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[Sans sits up when Papyrus starts stomping into the room. He looks at the plate in front of him with some level of confusion.] I thought you wanted the pasta. [There's also the matter of all this cheese on his plate, but Papyrus had mentioned getting Sans cheese earlier. Or at least asking Sans about cheese, which had apparently led to getting him cheese and putting it on a plate.

Okay, so Sans isn't really sure why he has all this cheese either. But the pasta was for Papyrus, so he can ask about that first.]

Yes, that's why I have some. [Papyrus wields his plate in such a way to tilt it for an unmistakable sight - some of the same pasta, in a similarly sized pile. That his plate lacks bread or cheese goes unmentioned.] But I'm a big enough skeleton to share! It's no problem.

[Making too much of a fuss about the pasta seems dumb; Sans shrugs.] Guess I should've ordered a bigger portion. [Not that Sans is particularly hungry right now, but it's obvious Papyrus is going to insist on making sure Sans eats. He picks up a bread stick and bites into it very deliberately.]

[A little of Papyrus's tension eases with the sight, because that's something. Only a little eases, he's wary of appeasing gestures that'll drop and backslide the moment he walks away... But that's something.]

For yourself? If you already ate it all, then yeah, you probably should have! [Because his portion size is fine - the food is basically just for manners, when he's mostly charging and supplementing with batteries and bolts and oil and such. And he can pretend he doesn't know what Sans hasn't eaten today.

Belatedly, he adds a fork to the plate, keeping the other for his own use.]

I don't want to steal your pasta. [Sans takes another bite of bread stick. It's just as deliberate an act as the first bite.] Would've stolen your bread sticks, but you don't have any of those.

[But really, he wouldn't have. He's still not really very hungry, though that's less true than it was when he woke up. That stored up energy is going toward replenishing his magic reserves, probably. (Or whatever it's called now. Sans doesn't think about it too much; easier to just stick to old terms.)]

Or, uh, your cheese, I guess. If you had any of that. [Why the cheese? Sans still isn't exactly sure.]

I've got plenty of cheese in the pasta. [Papyrus uses the fork to stab and twist one, prying it open to show the mixed cheese and herbs and whatnot within.] They're stuffed shells, remember? I've got plenty of calcium with this alone.

[No bones, no need - just habit. Sans, though, plenty of bones. Plenty of intangibility and spreading the bones out in weird ways, and who knows what they might have done for their durability? He glances at the pasta he deliberately put on Sans plate, and makes absolutely no move toward retrieving it, not even a slight aborted motion.]

Guess so. [Sans notices the way Papyrus glances at the pasta. He grabs the fork and takes a bite of that, too. Then one of the pieces of cheese. See, he's eaten a bit of everything on the plate. Ta da.

Papyrus might just sit here until he eats everything on said plate, though.]

So, how is it? [He doesn't think Papyrus has even actually eaten anything himself, actually. Not that Papyrus seems to need to--but Sans doesn't need to, either, judging by the last couple of weeks. Just two guys eating food for no reason.]

[Good, Papyrus could say, but he hasn't actually tasted any yet. He lifts the fork with the opened shell and shoves it into his mouth.]

Good. Delicious as ever!

[This isn't entirely true, given he didn't actually add any of the mechanical additives for enhancing the flavor. And the food's still in his mouth as he speaks - but with a voice solely of broadcasted audio, unshaped by his mouth, it's easier than ever to take a bite and talk clearly at the same time.

Terrible manners, though, and not something Papyrus usually does. His metal face doesn't flush, but the rest of his expression gives away that he would be flushing in irritated embarrassment - with a tinge of suspicion. It's a very Sans thing to do, talking while eating, and who's been mucking around in Papyrus's skull? He immediately takes a second bite of pasta, as if it'll stop him from dropping the accusation aloud.]

[It takes Sans a moment to realize Papyrus is talking with his mouth full, considering it doesn't sound like it. The convenience of being a robot. It's only once Papyrus's expression changes that Sans notices it, and the suspicion makes him look away as much as he can with so many eyes.]

Cool. [Would it be more or less awkward if Sans vanished into his room right now? He stays put for the moment, though his food is currently going untouched for now as Sans tries to decide if he actually saw suspicion in Papyrus's expression or if he was just imagining it.] The cheese is good. [You know, the one piece he had.]

[Papyrus swallows the bland food, relieved as ever that it's still working as it ought to - absorbed into his magic to digest, rather than physically moving through him. That would surely cause an even heavier blockage than the one he feels in some difficult to pin down part of his chest.]

...Oh yeah? There's more in the bag... I'll have to try it.

[Later. He's not wandering away for Sans to scrape the plate off for the dog, especially when the dog isn't here and the roomba doesn't have any sense of taste to enjoy the scraps - the nearly full meal - with. Maybe he could change that, add some taste receptors and capacity to appreciate them...? Later, when some other projects are resolved or stalled out. And when he's not firmly trying to make something better here.]

You can have one of mine if you want. [Sans nudges his plate using one of his extra hands, which means the plate just seems to nudge itself invisibly closer to Papyrus. (Maybe reminding Papyrus that Sans has a bunch of extra long extra arms just hanging around at all times invisibly is a bad idea, but it doesn't occur to Sans at the moment.)]

[It's not a great idea - Papyrus tenses at the sight, his motions slowing with the reminder. But he visibly braces himself and forces himself to relax again, refusing to keep flinching, refusing to keep avoiding. This is his home, their home, and he refuses to stop being glad his brother's here too.]

That's... I appreciate the offer!! I will, thank you. [He reaches down with a fluid deftness that is another automated motion, rather than making himself have to keep making the conscious choice to reach further - or maybe just to grab the cheese quickly, without jostling the plate.]

The weird shit just wrapped up, anyway. [So there shouldn't be anything wrong with the food. There won't be. There hasn't been overlapping weird nonsense yet - whatever hooked a few people into interest in the caves had to do with the light in the power plant, somehow. Nobody's pulling out a pacific rim meme about escalating changes.]

[Sans freezes when Papyrus tenses, though it's difficult to tell when Sans isn't moving much. He pulls all his arms back close against his body, as if Papyrus would even be able to tell.]

Yeah. [At least, it seems to have wrapped up. Not that there isn't plenty of aftermath to deal with, but Sans can't help but keep a few eyes out for signs things might continue, just in case. Like maybe he'd be able to stop himself if he just saw it coming.] We'll probably get at least a couple days off now.

[Or literally a week off from work, in Papyrus's case! Not that Sans knows about that.]

Maybe even a whole month. [Sometimes it's been that long between strangenesses - sometimes it's been even longer. But he's lacking any breath to hold, here, so he's definitely not holding it. One of the fans is faintly whirring away in there.] Plenty of time for repairs and renovations. I'll take care of the fridge soon! After the temporary stairs are solidly in place.

[He gently stabs the cheese and eats it next. With flavors bland, it's... well, it's texture. Cheese sure has some kind of texture. He swallows that one even more quickly than the pasta.]

Yeah, you can build that big bathroom you were talking about. [That seems like a safe enough topic. At least, it was one Papyrus had willingly brought up earlier, so it can't be too fraught. Sans is still ignoring his food.]

It's a great idea, isn't it?? [It is a safer topic, one Papyrus jumps on with enthusiasm, even desperation. He hasn't yet consciously flagged that Sans hasn't continued eating anything, but the disappointed dread has started building. All he's caught is that, so far, his goal to reassure with his presence - prior to them trying to talk about anything for real - has not made any progress, and he doesn't know why.] I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner. Is the shower even big enough for your wings?

[Sans stretches out a wing when Papyrus brings them up--one of his main wings, the ones with the widest wingspan. He does his best to ignore the patches that have thinner feather covering now.] As long as I don't stretch 'em out it's fine. Learned that back in the hotel. [When they tended to move without his say-so and he tore the shower curtain off or knocked the various soap and shampoo bottles down or, once, pulled a whole stack of towels into the shower with him.] It's not a big deal.

[Papyrus shouldn't go out of his way to put in a huge bath for Sans's sake, is what he means but doesn't want to say in case he's jumping to conclusions about what Papyrus meant by saying that.]

Hmm. [Papyrus recognizes what Sans means, but his jaw sets with stubborn denial. That's an unspoken message he is deliberately and actively redirecting to the trash bin, where he figures it belongs.]

Well, maybe it isn't. But that's no excuse for me not to. Why go neglecting the little deals?

[Why go losing the kingdom for want of a nail, and all. Little deals like cleaning socks, eating healthy meals, eating meals at all... These are the things that make bad times worse, if neglected. He takes another bite of his pasta, despite the lack of enthusiasm for it, as proof.]

Yeah, that's not really your style, huh? [More Sans's, especially about these sorts of things. Better if Papyrus is being Papyrus about it. At least half of why Sans feels so awful today is because of the possibility that he might have made Papyrus less Papyrus.] Sure, go for it, you put in a big tub and I'll flap around in it like it's a bird bath.

[He's joking, or trying to; it has yet to occur to him that Papyrus might actually be thinking about bird baths when it comes to his tub choices.]

[Papyrus makes an agreeing, thoughtful noise. No, neglect of all those details isn't his style, so it's reassuring to find himself still taking initiative with things like that.]

I could get one of those... [He pulls up a clip of birds in a bird bath, fluttering around and making a mess of things. If there's any chance Sans will react to a larger body of water like that - had he, back when Papyrus was cleaning up the beach? - then bathroom planning really needs to accommodate it. Outwardly, he doesn't pause while that search goes on.] A nice water feature, to fill out the yard. But they probably don't come large enough for that. [For you, he manages to not outright say. As odd as it is to think of Sans being the one who's too big for something.]

Humans've got those ponds, haven't they? Y'know, the ones they dig in the yard and put fish in. [But if they did have a koi pond it probably wouldn't be good for the fish if Sans flapped around in it.

As far as other signs of Sans flapping around in water that Papyrus may have picked up on, while Sans hasn't really been in the lake, he does flap them to get them dry. And he may have been caught stretching out his wings in the rain once or twice. Maybe a few more times than that.]

[Right. No wood, and making sure the tiles and grout are suitable for a room that'll get flooded with sprinkled water everywhere regularly. He's got this planning well in hand.]

A whole pond?? [This, finally, startles an incredulous but genuine laugh from him. It's not so loud or full of shaking that he drops the food, as some automated process he activated without much thought is keeping it balanced enough not to spill, but he laughs.] That is smaller than a river... I'll put it on the ideas list!

[It's a relief to hear Papyrus laugh; something in Sans's soul unclenches.] Something to ponder, right? Bet it'd really make a splash.

[Fun fact about Papyrus's body: while his cooling fans are among its louder components, prone to increasing in volume when he pushes himself too hard... Pretty much all of his body makes various quiet mechanical noises, thanks significantly to the various motors and pistons and other parts allowing him a full range of motion.

Including things like his eyes, which are normally next to silent in comparison with the rest of him. Most of the time. Right now, they're downright audible, thanks to Papyrus deliberately broadcasting the sound of the eyeroll with his voicebox to emphasize it.]

Thanks, Sans. [It's a relief to hear his brother making shitty off the cuff puns, choosing to rile him rather than timidly tolerate his presence.]

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