[Open] working your fingers to the bones, cause nobody loves you when you're gone

[coolskeletonnyehntyfive]

Who: Papyrus, Sans, and YOU!
When: March 12th and onwards
Where: Medbay
What: Papyrus had a really bad idea that nearly got himself and Sans killed. Sans put out a call for help. This log is for the general followup/aftermath.
Warnings: Broken bones and hearts, cracked skulls, life draining, will add more if necessary.

((OOC Note: The translator event will affect the skeletons, so anyone tagging in on the 13th will be in for a lively game of charades!))

Comments

[inruins]

The quiet is what makes the conversation feel, personal. Far more personal than she expects. Toriel will chide herself later for rambling, letting her thoughts and mouth drift too far. It has become a terrible habit the past day or so.

"Yes, Sans?" Her smile is back, not quite real as she wants it to be. It would be easy to hide behind practiced formality and a regal air, but she can't find it in herself to bother. Even if Sans doesn't remember, doesn't know what happened on the surface, the boss monster feels like he'll see through it.

Lying to her best friend is not something she wants to do. Even now.

[skelepun]

A few different thoughts are born and die over the course of the next few seconds, allowing silence to reign longer than Sans hoped. With each fresh second of pause between them, the reality of what they were just discussing grows thicker and harder to ignore.

"S'Nothing," he finally says, moving without thinking to her side. It's hard to hug someone so much taller than yourself, so Sans settles with hooking his pinkie around hers. "Just a nervous tick. You know how some people swear? I just say your name over and over again. Really weird."

Over the course of his rambling, entirely un-funny explanation, Sans finds it in him to go from just pinkies to fully slipping his hand into hers. She dwarfs him. It's kind of nice.

[inruins]

"Mhmm." The contact surprises her, some part of her expected Sans to withdraw from her, push her away for being so blunt. Instead he's holding her hand, bone against fur and warm paw pad. She knits her fingers with his own. "How odd it is, it's only started now..."

There are a million things she wants to say. The truth, lies, careful omissions and practiced promises. When one lives so long, they learn how to navigate social interactions with friendly safe lies mixed with safe truths. Ugly truths are harder, admitting them is revealing a weakness. "If you ever..." How can she even say any of this? Was she a hypocrite for all of this?

"Remember to not give up. Even if the thought is tempting." She states very quietly back, "You aren't alone here, Sans. I am here for you. I always will be."

[skelepun]

"Yeesh, Tori." He manages, ducking his skull deeper into his hoodie. It doesn't do much to obscure his face, but it's enough to make him feel less exposed for the time being. "You don't have to..."

Have to what? Say those things? No, that implies he doesn't believe her, and he does despite everything urging him to feel the opposite.

Have to make him feel better? Have to share those things about herself? Have to be here at all?

None of it sounds right, so Sans simply doesn't finish the thought.

"Y'know, this goes both ways, right?" He looks up at her, hand tightening around a few of her fingers. "We're friends."

[inruins]

She waits for him to find his words, just gently holding onto him. Toriel won't rush him on finishing the sentence. Even if some part of her expects rejection. A firm 'I don't need you' is what some worried part of her expects.

When he does speak again, when he confirms he's here for her too, it leaves her feeling warm."I know. I appreciate it more than you will ever know."

She has been alone for so long, sometimes she forgets care goes both ways. "I just wanted you to know, you are not alone in... this." Stating it outright again feels like a taboo. The best she can muster is veiling talk about sadness behind something less ugly. Less broken and brittled from time.

[skelepun]

"Kinda would prefer if I was, if it meant you weren't." Sans admits, chuckling quietly to himself. None of this is particularly funny. Papyrus laid up in bed isn't, Toriel's own sadness isn't, the fact that he's been doing a lot of this empty laughter lately... well, there's a certain irony there he can appreciate, but funny? Not really.

"Sorry for worrying you, T."

[inruins]

She squeezes his hand gently, "We can't change who we are, Sans. Not in that way. It is something that... we both have to handle." The reality of it is something she has learned to deal with, to push against. Even with the sadness, Toriel refuses to give up.

"I won't make you promise anything." Sans is not one to make promises lightly, "I just ask you be careful, both of you. You're well, you're a part of my family. Even if neither of you seem to remember it. Even if I suppose I'm being a bit presumptuous about it."

[skelepun]

Even if neither of you seem to remember it. That's one way of phrasing things. Sans looks away from her, rubbing the back of his skull as if in a sheepish apology he doesn't dare voice.

Chara's her child, after all. A branch of adopted family that came well before he and his brother. Knowing what he knew, it would kill her. And as their conversation just helpfully illuminated, Toriel didn't need any more pain.

"Heh, I know, T." Sans nods, brightening. He still had a grip on her hand, but lets it fall away with a casual shrug. "I promise I'll keep a better eyesocket on things from here on."

[inruins]

The phrasing is deliberate, they still haven't discussed how or why Sans doesn't seem to remember. Toriel suspects the longer they're here, the less likely she is to get an answer.

She shifts, gently dipping down to press a quick peck to his forehead. The monster equivalent for those without lips. A simple nose bump against his forehead. "If not for me, if not for you, keep Papyrus safe. He deserves so much more than we can give."

She stands again, "It also means eating monster food that can heal you instead of pretending you didn't hear me." Sans wasn't going to leave this conversation without her stating as much.

[skelepun]

"Yeah... I know."

The push of her muzzle is softer than Sans thought it would be, almost like a stuffed animal or plush velvet. Most of what monsters fish out in the dumb is waterlogged and made coarse, but Toriel feels fresh and new and smells like laundry.

Sans tries not to linger too much on any one of those observations. He's a scientist, or he was. It's automatic at this point, noticing little things like that.

That fact, unfortunately, means he's forced to also note how much he was leaning towards her when Toriel finally pulled away. Enough to make him nearly stumble forward half a step. Sans catches himself, brow smoothing with a smile.

"Heh... you caught that, huh?"

[inruins]

At the stumble she finds herself reaching out to right him, too late as he catches himself easily. She is reluctant to part from him now. There is comfort in proximity. A quiet promise of friendship, one she can't quite find herself letting go of.

"It's hard not to, Sans." Her hands finds a familiar enough place on his shoulder. "Considering it was my pie and I'd rather you eat some of it to heal as well." She rubs her face with her free hand. A vague touch of humor rises to the surface. "I can't believe Frisk still had it..."

[skelepun]

"Well, if you have a slice on ya, I'd be more than happy to make it up to you. Or maybe we can ask Frisk. I'm pretty sure that kid saves everything." Sans tried for teasing, and while it didn't quite land, it felt better to talk this way. Healthy or not, the tension in his magic faded out by degrees the longer they spent talking about something that wasn't the obvious gulf of happiness in them both.

Maybe another time, but for now? Sans was spent enough to sleep again, if given half the chance.

"N' hey, uh. Thanks for visiting, T." He's still close, enough to feel the slight warmth of her body against his comparatively cold cheekbone. For a brief, wild moment, Sans wonders if she would be offended if he gave her a peck in return. Out of friendship, to show her how grateful he was, rather than using just his wholly insufficient words.

Instead, the pause stretches out a hair too long and Sans takes a step back towards the ward.

"I know it's kinda corny, but it's really great your here." And, as if terrified the moment is about to get too sincere: "Thanks for lending me your ear."

[inruins]

She audibly snorts at that, even if the teasing doesn't land, Toriel goes with it. "That child of mine. I'm sure they still have everything in their pockets." Her hand drifts upwards to brush carefully against his skull. "Would giving you any of my magic help-? I can tell you've been healed, but still."

Toriel isn't as afraid of silence, it was her world once. A little more of it wouldn't hurt her. "You don't have to thank me. I'm here, for both of you." She laughs more warmly at the joke, smiling down at him.

[skelepun]

"Nah, nah, it's cool, don't worry about it. The healers here are actually pretty good at their jobs. This is just..."

Sans trails off, gesturing lazily to himself with a smile.

"This is just how I am. No big deal."

[inruins]

The boss monster shakes her head, once again reaching out to the skeleton monster. When her hand settles finds Sans once again, she brushes her fingers across his skull carefully. Sans is likely to feel the slight warmth of her magic.

"I'm just prone to worry. It seems to be what I do best." She jokes simply back, "I trust the healers here. I'll just consider this a 'pick me up' for you."

sorry for the delay, busy weekend!

[skelepun]

"Heh, well, if it makes you feel better."

It's a vague dismissal, and one Sans immediately undermines by how he leans into her touch. It feels nice and, as has been proven over and over again, Sans has a bit of a bad habit when it comes to indulging in the path of least resistance.

At least in this case, that path comes with a fresh wash of comfort.

"Thanks, T."

[inruins]

Her paw pads settle gently against his skull as magic freely flows towards him. She knows it won't do much for his HP, but it will at least be a boost after all the magic he's used today.

"You're welcome." She smiles down at him, "Just tell me when you're ready to stop."

[skelepun]

Sans settles back, letting his ribs rise and fall once, then twice, then...

Well, it doesn't take much to knock him out on a good day. In this case, it's impressive he lasted all of two seconds before the sound of soft snores took over.