with scarves of red tied 'round their throats

[skelepun]

Who: Sans + lots of people + YOU
When: Throughout March
Where: Around the Moira, not so much planetside
What: Catchall for march + come get drunk with a skeleton
Warnings: Alcoholism, probably some general nihilism bullshit. it's sans, so, y'know.



(( if you would like a top level, please let me know via PM or contacting me on plurk at safelybeds ))

Comments

[gainedlove]

The knock is answered almost immediately by a muffled "Coming!", and a few moments later a very rumple-haired child opens the door with a wide grin.

"Hi, Sans! What's up?"

[skelepun]

"Heeey, kiddo." Sans smiles, rumpling that hair a little more as he steps inside. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything. Just had a question to ask."

[gainedlove]

Frisk laughs and lean a little into his bony touch, not minding the messier state of their hair at all. "Nope, it's okay!"

Hurrying back over to their bunk, Frisk clambers up and gestures for for Sans to follow. "What'cha wanna ask?"

[skelepun]

Taking a seat, Sans heaves a deep sigh. The room is much like his, albeit a lot cleaner. He looks down at Frisk, schooling his expression into something warm, even if it doesn't quite reach his eyes.

"Believe it or not, kiddo, I need a favor."

[gainedlove]

Frisk settles crosslegged on the bed facing Sans, watching him with a curious look. If they notice the cold undertones in his expression, they don't let it show.

"...um, okay. What for?"

[skelepun]

"Remember, uh, back when we first... ran into each other?" It's the wrong term, but Sans can't think of a better one. "On the ship, I mean. You had a little, er, trouble speaking."

Sans held up his hands, contorting them into a parody of Hands.

"So we traded this for a little while. Remember?"

[gainedlove]

A little shock runs up Frisk's back, and for a moment they worry that Sans is going to grill them about the timeline again. But then he continues on and they relax, frowning at the poor mimicry of Hands he puts out.

"You're doin' it wrong, it's like this." They quickly flash ☞☼✋💧😐 to Sans, then scoot a little closer. "You're the one that taught me."

For half a moment, they feel like they must have lied, but...no, no one else knows it. So how can it be a lie?

[skelepun]

Sans frowns, forced to admit that the quick flash of Hands is... sheer gibberish, for all it itched something familiar at the back of his skull.

"Heh... great. That's what I thought." He runs a hand down his face, chuckling. "Guess they didn't remember every piece of me when they brought me back to life."

He holds up his hands again, gesturing with them like a particular lazy jazz dancer.

"It seems I've lost the touch."

[gainedlove]

"What?!"

That's not...that's not right! It's supposed to be better here, they're not supposed to start forgetting! And Sans always knew Hands, he'd never forgotten in any resets before!

Their mind goes back to that lab again, hovering in nervous circles around that scrawled note in the back of the album. This isn't fair.

"I-I'll teach you again! I can't talk it, but I know the signs really good!"

[skelepun]

The desperation in Frisk's voice is vaguely alarming, but Sans keeps it from showing on his face.

"Kid, kid, it's okay. I know you do. I guess I'm just out of practice, or maybe something went wrong with my resurgence." It's an unsettling notion, but what Miles said confirmed that suspicion. "That being said, heh, I've got a few notes I'd like to be able to read."

He shrugs, smile taking a turn for the hopeful: "When can we start?"

[gainedlove]

Belatedly, Frisk scrambles to reel themself back in, bowing their head and taking a few deep breaths. It's...it's okay. They can fix this, it's not their fault this time. The comment about resurgence makes Frisk concerned all over again, but this time it's less frantic at least. "Went wrong?"

But that's secondary. Frisk looks over at a clock hanging on the wall before nodding to Sans. "Um, we can do it now. Uh." ...shoot, how should they start? A million things about the language buzz around in Frisk's brain, each more important than the last, but finally common sense forces through.

Taking a deep breath and nodding, this time to themself, Frisk holds up their hand in the form of a peace sign.

"A."

[skelepun]

"Wish I could tell ya, kid." Sans smiles, looking suddenly more exhausted than ever, but it's a fleeting moment.

The hand signal is one he recognizes from hours spent fruitlessly scrutinizing the blueprints. Reflexively, Sans repeats it.

"A."

i refuse to describe what the mailbox even looks like, how would you DO that

[gainedlove]

Frisk nods, and switches to making an 'okay' sign instead. "B."

And then, when Sans parrots that back, a thumbs up. "C."

Like that Frisk goes through the alphabet, one letter at a time, making sure that Sans gets the signs just right (they can be pretty tricky, especially the ones that you have to move your hands on). It's a slow process, but fortunately both participants here are patient when they need to be.

"...an' this is a period."

we cannot look too closely, it's a doomed prospect

[skelepun]

And with that final peculiar hand gesture, Sans finishes. He's already practically forgotten what the first half of the alphabet looks like, but practice definitely makes perfect. Or at least adequate.

"And that's it?" Sans scratches at the back of his head, trying out that period sign a few more times and trying to picture his blueprints. "Sorta more like a code than a real language, huh?"

[gainedlove]

Frisk reaches over to move Sans's fingers into the right position (a little too much bend there), and shrugs. "Uh-huh. There's some other stuff, but that's what you really gotta know. Spelling stuff gets tricky when you go fast, though."

They sit back again, cocking their head to the side. "Can you show me E?"

[skelepun]

"Aw jeez, kid. Pop quiz, already? You're brutal." Even his former professors used to give a little warning. Sans screwed up his face, brow bone lowered in concentration as he pointed... right. No, no, that's not right. Left. It's left.

There might as well be a large question mark over his head as he looked to Frisk for approval.

[gainedlove]

Frisk shrugs with a little smile, rocking back and forth. "I gotta check." Maybe they should have gone through the alphabet again first. It's been so long since the first time Sans taught them...

They wait patiently while Sans works it out, and they nod eagerly when he looks back to them. "Yeah, that's it! Um...do you remember H? Or should we do the whole thing again?"

[skelepun]

Sans heaves a sigh, sliding back further against the bunk.

"If I show you H, can we take a break?"

[gainedlove]

Frisk rolls their eyes dramatically, but the effect is diminished by their smile and stifled giggle.

"If we gooootta."