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

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

"T-that's the shittiest joke I've ever heard," and yet she's laughing at it between her sobs. Her laughter is light and weak as the wave of relief hits her, washing though her body and settling in to her bones.

Things had been so rough. The shit that went down back on Emiri, Sans killing a kid, Sans getting killed. She might not have been active party in any of them, but they still had affected her greatly, with all unsafe feelings and nightmares that had started to become more regular. And it felt like the stress from all this events just crashed her at once.

But Sans is here now. Maybe this all is over now.

"I hate you so much", she's shaking as she whispers the words to his jacket, giving up in trying to suppress her tears, letting them to fall freely.

[skelepun]

"I gotta keep stoking that fire of yours, I'd hate for all this hugging to put it out."

Touch is a funny thing. It can be horrible, it can be uncomfortable, it can be weird, but this is somehow none of those. Hugging it out on the floor of their perpetually messy dorm... it's not ideal, but it's so indicative of everything their relationship is and always has been that Sans can't find a fault in it.

He's glad to be back. He's glad to be here. And maybe that's the first time in a long time he's thought something along those lines.

"What'd I miss?" He leans back finally, ruffling her hair in the way he knows she hate. "I'm running dry on ribbing material, help a guy out."

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

Feeling the bony, skeleton hand in her hair makes J stiffen for a second or two, but she quickly relaxes back against his small body.

This is weird, yes. She can't even remember if she's ever touched Sans' before. Probably not, considering how open she had always been about disliking the skeleton brothers. She still wasn't exactly sure how to feel about them, but right now that didn't seem to be such a bad thing.

"Not much. Just a party or two," she sniffles and rubs her tears and snot on her sleeve. "We got mail, too."

[skelepun]

"Parties, huh? Damn. What a time to die." Sans digs into his pocket, frowning when he finds most of his squirreled away items aren't there. Guess that comes with the territory, when you turn to dust and comes back.

In lieu of a handkerchief, he offers the corner of his bedsheet.

"Guess it's good to know life goes on with or without you."

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

"No. They were shit. You didn't miss a thing." J blurts thoughtlessly, pausing between each sentence and keeping her voice hollow from emotion.

J keeps Sans in her embrace for a little longer, holding his body tightly against her. Then, with a loud sniffle she lets go and pulls away a bit to look him in the eyes. The tears had ruined her make, just as Sans had joked, and there is now dark stripes running along her cheeks.

"Your brother almost went crazy," she says and accepts the offered bedsheet, burying her face to it. "Ryan talks to invisible cat, Med'an set some weird magical guard around our room or shit. People didn't sleep." Of course she's only talking about how everyone else felt and reacted to his death. It's still much easier to see this whole picture, to figure out what Sans' absence had meant when keeping her own thoughts and feelings separated.

"So. Don't do this again or I'll make sure you stay gone."

[skelepun]

"Sounds like everyone's been keeping up the weird factor while I was on vacation." It's a weak joke, but sincere in its own way. On a ship of so many, having a small crew within the crew is comforting. Not that Sans particularly enjoys leaving despair in his wake, but knowing his room-family cares about him is...

Well, it's something.

"Thanks. Uh, for the threat." That's sincere too, oddly enough. "Believe me, it'll help, you scare the shit out of me."

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

"Heh." She laughs shortly with a dry and muffled voice. Slowly, she lifts her head and peeks at him behind the sheet, eyes swollen from tears.

"As you should. I'll break you," she huffs, obviously not being all too serious with her threat, but feeling oddly satisfied with his reaction. Of course, this is very bizarre and new situation, and it'll take some time from both of them to get used to this, as the dust settles down between them.

[skelepun]

It's weird, how threats of dusting him are a comfort more than a concern. It surprises him that it's taken this long to draw the comparison, but Sans can't help but think of Undyne. Both strong, tough, kickass gals who stuck to their guns. Not that he and Undyne were ever particularly close.

Then again, neither were he and J. Or maybe they were. It's hard to tell when you've spent the last fifteen minutes holding onto your roommate and riding through a storm together.

"Don't doubt it, kiddo."

And he didn't.