans woke up. Revived? Jeez, this was a mess. And despite reality, it feels like thirty years by the time Sans drags himself into his bedroom. It's cleaner than he remembers. But then again, why wouldn't it be, his roommates have had more than enough time to adjust to life without him. Won't they be disappointed.

No, that was mean. Sans takes a moment to regard his bunk. Someone went to the trouble of making it (by who, he can't be sure -- well, no, he's sure it wasn't J), and Sans feels a tinge of regret as he promptly messes it up again.

One veggie burrito, heavy on the calcium, coming right up.

ota; gardens

Things don't really start to sink in until he looks his blueprints. Even then, they don't sink so much as tie an anchor around his middle and hurl him overboard.

He needs to be alone.

A step, a quick calculation, and he gets his wish.

The tree in the garden is tall, but Sans never appreciated how tall until finding himself perched at the top of its canopy. The trees are sparse and thin enough up here to be dangerous, but Sans doesn't weigh much to begin with. And even if they did snap, would it matter?

It would, his mind reminds him, it would matter more than it has in a long, long time.

No, Sans decides. He's not going to think about that. He's going to go through all the tree jokes he knows until he's either laughing or asleep.

What did the tree wear to the pool party? Swimming trunks.

(There are no resets. There might never be another reset.)

What did the beaver say to the tree? It's been nice gnawing ya.

(Time marches on here, with or without you -- no, with you, because they'll keep bringing you back and taking pieces until there's nothing left. No more do-overs, not for you, or him, or them, or anyone.)

How do you identify a dogwood tree? By its bark.

(You can't afford not to care anymore, but do you even remember how to care? To really try?)

Why did the tree get a timeout? It was being knotty.

"Heh... knotty." Sans chuckles from on high, oblivious to anyone below his perch. "Gotta use that."

[ ooc: i'll match action or prose, gimme whatcha got! ]

Comments

garden!

[justabit]

[Speaking of going to the gardens for some quality time alone, that's exactly the same reason why Rick has decided to make a trip there himself.

Well, that and he's always on the look for any plants that could be used for experimenting and he may or may not have been stealing some of the cats because they interest him, from a scientist's perspective.

Either way, he's wandering around today, not looking for anything in particular when he hears the now familiar sound of a chuckle coming from above. Rick's not a small guy, towering over six feet and somewhat inches, so it's not hard for him to spot the skeleton sitting above in his perch.

The scientist smirks a little and leans back, craning his neck a little as he calls up to Sans.]

Wh-why'd the skeleton climb up a tree?

[skelepun]

[Sans would know that slur everywhere. Maybe putting himself at the top of a very high point, out in the open for everyone to see, wasn't the best idea for privacy.]

So people would leaf him alone. [If the punchline has any implications, Sans bland warmth undercuts it.] Taking in the flowers today, Rick?

[justabit]

Lookin' for some... n-natural stimulation, if you get what I mean. H-haven't been very lucky.

I'm beginning to think the assholes that run this ship hate having a good time I mean -- h-have you seen the shitty mobile games they put on our devices? I-i-is that seriously the only poor excuse for entertainment that they're providing for us?

[He shrugs, and places his hands on his hips as he continues to look up at the skeleton.]

Wh-whatever.

How's being a reanimated corpse going for you?

[skelepun]

[It takes Sans a moment to register the comment as a reference to his death, not his appearance. The realization is enough to jar him into silence for a few beats.

Every time he thinks he's gotten comfortable with the idea that people remember here, unease comes back to smack him in the skull.]

Eh, it's... alright? All ten carpels, all ten tarsals. [His mind drifts back to the blueprints. Why did he bring them with him, again? They didn't make any more sense at the top of a tree than they did in his room.] Some new defects, but I guess that's supposed to be normal.

[justabit]

[Rick raises an eyebrow slightly, and folds his arms over his chest.]

De--[uuuurp]--efects?

[That's odd... this is the first time Rick's heard of being brought back to life having defects. It'd make sense if it were, say, a human -- having their consciousness shoved back into their essentially dead bodies or however it works.. that can't be good for them. But consciousness being shoved back into a sentient skeleton? Now that's interesting.]

M-mind letting me know what those defects are?

[skelepun]

[The branches shuffle slightly, before Sans produces a rolled up chart. To those familiar with them, it's very obviously a blueprint.]

Pretty sure I used to know how to read this. Heh... ah well. [He settled back into the tree boughs.] Wasn't gonna do much with 'em anyway.

[justabit]

[That sure is a rolled up blueprint within the skeleton's hand. Rick's interest is piqued when it's brought out, and even more so with Sans' words. He used to be able to read them.. which means being brought back from death has somehow effected this ability. That sounds strange, but it's not unnaturally so. When people have strokes, they can forget how to speak or do things that they used to be amazing at, so this was probably the same kind of principle.

It's kind of sad, though.]

L-lemme see it.

[Rick holds a hand out towards the skeleton. Even if Sans can't read it anymore, Rick sure could. If it was anything important to Sans, he might tinker around with it if the skeleton gave him permission.]

[skelepun]

[Sans looks hesitant for a moment, looking from the blueprint to where Rick stood at the base of the tree. It's shortlived, though. If he couldn't read it, Sans somehow doubts any human could.]

Uh, sure, chief. [A quick toss and Sans tossed it in Rick's direction. It misses the mark, bouncing off the man's head. Whoops.] Heh. Knock yourself out.

[justabit]

[Rick shoots Sans a glare before bending over to pick the blueprint up, and without missing a beat he unrolls it and begins to read it over.

He's silent for a minute or two as he looks it over, and when he finally speaks up his eyes are narrowed suspiciously at the skeleton perched above him.]

The fuck is this shit?

[He can't read the symbols which annoys him. He's been to so many planets before.. so surely he'd be able to at least recognize what it's written in. But he can't.

He can make a guess at what the machine here is supposed to be, but nothing really jumps out at him at all...]

[skelepun]

Hell if I know, pal. [If Sans is a little satisfied by Rick's immediate defeat, he hides it well.] All I know is it used to make sense to me, and now it's just a buncha gobbledegook.

Hats off to the Moira, I guess?