entrancelogs | [ ACTION ] OTA: You'll Never Know How Many Dreams I Dreamed About You

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[ ACTION ] OTA: You'll Never Know How Many Dreams I Dreamed About You

Who: Everyone is welcome, children and adults alike.
Where: First floor, ballroom.
When: Friday the 13th, from 9:00 in the evening on.
Rating: E (for Everyone)
Summary: Semi-formal themed fête.

[Guided by brassy music down an expansive hall residents will enter the first floor ballroom: it has undergone many transformations in its time, and suffered the myriad slings and arrows of Wonderland's event-related torment, but tonight its purpose has shaped it into something glittering and streamlined, the décor as advertised not long before. While socialising does appear to be the primary function, the arrangement of amenities would suggest differently.

The gilded walls border on overly opulent and a dancefloor - ringed with refreshment tables, an open bar, and scattered seating - is pointedly centred, and the brass band for which a Vendor Ticket was exchanged explodes with forceful tunes from a handful of different eras, some of which might be recognisable to those of the twenty-first century.

The only uncertainty is how one might spend the evening.]

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[Wow. The nerve of some people. This is supposed to be a nice, relaxed kind of soiree deal, and then Alex catches a glimpse of a familiar dumpy skeleton. And he's all dressed up for the occasion, how nice for him.

Too bad Alex has a bone to pick with him. He's kind of an expert at hunting down people who want to hide.

He doesn't make a direct beeline for him. He just kind of ends up nearby, then turns the camera (of course he's got his camera, what do you take him for, some kind of unprepared numbskull?) over to the skinless guy chilling by the refreshments.]

Funny seeing you here.

[He sees Alex coming and is kind of happy to see him, sort of. If only because he's someone that Sans can talk to with no strings attached. No recent deaths or emotional trauma with Alex, so that's nice.]

[Only then he sees the camera. He blinks and raises a brow ridge.]

uh, hey. you uh...making a documentary about the party or something?

[Hah...about that "no strings attached thing"...]

It's what I do.

[He says it dismissively like, uh, duh? He's the movie guy. Has Sans never seen him with a camera before?

...you know, now that he thinks about it, that's a very real possibility.

Well, whatever.]

I think there's some stuff we gotta discuss. Don't tell me you forgot.

[He says, like everyone hasn't had some seriously taxing events going on.]

heh...okay? knock yourself out i guess.

[He blinks at him again. Uhhh...was there something they were going to talk about? Did Sans forget about something? Well, he's not too great at remembering the really important things. And an awful lot has happened lately.]

[He's also not sure where to look. Does he stare at Alex's face or the camera?]

uh. maybe jog my memory. it's been a wild few weeks.

[If it means keeping the pressure on, Alex doesn't bother to clarify if he's intending to film this for posterity's sake or not. Keeping Sans off-balance will mean he gets less time to think about obfuscation.]

I'm talking about your whole staticky, teleport thing. Few weeks ago.

[He's stone-faced as he says it. Very clearly not dicking around here.]

[It takes him a few seconds.]

...oh. that?

[He gives an expansive shrug.]

i mean, i'm pretty sure it was just the communicator glitching out. didn't i say as much?

Uh-huh. You're not getting out of that so easy.

[Like, okay, Sans is pretty objectively harmless. But you don't expect a faceless thing in a suit to be the thing that rips your mind apart, flays you nerve by nerve. He's learned not to take any chances.]

There's something else that can do that where I come from. Wouldn't happen to know about about that, would you?

[Hoo boy. Normally he could just field this kind of thing pretty easily with inane answers and jokes, but man. He's just still really out of it and tired and not in the best of moods.]

[He sighs and takes a sip from whatever drink he's holding.]

alex, how could i know anything about your world? kinda not from there. seemed more like you world was of the non-magical variety.

anyway. can we do this some other time?

So you can slip away again? Yeah, you're pretty good at that, aren't you?

[That's damned suspicious is what it is.]

You think I haven't forgotten what you said during the last little shindig we ended up at together? Some shit about "timelines". Yeah, you still haven't explained that one.

[He narrows his eyesockets. Timelines? When the hell would he have...]

[Ohhh damn, right, Saturnalia. He rubs the spot between his eyesockets.]

you mean when you were talking about...what was it, three balls on a cliff? pretty sure i was just repeating something i'd read in the elegant universe. i dunno. we were pretty drunk right?

kinda wishing i was that drunk right now.

Sure you were, buddy.

[He narrows his eyes to match. He's actually been wanting to do this for a while - his heart's hammering harder than he'd care to admit.]

I was too. Doesn't mean I was making up shit as I went along. You said your brother, that freakishly tall guy, right? - he was from one of the bad ones. The hell does that mean?

yeah, well, i'm a chatty drunk. one of many failings. i end up talking about books and stuff i don't really understand.

[He shrugs. Is willing to shrug this whole thing off, but then Alex mentions Papyrus.]

[Sans kind of freezes.]

[The funny thing is, that was a different Papyrus. Another version. Also from a bad timeline. Heh. Hilarious. Maybe one day this Papyrus will go home, and another one will come from another bad timeline, and it'll just keep repeating like that.]

[And it's not like this timeline, if that's what it is, is so great, either. More of a neutral timeline, really. People dying and coming back. His brother dying and coming back.]

[He can't be reasonable about this. Can't be rational about Papyrus right now. His head is kind of buzzing. Alex is trying to use his brother against him? Seriously?]

it means it's none of your business. maybe don't talk about my brother, capiche?

Edited 2016-05-14 05:26 (UTC)

[It's funny, how you get to learn the little facial nuances that go on over bone. He's not sure what it is he said that would inspire that kind of reaction, the brittleness in that ever-present smile, until Sans speaks again.

Protective of his brother, huh? Well, everybody's got their Achilles' heel. Alex would too, except he willingly cut it out and burned it and it is no way anyone like Max, who's come to be something of a friend here.]

What? It's a free country. All right, so technically it's a free Wonderland.

[He's got legitimate questions here and Sans isn't answering any of them. It's kind of pissing him off.]

The hell are you hiding? Does he know, your brother? 'Cause I might as well go ask him, with all the nothing you're giving me.

[Sans tries to get himself back under control. Obviously Alex doesn't know what he's saying. Obviously he doesn't understand how bad the timing is here. Obviously he just wants answers that Sans isn't particularly willing to give. Obviously Alex was pretty unstable to start with.]

[Doesn't stop one of Sans's hands from balling into a fist in his hoodie pocket.]

can you maybe get that camera out of my face? maybe you didn't hear me. it's none of your business.

[He takes a small step closer.]

nah. you're gonna leave him alone. cause i'm telling you to. remember the last time you stuck your nose into something that didn't concern you? and you thought it'd be an okay idea to try and murder a kid who hadn't done anything? remember how well that went for everyone?

leave it alone, alex.

That kid ended up killing people. Killing me. I dunno if you need reminding.

[What's this now? Trying for intimidation? That's cute. He's like four feet tall, and Alex isn't scared of him anymore, not after that initial shock of seeing something pallid and white and nigh-faceless at a dumb party back in January.

He doesn't get the camera out of his face. He doesn't budge just yet. That laid-back composure of Sans's isn't quite as airtight as he'd like everyone to believe, it seems, but that's not enough to set off Alex's ~~belated~~ warning bells just yet.]

What the heck is your deal? You got something against questions? I'm just saying, back home, people - things who can do the shit you do?

They're not the kind of things anyone wants to meet.

sounded like it was pretty clearly self-defense.

[Not a good reason, but a reason. No such thing as a good reason. Just reasons.]

[As if he needed reminding, anyway. Like he needed to be reminded that Chara has killed people. Please.]

[He's so used to this. Trying to get someone to back off while you're forced to look up at them because you're so much smaller than everyone else. Alex could probably lift Sans off the ground without much effort. Most people can. Sans might be chubby as skeletons go, but he's not particularly heavy.]

[And that word. "Things." Boy. Well, he was due for someone calling him a freak or something, right? Hasn't happened in awhile, after all.]

nah, i just got something against people pushing me. our worlds are nothing alike, so i'm pretty sure i'm not one of those "things" you're talking about. so just...let it go.

Right, and the fish lady was just, what? Collateral? Acceptable loss?

[He's been keeping tabs on the little brat since they kebabed him. He knows he's not the only casualty at this point. Everyone can keep pinning his own death on him all they want, but that little terror's too dangerous to be given free rein like they have been so far. It's a miracle more people haven't been killed.]

Or - and here's a wacky idea - how about you be straight with me instead of skipping around the point like you always do?

[Wow. Wow. Bringing up Undyne too.]

yeah, that event. was meaning to ask you about that. max got hurt right around the same time, right? never did find out if she...survived or not. seems like she did. so. that was your fault, right?

[He shrugs.]

or maybe i'm way off base. still, point is--everyone was kinda outta their minds during that event. pretty sure most of us did something we regret.

[He steps back and smiles abruptly.]

but you know, i'm too round to be straight.

[His hand scrunches into a fist. If Papyrus is Sans's sore spot, it's pretty obvious by now that Max is Alex's equivalent.]

You dunno what you're talking about.

[Might as well be an admission of guilt. He's a guy who carries a lotta regret with him, and he'll be the first...well, maybe not the first, but possibly the sixth or seventh to admit it.

That abrupt shift in tone is unsettling and rankling all at once, and it sets Alex's teeth on edge.]

Like killing a kid, maybe? That freak's got one death under their belt, and it sure as shit wasn't me who did 'em in.

[But then, he doesn't have enough information to know who ganked the little bastard.]

seems like i do.

max is good people. bet she forgave you.

[Alex has proven he's the kind of guy to try and kill people, even children, without too much provocation. But that event messed everyone up, so Sans can't really hold anyone's actions from then against them. Not entirely, anyway. Not even Chara's. Shutting off their emotions must have felt like being crammed full of LOVE, the same amount of LOVE that they have when they face him in the golden hallway. Only it was fake.]

[He wonders if Chara regrets it at all.]

wasn't me, either. my brother kept me from doing anything too stupid.

[He lets his voice soften. This is a shit conversation and he's pissed as hell, but maybe he can still salvage things before this...turns into some kind of fight or something. He'd really rather not have enemies in Wonderland. Chara is one too many.]

that's the thing about my bro. he's a good person. best person i know, honestly. so he doesn't need some stranger shoving a camera at him, asking him about creepy stuff. he's...he's been through enough lately. so just leave him alone. and leave me alone. i'm not that thing you're afraid of, alright?

[It's shady, the way he intuits what he does. It might be that Alex is more readable than he gives himself credit for, or it might be that Sans has had practice. Or a real good mix of both.]

Yeah, you're really joined at the hip, you two.

[He's sure to drape that thin veneer of sarcasm over the remark.]

You're really good at giving answers without giving answers, you know that?

[But there's one valuable takeaway from this whole talk of theirs. Everyone's got a sore spot. Everyone's got a place that, if you apply enough pressure, anything can happen. And now he knows Sans's.

He likes Sans. He thinks he's pretty chill, for a skeleton. But he's too damned mysterious for his own good.]

How d'you do that whole zipping around thing, anyway? That some kinda magic bullshit too?

he's my brother. what do you expect?

[It's always so dangerous, talking about his brother. It's the one thing Sans is obvious about. Everyone and their mother knows how much Sans cares about Papyrus. He doesn't know how he could even begin to pretend otherwise, though he's sure he must have tried in one timeline or another. It's like trying to stay mad at something when you're standing in a room full of puppies. Sans just can't do it. He can't pretend like Papyrus doesn't mean the world to him.]

[It's showing everyone his biggest weakness, and it always ends up costing him, but he just can't do it.]

yep. it's a gift.

[This is good, though. Alex seems to be backing off.]

with monsters, the answer is pretty much always gonna be magical bullshit. anyway, i don't "zip around." not a fan of moving if i can help it, yanno? and i'm pretty sure there's no one in the underground who can teleport. that's not really a thing. probably violates several laws of physics, after all.

So what would you like to call it? Advanced degree in physics violations?

[He's determined to work at least one solid answer out of the skeleton if he can help it.

He's seen things that can hop around, subvert spacetime like it's nothing, and even if he's not one to know how that works, exactly, he's gonna be one to make absolutely certain that there's no remnants of that thing hanging about. Especially around Sans, who, in his mind, is already acting pretty damned suspicious. He might as well have an advanced degree in avoidance, the way he can sidestep around issues without breaking a sweat.]

'Cause that isn't normal. You know that, right?

i'd call it a glitching communicator.

[He shrugs. The lie is wearing thin, but whatever. Coming up with a better one at this point would be stupid, and he's tired. He really just wants to leave. Maybe go outside, get some air, stop having to answer questions.]

course it isn't normal. that's what i just said.

[Of course it's not normal. It's never once been normal.]

can we be done now?

[By now it's clear that whatever Alex was on to, it's all but wrung Sans dry. He makes a disgusted sound in the back of his throat and he turns away, scoffing.]

Fine. Be my goddamn guest.

[But he plans to keep his eye on this seemingly-innocuous skeleton for a long time yet. He's pretty sure there's more to him than what he's saying.]

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punful - 2016-05-15 06:31 (UTC) - Expand

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