empatheias IC contact

[seriff]

IC CONTACT
[ amulet voice | amulet image | amulet text | mail | action ]

[Sans nominally resides in a small two-bedroom apartment on the outskirts of Verens' usual Otherworlder housing district, but is pretty much never at home. Mail sent to that address is unlikely to ever see the light of day again. Mail sent to an Enforcers office with his name on has a marginally better chance of reaching him, if not of being read in a timely fashion. Mail sent to him via his brother had the best chance of all, but only while Papyrus was still around.

It's somewhat easier to track down him down in person: his current job involves patrol routes all over Verens, and when not frequenting diners or comfortable sunny benches he often even does it. He also turns up in Shaarnath from time to time - usually by himself, usually for the food. Still, he rarely shows up in the same place twice on a given day.

(Please include a rough IC date in thread headers, but otherwise go wild! No need to preplan.)]

Comments

amulet voice; shortly after Arehtei challenges

[despiteeverything]

[They don't know what they're feeling right now; there's so many things and they're all mixed up and jumbled together. Some of it's good, some of it's not as much, but all of it's there and intense. But their trial made them think about some things, and how some of what they'd said to Ochre... were important to themselves too.

The more they think about this, the more they know this is probably long overdue.]

Sans... [Ngh... that doesn't make it any easier, though.] We gotta talk.

[They're not taking a rain check on this one.]

[seriff]

[...Huh. This is kind of rare. If those Arehtei trials hadn't been loudly publicised before the big day, Sans might have been caught off guard. Even as is, there's a fraction of a second between Frisk tapping into his mind and his usual emotional wall going up - just long enough to catch the sensation of a shiver.

Oh well. He'd wonder why now, but regardless of what the kid wants (from the confusing bubbling of emotion he's faintly picking up on from the other end, do they know what they want...?), he supposes today is as bad a time as any.]

Whoa, sounds serious. Your thing went that badly?

[It's a long way from a yes, and it weighs a little heavier than something said in such a light tone of voice should. On the other hand, it's not a no.]

[despiteeverything]

Huh?

[The confused jumble of emotions fades a little, overlaid by surprise. Then there's probably the impression of a laugh - amusement, relief, wonder, but also sadness, because any other time they'd be delighted. But not while talking with Sans.]

Oh, no. It... it went really well.

[Say hello to Piphron's youngest representative. Not that there's much of a pool to pick from for that one, but that's beside the point.]

But um... it made me think about some things. And maybe stuff I shoulda done a while ago? [They pause for a moment, unsure.] But I'm doing it now.

[seriff]

... Uh, OK.

[No point in objecting. If he's honest, he expects them to press him no matter what he says. They're like that.

What he's going to say once they do... depends on what exactly they hope to press him on. Just gotta try to think ahead for now. Yeah, that's the only important reason why his noncommittal response sounds slightly muffled despite not giving anything in particular away.]

[despiteeverything]

[They probably would've, for this. They'd have preferred not to and they'd have protested mightily at him if he'd tried to shut them down. And maybe it would've taken time, but this is a conversation that's needed to happen.]

I want to tell you what happened for me back home. I'm... I don't think I'm the Frisk you know. You look at me and you keep seeing them, and that's not fair. [...] If you're gonna keep being mad at me, or- or hate me, then I want it to be for what I did. Not them.

[To a certain extent that means they need to stop thinking of him as anything like the Sans they know. Probably. But maybe neither is gonna be completely possible for them.]

[seriff]

...

[The wall isn't going to crack from something like this. It's solid, well-constructed - more than up to the task of keeping his temper buried deep in the dirt with everyone else.

With that in check, he can safely find this kid's spiel... pretty funny, let's be real here. That's the only obvious emotion that leaks through into his silence. If they're this wound up already, what would happen if someone tried to give them a real lecture on temporal metaphysics? Their head might literally explode. It would be - uh - less hilarious than a lot of other things he can imagine. But anyway -

Oh, and someone other than him, of course. Lectures are work.]

Is it that common a name...? Who woulda thunk.

March 31st, action

[spagheleton]

[ Out of consideration for the significance of the date, Papyrus has generously allowed his brother to sleep in until the absolutely decadent hour of 7 o'clock. But not a minute longer! At 7:01 precisely, he slams the door to Sans's room open and turns on the light, a neatly-wrapped rectangular package tucked under his feathery arm. ]

SANS! WAKE UP! TODAY IS AN IMPORTANT DAY, YOU CAN'T JUST NAP IT AWAY!

[seriff]

[There are horrors in this bedroom that should not see the light of day. A few of them, unaccustomed to Papyrus's sheer force of personality, tumble and bounce away from the pile of socks and scrap paper behind the door when he bursts in: a shirt, some wadded-up grocery bags, a mysterious single onion, a couple of last week's crosswords, a trombone.

But Sans himself is immobile. It's hard to tell, because it's hard to tell where his collection of garbage ends and his bones begin. Heck, he and the bed are as covered in torn-up notebook pages and assorted junk as the discoloured dirty laundry on the floor is.

On closer inspection, though, one and only one of the scraps of paper in here is taped to the side of his contentedly snoring skull. It reads: "ok".

Seems like he's too lazy to have this particular argument right now. Come back later? No, probably not.]

[spagheleton]

[ Uuuuugh, this is why he hates going into Sans's room, this is so gross. How did he even manage to accumulate this much laundry in a month? He never even seems to change his clothes??? Uuuuuugh!!! Maybe he should've gotten Sans a clean room for his birthday instead!!!

Well, the telescope'll last longer, anyway. Speaking of, it's the edge of the box that Papyrus uses to clear off all this detritus. He doesn't dare risk getting filth on this nice costume, even if Cilan's giving him a new one.

Oh, this paper is stuck on? What does it sa--

Oh. Of course it does. The box's motion changes from gentle sweeping to insistent prodding. ]

OH MY GOD, SANS, DON'T "OK" ME WITHOUT EVEN WAKING UP TO DO IT!!! GET YOUR LAZY BONES OUT OF BED!

[seriff]

... OK. In a minute.

[He turns his skull with the noise of crinkling paper so that he's approximately facing up. It's a start. The getting up part is going to take some more deliberation - kinda hard to decide where to step first, what with all the trash.]

...Hey, you're up. What's the occasion?

[Sure, this isn't actually remarkable in any way - but every day is an occasion when his brother gets involved, isn't that right?]

[spagheleton]

[ Maybe it will prove easier to decide with Papyrus stomping down some of the garbage! ]

DON'T TELL ME YOU FORGOT ALREADY! IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY TODAY! I MADE YOU A SPECIAL BREAKFAST AND EVERYTHING!

[ Well, gosh, if that's not enough of an incentive to get out of bed, I don't know what is. ]

[seriff]

[Did something under the socks just scamper away in a panic from his pounding foot? ...Was it more of the socks?

That makes them infinitely more active than Sans, who just closes his eyesockets again.] Oh yeah? What's special about it?

voice, who cares when let's be real

[alphybits]

... Sans was I a statue for the last month.

lllet's say the 2nd

[seriff]

...

[Well, the call definitely got picked up. There's even the usual faint white noise in the emotional background that tends to start buzzing away when Sans is deliberately keeping something muted. This silence is just a skeleton doing his best, most blatant impression of a statue-like inanimate object.]

...

[He's surprisingly good at it. Wait, maybe that shouldn't be surprising. At all.]

[alphybits]

Oh my God, Sans, we both know the amulet wouldn't just pick up the call if you were totally asleep.

[seriff]

Oh, hey Alph. 'Sup? [No shame whatsoever.] I thought I'd try out the statue thing.

[alphybits]

... Pff. ... I mean. N-not funny!

I'm being serious!! Was I a statue??

[seriff]

I dunno, were you? Figured you just set up camp in a bookstore that carries those novels with pictures.

[In other words, he didn't actually see it. But she could have deduced that already, since she didn't wake up with a dozen new fake moustaches.]

Mail, sometime after their post but before the quake

[despiteeverything]

[Folded clumsily but carefully and sitting on the doorstep of wherever he and Papyrus are staying, is a blue hoodie jacket. It's not a perfect duplicate of the one that caught fire, Verens' styles are too different from home, but it's as close a match as they could find and afford.

There's no note accompanying it.]

10/06; from the hearth

[gottacatch]

[ There's a skeleton in the restaurant.

And a lot of other people, but the skeleton here is the most important part, and it's not even the skeleton Red knows. Which would just be as mesmerising (?), because a walking talking skeleton of any shape still hasn't sunk in as "sorta normal" for the trainer, unlike accepting backstories of 'people erased my memories to make me the ultimate example of hope', 'i go around destroying worlds to protect my own', and whatever other delightful stories he's been told.

Anyway, that's all distracting from the fact there's a skeleton that's both amazing and unsettling to see. And on a day meant for meeting and greeting others (or part of that), Red wants to do exactly that with this skeleton.

He finds an opportunity when he sees them going over to the bar and climbing up onto one of the stools, and the idea of finally going for it makes an energy tingle all over his skin like static (thankfully, it isn't). But over he goes, taking a seat on the stool beside theirs and staring ahead at the drinks selection for a second or so, just so it isn't entirely obvious this was planned, before turning to look the skeleton's way with a greeting leaving his mouth the same time: ]

Hi, my name's Red! Are you enjoying the party!?

[ Yes, he sounds very natural right now. P-please notice us, skeleton-pai! ]

[seriff]

[When he does turn to greet the skeleton, he might notice that Sans was already giving him a sidelong look, quirking an eyebrow that he does not in fact have. Gee. There's standard nerves, and then there's... well, maybe Sans should be flattered.]

... Uh, are YOU okay...?

[gottacatch]

[ Look at his jaw move. Red is maybe a little more excited about being spoken to than he should, given what might be the tone of that question. Regardless- ]

Huh, me? Yeah, I'm fine! It's nice seeing everyone enjoying themselves after everything, and I'm getting to meet new people too! And there's all the free food and drink - I'm having a great time!

[ If only batteries existed that could be recharged by such cheery emotions, now would be a good time to deposit them in this kid's lap. ]

I don't see many skeletons around! Um, walking ones... or any kinds, really -- except one! He's a really tall guy called Papyrus who's training to be a chef! Maybe you've seen him too!

[seriff]

[Sans has no batteries on him right now, but he does continue to give the kid a meaningful look. Meeting Papyrus first... explains a few things about that reaction, to be honest.]

You're friends with that guy? Huh... Isn't he with the Enforcers? He sure gets around.

[Actually, watching him for a moment or two makes it obvious that his jaw isn't moving nearly as much as it should - at least, it isn't getting the kind of workout that Papyrus's does near constantly. Then again, he doesn't have vocal cords, so who knows?]

[gottacatch]

[ Not following the rules of jaw-exercising while talking? He's already disobeying plenty enough by being a walking talking skeleton, so why not plenty more. Red isn't bothered by it anyway -- he's too busy talking to a skeleton. ]

I didn't know that! [ Though, the certainty quickly drops from his face. ] Oh, but now that you mention it... he did say he was part of a guard.

[ Wasn't it a Royal Guard? ...well, it's been a while. He doesn't remember, and he doesn't linger on it, shaking his head. ]

We've only talked a couple of times, but he seems like a nice guy. He's lively! [ In a very caps lock way, which Red presents like a good thing. ] What about you? What kind of job do you have?

sometime before the get-together; image

[cilantro]

[yo sans, you're getting a message from Cilan today]

Hello, Sans? Are you busy right now?