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Yeah. Follow my finger without turning your head. [Sans raises a pointer finger and moves it up and down, then back and forth, watching the lenses shift in response.] Guess that explains why you're having eye problems.

[He's still trying to act casual about it, but this knowledge sets his own thoughts on one of their spirals. It's getting worse. Sans had been hoping that he would be the only one who had anything additional happen, but now the electronics have gotten into Papyrus's head.

(Or had it been happening? Sans hasn't exactly been checking the inside of Papyrus's skull--has Papyrus? Did it happen because of Papyrus's injuries, or did they just speed up something that had been happening all along?)]

Th-That would explain it... [Papyrus's thoughts are barely on his words as he speaks, agreeing almost by reflex. Apparently his skull isn't sacrosanct in any way, not from intrusive thoughts and not from machine bits trying to repair his injured eye sockets. But the stammer in his voice catches his attention. Stammering again, even though it'd almost worn off after the first two days. Shivering again too, the all-but-boneless rattle that makes little metallic collision sounds. It feels like a setback, being so obviously and audibly nervous.

He sighs, tries to force some calm while glancing away from his brother's expression, and scratches at the side of his skull. It itches - again? It's been itchy on and off for weeks, on the sides, but that was where he'd scraped for the terrible decision cookies, and he'd assumed that was his conscience prickling at him. Maybe it was something else. He pulls the hand down, examines his vertebrae instead. Bone, bone, bone... But a little notch at the base of his skull, one that reminds him of the various ports inside his ribcage, or the base of his phone, or the computer.]

Maybe... M-Maybe I have a future, as a photographer, instead of cleaning up the streets. [Trash collection isn't all that bad, especially since it's given him useful insights into the human dump - ideas where to get things to save on money. But there's a different upside to this notion: distraction, in a style they both know.] Something to l-look forward to.

[Sans sits back down on the couch, giving Papyrus his space back. There's nothing Sans can go about the cameras in Papyrus's skull, so he can at least leave it be.] Yeah, I bet for you it'll be a snap. [Well, he can leave it be and provide their normal kind of distraction.]

Heh. [It's tired and worn out, but he laughs quietly. As frustrating as it is to be dealing with another weird change, apparently, or to get punned at when he wants answers? It's a relief when they both want to dodge the subject.

That said, maybe-cameras in his eye sockets aren't the same as limbs replaced by machinery, much less wings growing from a skull. It might possible...]

...Your wings are, really attached, right? [Papyrus gestures at Sans's head, then rests gloved hands to fidget in his lap - very carefully not reaching up into his eye socket to feel around. If he's going to try pulling the parts in his skull out... not until their injuries heal.]

Yeah. [Sans stretches the wing on his back closer to Papyrus out fully so Papyrus can see where the bones of his wings connect to his shoulder blades (which are larger than they were before, to accommodate a second set of limbs--that change has been there since he got his wings, but it's not as if Sans shows off his shoulder blades much), then repeats the motion with the smaller wings at his temples. They're connected the same as his arms or legs attach; his body treats them all as limbs.] I felt when they came in, so I'm pretty sure they started out attached. [Don't start ripping anything out too haphazardly...]

Oh, uh... [There's a degree to which Papyrus regrets asking. Partly because they've been generally avoiding acknowledging things like this, outside the moments of panicked realization... But mostly because Sans's ongoing glow is just one more brightness to regret squinting at.

...Well, with the talk of cameras, he remembers he has something he can do about it. With a hum of acknowledgement to let Sans know he's paying attention, Papyrus reaches under his own shirt with the increasingly practiced motion of tugging his phone out from where it's secured inside his rib cage - along with enough slack in the cable to work with. Pulls up the camera app, takes a picture of Sans's shoulder blades, and half-closes his eye sockets to focus on the digital image instead of what he himself sees. (He doesn't stop to ask).]

Huh. You really can't see where your bones end and the new bones start... Except the halo. [It certainly looks like the wings couldn't just come off without some sort of injury, not the way machine parts can. Weirdly, he finds himself feeling an inkling of jealousy. Why did Sans get extra bones? Even if they sort of balance the ghostly bones of his ribcage, they're still better than no bones.]

Didn't even give me time to pick a cool pose. [That's the most Sans objects to the sudden photography. That's followed up with just a flicker of a sort of complicated expression when Papyrus calls them "new bones". Well, they are new, relatively speaking. But they just kind of feel like bones at this point. Since Papyrus has a picture to look at now, Sans settles his wings back in a more comfortable position.] I think the halo's attached just with magic. [Okay, all their bones are kind of attached with magic. But the halo leans way more on the magic side.] But I can tell where it is without looking at it. [So his proprioception functions just fine with his new body parts, even the mysterious floating ones.]

[Papyrus glances over at him, briefly confused and then briefly embarrassed as he notices the casualness of his photography. But it fades with Sans not expressing any annoyance, and calmness coming easier with some of his attention on the digital information streaming back and forth. The rattling and stammering fade faster than they would have with just positive thinking, too. He needed to see those glowing bones without a headache, anyway, and besides:]

As if you even would've made a cool pose. [Sans probably would have made an especially dorky expression instead of anything cool. Papyrus zooms in on the image, briefly examining the size of the shoulder blades, before zooming up to the halo (still in its cast).] Is that... weird? Seeing so many directions, but, not seeing what you're seeing with. [Nobody expects to see their own eyes without a mirror or something, at least not if their eyes are next to each other and not prone to moving around. But with so much of a view... Seems symbolic. His brother not doing much useful self reflection, but noticing everything about everyone else... Papyrus turns the camera app back on, turns the phone on himself.]

Uh. [Sans's expression does that same complicated thing again, there and gone in an instant, because:] Actually, now that it's all wrapped up, it's kind of weird not being able to see all over the place? [But as soon as he's said that it feels too honest, or too--too something. He shrugs, hangs onto his casual attitude.] Guess I just got too used to being able to use my phone and watch TV and use a laptop at the same time. [Triple the laziness. See, it was just a joke.] Anyway, it's not like I could see my own face when I just had two eyes.

That's true... [As he figured. Yet, as much as a good portion of his attention is focused on the phone, and not staring at Sans's painfully glowing form, Papyrus still catches a little of the weirdness. Something of how his expression flickered, and that he's doing the too-casual voice and posture. Papyrus shrugs back, trying to open his eye sockets enough to get a some light in there without having to turn towards a light, or worse, use the flash.] Not even having to turn your head from one to another... When you put it like that, it really fits you. [Whatever else is going on, he can at least help back up Sans's usual stories of laziness.]

And my wings can be a blanket or a pillow. [So they fit him, too. A complete laziness package. He watches Papyrus fussing with his phone and eye sockets.] You lookin' for something specific? [Maybe Sans could help if so. Even if it's about the machinery growing in Papyrus's skull.]

[At the note of blanket or pillow, Papyrus coughs a laugh - truly, the whole package is kind of fitting, except for the weird stuff in Sans's chest. But at the question, he shifts uneasily.] I'm... just trying to get a look. Since, I can't see my own face either, without help.

Maybe you should get one of those little cameras on the bendy cords. [An endoscope, that's what Sans is trying to describe here.]

Not a terrible idea... [He has to concede that much, it sounds easier to maneuver into some places than the whole phone.] But not very useful right this minute? I don't want to wait for delivery.

Yeah, but--well, that stuff in there probably isn't going anywhere. [Sans would call this being realistic, but maybe it's a pessimistic overall outlook? He's never been very good at telling the difference. He just thinks Papyrus might not really want to hear that.] Might as well wait until your head hurts less, right?

Maybe it's not. [He doesn't sound like he believes the idea. Now that he knows there's something in there, something growing in there, it's hard not to wonder about every itch and prickle. Is it really just a camera materializing in the back of his eye sockets...? Are those sensations the itch of wires spreading out, or circuits etching into the insides of his skull...?

He adjusts the camera again, forces himself to open his sockets wide while facing a light, even with the stabbing it brings, and records a brief video of tilting his head a couple ways.] I'm just, getting a baseline. [To repeatedly view in his head - through the cables in his chest - while they keep chatting or he starts listening to "podcasts" or whatever.]

[Well, it's not as if Sans can stop Papyrus from doing whatever he wants to do. His wings shift a little, his hands winding up buried in them, fussing pointlessly. This is really getting to be a habit.] Well, just take a break if your eyes get too tired, I guess.

Never fear! I am... already about done. [He says this with almost his usual energy, only a little forced bluster as he gets in one more shot - but already experiencing tired eyes, he means too.] Besides... I, uh. It's not as tiring, to look through the camera. [Has he really explained what he's figuring out, this ability to connect with other electronics? Others, because... he's pretty much electronics too. It's a far cry from his initial hesitation to so much as accept a power cord.]

Oh yeah? [A little more insight into how Papyrus functions now. He's still working at his feathers, meanwhile.] Does it work like regular seeing, or like imagining something?

Well... [Papyrus hesitates as he lowers the phone and tucks it away, briefly glancing at Sans from the side. Looking sidelong hurts a bit, like stretching after sitting too long - another sensation he hadn't been familiar with until recently - which doesn't bode well for the tiredness of his eye sockets and whatever mystery machinery is now inside them. But the sight of Sans's hands buried in feathers... If they're both interacting with their changes, maybe it's less awkward. He closes his eye sockets and settles back, drawing up the image gallery.]

It's... very not like regular seeing. Or... imagining. More like... watching TV? But, no peripheral vision. [Just a face pressed up against the screen, perfectly focused on things the way the screen is focused, where turning his head around makes no difference in what he's seeing. Like now, 'staring' at the sight of his own face, with lenses and odd aperture pupils behind them faintly glowing in his eye sockets... But with the live camera feed, he could change the view - with his hands, instead of his neck or eye sockets. Disconnected sensations.] It's... different.

Huh. [Not like Sans's extra eyes, which function like his regular ones but more, but having closed-circuit cameras.] Guess that'd be pretty useful sometimes. [Not always bad. Would probably be better with more bones involved, though.] And now you can't tell me I'm hogging the TV. [Papyrus has a permanent TV, therefore Sans gets the real one.]

Oh my god?? No??? [That draws Papyrus out of his internal contemplation enough to scowl and throw his hands in the air, even if he only briefly scowls at Sans before squinting against the light again.] I'm not connected to the TV, I'm hearing the same channels you are! [His indignation swerves into contemplation, as the thought of connection sinks in. Come to think of it, the television signal is the same kind of video/audio feed as his phone, isn't it? Or, if not the same, similar. The cables are different, but if he checks around, maybe one of the other mystery ports... Or an adapter...]

Good thing I always pick great shows. [It's a mix of comedy movies, stand up, terrible B movies, and science documentaries, usually. Mostly those last two. Your mileage may vary.]

If you say so. [His mileage varies, but then...] I guess, without MTT, we have to settle for what's left. [There's always that talk show channel, but it's a little weird watching a show he's been on. What if they run a rerun from when he was a guest?]

[If they do a rerun Papyrus was on then Sans will definitely watch it.] We've all gotta make sacrifices, I guess. [There was only one Mettaton.]

anything else Sans would want to raise? I think I'm good wrapping up if no

spaghettimonster - 2021-11-13 04:51 (UTC) - Expand

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anything else Sans would want to raise? I think I'm good wrapping up if no