Sans (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ribticklers) wrote2022-10-12 09:30 am
ribticklers) wrote2022-10-12 09:30 am
Austice Inbox
INBOX
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[So speaking of the network, Papyrus wraps up his first message to it by immediately turning to Sans with a question. You know, as you do when helping your brother who didn't want to risk injury, bloodloss, or weird blood magic to still feel included in the network's shenanigans.]
--Hey Sans, have you noticed anything 'off' about your memories?
[Because that's how memories work - it's easiest to notice gaps in one's own memories, rather than noticing strange conflicts in comparison with someone else's. After all, stories describing memories don't live up to the lived experience! And nobody else could be mucking around in anybody's skull to experience someone else's memories - there's just no good way to go comparing things.
That, or some practiced habit wants to avoid comparing stories of their own pasts. It's not like his brother was ever very forthcoming with those things in the first place.]
--Hey Sans, have you noticed anything 'off' about your memories?
[Because that's how memories work - it's easiest to notice gaps in one's own memories, rather than noticing strange conflicts in comparison with someone else's. After all, stories describing memories don't live up to the lived experience! And nobody else could be mucking around in anybody's skull to experience someone else's memories - there's just no good way to go comparing things.
That, or some practiced habit wants to avoid comparing stories of their own pasts. It's not like his brother was ever very forthcoming with those things in the first place.]
How would I know if I forgot I knew? [But really, Sans is searching what he remembers, testing for gaps. If he's missing memories, he'd rather--well, he'd rather not be missing memories, but he at least wants to know what they are. Of course, even if his response was kind of dumb, it's still a real problem.]
That's... Okay. That's true enough. [Papyrus scowls even as he concedes the point. Truly, that's the worst kind of wiseass answer from his brother - the kind that Papyrus can't just dismiss! Argh.] There's the obvious way... Where things just don't line up, with pieces missing. Like that book, or the tea cup.
Yeah, maybe we both forgot why we decided to take stuff from people. [Maybe Sans has Toriel's joke diary for a vital reason. ...Not that Sans can think of what that reason would be.] Maybe I had an emergency joke shortage.
As if that's ever stopped you from re-using jokes. [Over and over, for years. Sure, Papyrus made skeleton jokes - back when he first understood what being a skeleton was. But Sans has gone and gleefully kept telling them ever since!
And since Papyrus doesn't want to leave the door open for Sans to give examples, he instead rushes to add:]
And I really can't think of any reason I would take this... or any reason Undyne would lend it?? It's a memento from Asgore. [And obviously there aren't going to be more of those going forward.]
And since Papyrus doesn't want to leave the door open for Sans to give examples, he instead rushes to add:]
And I really can't think of any reason I would take this... or any reason Undyne would lend it?? It's a memento from Asgore. [And obviously there aren't going to be more of those going forward.]
[Sans was indeed loading up some examples when he's derailed by Papyrus continuing the conversation. A memento from--] Who?
...Undyne? You know, my friend and ex-boss? [If this is Sans teasing him for having been so careful with titles to her face for a while there - like he still is with Queen Toriel - he's not playing along.] I'm not calling her captain anymore.
Nah, not her. [Though he double checks that he actually remembers Undyne even as he says it, because some doubt has been introduced into Sans's memories of events here.] Who's Asgore?
[Not yet recognizing the question as sincere, and with joke books and Toriel so recently in mind, Papyrus barks a cynical laugh before he can help it.] Wow, that's awful! You've been spending too much time with the queen, huh?
[Okay, so someone Undyne and Toriel both knew, but Tori... Didn't like? Or forgot about regularly? But more importantly, clearly someone Papyrus expects him to know, to the point he thinks Sans is making a joke. ...Okay, "Sans would make a joke about them" doesn't help narrow things down at all.] Hey, I've got a duty to the crown to hang out over there. [Sans can't help but try to regain his footing in this conversation, but the uncertainty is starting to show around the edges of his expression.] But seriously, I don't know who you're talking about.
[Papyrus snorts at the first part, because yes, hanging out exchanging jokes with the queen while Papyrus is busy in the garden is some sort of duty, probably. Morale support. But he catches those hints of uncertainty, and stares back with his own outright uncertainty.]
The... king? The late king. [It's an important clarification - especially with how maybe-flirty some of those jokes sound.]
The... king? The late king. [It's an important clarification - especially with how maybe-flirty some of those jokes sound.]
[There's no recognition in Sans's expression. He continues to look uncertain.] There's never been a--well, I dunno about never, I didn't pay that much attention in history, but-- Tori's been the queen for ages. [Maybe her dad was the late king, in that case? Still, that would have been before he or Papyrus or Undyne were born.]
Ages? It's... It's been less than a year since the human left. [Less than that, even - what has it been, months? weeks? Studying calendars isn't exactly one of his fulfillment activities. Anyway, Papyrus's uncertainty manages to build even further, now gaining tinges of unease. Is Sans being serious? What kind of history is he claiming to remember, there? Maybe... Maybe this is teasing about names and titles, just a roundabout lengthy sort...] You know, King Fluffybuns? Disappeared right around when the human left? [For obvious, awful, unspoken reasons. It was going to be one or the other, after all.]
Toriel was the queen when the human left. And when the human got here. And for as long as I can remember. [Which might not mean anything, if he's wrong here. Asgore, a king who disappeared after the human left... No, nothing. Not even a whisper of familiarity.]
N-No?? [His stammered denial isn't the most coherent defense of his memories, maybe, but he really isn't catching any hints of Sans hiding a grin here. That confusion looks genuine. Which can't be, right?]
She only very recently showed up!? Before that, she was... intercepting humans, in the Ruins. [It's also not helping his case to have so few details about the... years? she'd been missing and presumed dead. Presumed dead by mostly everybody, except the ghosts, frogs, spiders, and so on living in or visiting the Ruins, but they hadn't gone telling anybody - or at least they hadn't told Papyrus, which is basically the same thing. He has to admit that's fair, she can be a little intimidating that his brief experiences with Asgore never seemed...
But then, maybe that's the thing, too little day-to-day relevance. Surely these potentially off memories can't be so big as to include his own life, too, right?] Locked behind that door you kept loitering around. You know? You kept wandering away from your sentry station, to stand near it.
She only very recently showed up!? Before that, she was... intercepting humans, in the Ruins. [It's also not helping his case to have so few details about the... years? she'd been missing and presumed dead. Presumed dead by mostly everybody, except the ghosts, frogs, spiders, and so on living in or visiting the Ruins, but they hadn't gone telling anybody - or at least they hadn't told Papyrus, which is basically the same thing. He has to admit that's fair, she can be a little intimidating that his brief experiences with Asgore never seemed...
But then, maybe that's the thing, too little day-to-day relevance. Surely these potentially off memories can't be so big as to include his own life, too, right?] Locked behind that door you kept loitering around. You know? You kept wandering away from your sentry station, to stand near it.
[Sans only looks more uncertain, which is to say that his expression has changed to the point even someone who doesn't know him would be able to tell he was having an expression about something.]
I wandered away to go hang out at the castle. [With Sans's particular skills, it's not as if hopping over to there took much time.] I mean, we met at the Ruins, but she wasn't there all the time.
I wandered away to go hang out at the castle. [With Sans's particular skills, it's not as if hopping over to there took much time.] I mean, we met at the Ruins, but she wasn't there all the time.
...That... doesn't sound right. [Papyrus finally says, after a moment of contemplating this visual - plausible, but not at all matching his own recollection.] Okay. Okay! It seems like, our memories aren't completely matching up. Just like that Bunny-chan said. So I'll... let him know that... and then maybe we'll figure this out!!
[Maybe they can sit and talk and compare memories, seeing just how much matches up like it ought to. Maybe he'll use the device briefly, and turn to discover that Sans has disappeared from the house to go lurk somewhere for a while. There's no shortage of mysteriously magically locked doors to lurk near, even if they're a little less locked for Papyrus these days. That's funny, how the locked doors of memories and reality don't match...]
[Maybe they can sit and talk and compare memories, seeing just how much matches up like it ought to. Maybe he'll use the device briefly, and turn to discover that Sans has disappeared from the house to go lurk somewhere for a while. There's no shortage of mysteriously magically locked doors to lurk near, even if they're a little less locked for Papyrus these days. That's funny, how the locked doors of memories and reality don't match...]
Yeah, sure. [As long as Papyrus doesn't go into detail about what memories are missing, which Sans doubts, that's fine. He's still trying to piece together the situation here.] It's probably me who's wrong, right? If it's forgetting, I'm the one who forgot something.
[Or someone, apparently?]
[Or someone, apparently?]
finishing that tag I started before heading to work
spaghettimonster
2022-10-26 11:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[Papyrus's expression escalates to an outright concerned stare. His brother doesn't usually come out and admit self doubts like that, not without a lot more joking distraction covering it up... It drives home just how rough this week has been, mysteriously in a starless not-underground with scavenged food and no explanations.]
Maybe?? I-I mean, it's mismatch, not forgetting. I don't know why I would make up a king I didn't even know very well... [It would be one thing to remember dreams of a mentor who inspired and trained him or something cool like that, instead of what he does remember - a friendly guy affectionately mocked, with terrible names and the inclination to do whatever he thought would make people happy, even when it meant repealing ancient laws about puzzles and so on.] But, I don't know why you would just hang around a locked door either!? None of this makes sense.
[That's fair to both of them without asserting either thing as true, he thinks. Good enough for now, right? He fidgets with the device, making sure he's checking the screen for signs it's not yet recording, and checks passively - looks like a couple of other people have been chiming into the conversation, some by text.]
Maybe?? I-I mean, it's mismatch, not forgetting. I don't know why I would make up a king I didn't even know very well... [It would be one thing to remember dreams of a mentor who inspired and trained him or something cool like that, instead of what he does remember - a friendly guy affectionately mocked, with terrible names and the inclination to do whatever he thought would make people happy, even when it meant repealing ancient laws about puzzles and so on.] But, I don't know why you would just hang around a locked door either!? None of this makes sense.
[That's fair to both of them without asserting either thing as true, he thinks. Good enough for now, right? He fidgets with the device, making sure he's checking the screen for signs it's not yet recording, and checks passively - looks like a couple of other people have been chiming into the conversation, some by text.]
[If Sans was going to hang around a locked door, it would probably be for a joke. Still, that's not very specific, and it doesn't help him sort out his memories.] Well, the details probably won't come up around here. [Unless they're going to get dropped into a Monster Kingdom History Quiz Show, which seems unlikely. Sans doesn't like knowing someone either got surgically added or removed from one of their memories, but the misremembered specifics probably won't stop them from doing anything here.] We can figure it out later.
[Nothing Sans loves more than putting things off, right?]
[Nothing Sans loves more than putting things off, right?]
[There's a moment of hesitation, with Papyrus opening his mouth and closing it on his first thought, before he shrugs. It's not his most convincing shrug.]
...Yeah, I guess it can wait!! I'll let them know there's... something. [He holds the device up to signal who he means by 'them'.]
...Yeah, I guess it can wait!! I'll let them know there's... something. [He holds the device up to signal who he means by 'them'.]
Sure. [Maybe Sans will read over Papyrus's shoulder some more (metaphorically; he'd have to climb to do that literally). It's a bit of a hassle, but Sans doesn't trust that weird jar.] Maybe by the time we have that babysitting meeting, we'll have some other stuff to compare it to.
[Listen. Those guys are absolutely acting like babysitters, and Sans will continue to refer to them as such for as long as he finds it funny.]
[Listen. Those guys are absolutely acting like babysitters, and Sans will continue to refer to them as such for as long as he finds it funny.]
Yeah, maybe! [It is kind of funny, these people who don't even know them offering such a widespread offer of protection - even if the number of people they're protecting is smaller than it used to be. Maybe that's why the levity feels a little more forced, as Papyrus goes to stare out the window contemplatively - the better to keep any distress that might be on it out of his brother's (?) view.
...Some of the people here seem to be from other worlds, with other ideas about monsters and magic from each other... What's saying for sure that he and Sans are from the same world?]
I'll just let them know the bare bones what we know. Then we can see what sorts of things other people are saying? [How hard is Sans hoping to avoid the topic right now, anyway?]
...Some of the people here seem to be from other worlds, with other ideas about monsters and magic from each other... What's saying for sure that he and Sans are from the same world?]
I'll just let them know the bare bones what we know. Then we can see what sorts of things other people are saying? [How hard is Sans hoping to avoid the topic right now, anyway?]
Yeah, maybe someone else'll figure it all out and we won't have to do anything. [Not Papyrus's style, and he expects Papyrus to complain about it, but that's part of why he's saying it. Less thinking about what they may or may not have forgotten that way.]
Of course you'd hope that. [As expected, Papyrus scoffs and complains. But past that, he's relieved too - whatever weird differences in parts of their memories, at least his brother's acting like his brother in the ways that matter.
...Those, and the ways that don't matter, and are very annoying, but are almost grounding with how predictable they are. He scoffs again, pulls out his sunglasses, and pulls out the network device to start responding to Bunny-chan.]
...Those, and the ways that don't matter, and are very annoying, but are almost grounding with how predictable they are. He scoffs again, pulls out his sunglasses, and pulls out the network device to start responding to Bunny-chan.]
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