sans (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
punful) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
entrancelogs2018-04-30 08:19 pm
punful) wrote in entrancelogs2018-04-30 08:19 pm
[OPEN] it came from nowhere
Who: Sans and YOU
Where: The mansion, the grounds and the caves
When: 4/28 - 5/02
Rating: PG-13 for violence and character death
Summary: Sans tries to keep his promise to Shepard until the Indoctrination gets him.
The Story:
A: The Roof/Grounds: 4/28 - 4/29: what good has the news ever done me
Sans is not a hero. Never has been, never will be. And he's notoriously bad at keeping promises. His agreement with Shepard, back when she was forming the whole Wonderland defense group--or whatever it's called--was less of a promise and more of a...offer. Like a favor. He can teleport people to safety if need be, like the world's laziest extraction plan.
It's really the least he can do.
So for the first two days, he periodically goes to a window or up to the roof to look out at the Reaper and see if there's anyone out on the grounds or in the hills. If he spots anyone who seems to be wandering too close to the Reaper, he'll teleport nearby--off to the side, as he's not trying to startle anyone. It becomes a little more harrowing once people start showing signs of...not quite being all there anymore.
"hey, it seems kinda dangerous out here. let's go back to the mansion, yeah? i know a shortcut."
If they seem like they can't be convinced, he'll leave them alone.
B: The Kitchen: 4/30: it's just the radio, darling
It's getting bad. Something has gone wrong and he can feel something else creeping around in his head and starting to push its way into his soul. He's been careful--he's always careful. He hasn't stayed outside or anywhere near the Reaper for longer than it takes to teleport someone to safety. And yet as the day continues, he feels it getting stronger and stronger, his sense of self starting to unravel.
Something must be in the mansion.
He gives up on trying to rescue people who want to go investigate the Reapear, because at this point there's a lot of people heading that way, too many to bother. He stays inside, away from windows and electronics, eventually sort of holing up in the kitchen.
He makes pancakes. He makes a lot of pancakes. It's a good enough distraction for awhile. And even brainwashed people need to eat.
C: The Caves: 5/1 - 5/2: shouldn't there be screaming, praying, crying
Once it gets too bad to say in the mansion, Sans heads for the caves. He tries to track down any friends and family before then, trying to get them to come with him. If any of them are even left.
The caves are safe and quiet, but the presence in his head doesn't go away. It doesn't get any stronger, but it's still there the whole time, whispering and urging him to just come on out, come check out the cool alien, cause he loves space, doesn't he? Shouldn't he want to see an alien spaceship up close?
He manages to resist. He tries to sleep. Tries to make conversation with whoever's nearby.
On the last day, the world feels like it's coming apart. The ground shakes. There's the sound of explosions. Distant screaming. Dust and small stones begin to fall from the ceiling. Some of these caves are probably gonna collapse, he thinks. It's the apocalypse, and he's underground for it again.
Feels like he's come full circle.
If anyone's nearby, he'll try to keep the mood light. Might as well laugh in the face of imminent death, right?
"hey. you, uh. wanna hear a joke?"
Where: The mansion, the grounds and the caves
When: 4/28 - 5/02
Rating: PG-13 for violence and character death
Summary: Sans tries to keep his promise to Shepard until the Indoctrination gets him.
The Story:
A: The Roof/Grounds: 4/28 - 4/29: what good has the news ever done me
Sans is not a hero. Never has been, never will be. And he's notoriously bad at keeping promises. His agreement with Shepard, back when she was forming the whole Wonderland defense group--or whatever it's called--was less of a promise and more of a...offer. Like a favor. He can teleport people to safety if need be, like the world's laziest extraction plan.
It's really the least he can do.
So for the first two days, he periodically goes to a window or up to the roof to look out at the Reaper and see if there's anyone out on the grounds or in the hills. If he spots anyone who seems to be wandering too close to the Reaper, he'll teleport nearby--off to the side, as he's not trying to startle anyone. It becomes a little more harrowing once people start showing signs of...not quite being all there anymore.
"hey, it seems kinda dangerous out here. let's go back to the mansion, yeah? i know a shortcut."
If they seem like they can't be convinced, he'll leave them alone.
B: The Kitchen: 4/30: it's just the radio, darling
It's getting bad. Something has gone wrong and he can feel something else creeping around in his head and starting to push its way into his soul. He's been careful--he's always careful. He hasn't stayed outside or anywhere near the Reaper for longer than it takes to teleport someone to safety. And yet as the day continues, he feels it getting stronger and stronger, his sense of self starting to unravel.
Something must be in the mansion.
He gives up on trying to rescue people who want to go investigate the Reapear, because at this point there's a lot of people heading that way, too many to bother. He stays inside, away from windows and electronics, eventually sort of holing up in the kitchen.
He makes pancakes. He makes a lot of pancakes. It's a good enough distraction for awhile. And even brainwashed people need to eat.
C: The Caves: 5/1 - 5/2: shouldn't there be screaming, praying, crying
Once it gets too bad to say in the mansion, Sans heads for the caves. He tries to track down any friends and family before then, trying to get them to come with him. If any of them are even left.
The caves are safe and quiet, but the presence in his head doesn't go away. It doesn't get any stronger, but it's still there the whole time, whispering and urging him to just come on out, come check out the cool alien, cause he loves space, doesn't he? Shouldn't he want to see an alien spaceship up close?
He manages to resist. He tries to sleep. Tries to make conversation with whoever's nearby.
On the last day, the world feels like it's coming apart. The ground shakes. There's the sound of explosions. Distant screaming. Dust and small stones begin to fall from the ceiling. Some of these caves are probably gonna collapse, he thinks. It's the apocalypse, and he's underground for it again.
Feels like he's come full circle.
If anyone's nearby, he'll try to keep the mood light. Might as well laugh in the face of imminent death, right?
"hey. you, uh. wanna hear a joke?"
no subject
He offers a little smile, tries to cover the flinch, pushes himself into closer proximity to Sans. His soul flares, anxiety and fear trying to tug him away from here.
The whispers in his ears urge him to stay.
"Stress cooking. That's one way to cope."
He looks around the kitchen then, looking for perfect nooks to shove some kind of booster for the signal that is currently trying to sing through his wires. He knows he probably looks odd staring around like this and while a part of him is angry that he's not hiding his distress terribly well, the part of him that is still his hopes that this will put Sans on guard.
no subject
He slides the pancake out onto a plate and starts pouring another one. He takes a deep breath, trying to steady himself. It's nice having Mettaton nearby, but the anxiety and turmoil in his soul is causing a sort of feedback loop.
"i'm...starting to think the mansion's not gonna be safe for much longer. might need to find somewhere to hide, wait things out."
He's about to suggest the caves, since electrical signals are always weaker underground, but then he notices Mettaton looking around the kitchen with a strange look on his face.
"you looking for something?"
It takes him a moment to realize Mettaton didn't answer his question, either. There's a part of him that wants to believe that it's just because Mettaton is out of it, like Sans is--or maybe he just doesn't like pancakes. But paranoia's been eating at him for the last few hours as his mind starts to feel more and more foreign.
"shep...shep said that electronics could be--affected more easily."
no subject
He'd roll his eyes and scoff, but the whispers tell him to stay amiable. Personable. Don't let anything slip. And yet he still rails against it all.
"You're probably right about hiding. Any ideas?"
Give him the locations, Sans. Let him know where everyone is hiding.
"...She did say that, didn't she? Don't fret Sans, I'm still... I'm still..."
His smile is faltering. There's an anger to the voices, an insistence, and Mettaton takes another step back.
"Please, trust me, I'm. I'm fine. Maybe."
no subject
Getting back to his roots. Cheering himself up, trying to take some of the sting out of everything that's happening. Everything that's probably going to happen.
"yeah, a couple. shep said there might be..."
There might be a safe distance, might be some places where people could survive this. He's about to finish, but then Mettaton smiles like that and steps back. He's hesitating. The hesitation is damning enough.
Sans doesn't take his eyelights off him as he turns off the burner on the stove and moves the pan to a different one. No more pancakes. No more distractions.
"'maybe'?"
It's...maybe it's fine. Maybe he's not too fargone yet.
"i-i mean. i've been hearing things. i'm still me, but there's...there's stuff in the mansion that must be broadcasting, and my head's starting to...feel weird. that's what you mean, right? cause...then we could just leave now and we'd be fine."
no subject
He says it harshly, suddenly, taking a few steps closer to be looming over Sans. He needs to know. The Reapers need to know-
His face twists and he practically throws himself away from Sans, the clatter of metal and cooking ware falling to the floor as he crashes into a nearby counter, gripping it tight.
Mettaton takes that moment, that sudden shove, to collect himself. The voices are quiet. His own voice is pained when it comes out.
"Sans... Sans, I don't think there should be a we in leaving. I'm not fine."
Contradicting himself so quickly. He hates this so much.
no subject
His eyesockets go wide and he takes an automatic step back. Then another as Mettaton comes to stand over him. He's viscerally reminded of Gaster, out of nowhere. Tall people like that know how to use their height, especially against someone as small as Sans.
It's terrifying. He tries desperately to keep his expression neutral, but there's sweat beading on his skull. Mettaton can't already be so fargone that he'd attack Sans, right? He can't be.
But then Mettaton reels backward, grappling at the counter, knocking cookware to the ground. Sans briefly covers his mouth with a hand.
It's so much worse than he thought.
"no...metta, listen. you--you can fight it. you can still fight it. you're still you and i'm still me. look, you can feel it, right? you can still feel me."
He moves forward against his better judgment and takes hold of one of Mettaton's hands. It's fine. It's fine, if Mettaton tries to grab him or something, he can dodge. He knows he can dodge.
He grips Mettaton's hand tight.
"it's still us. you just...you have to fight it. please, i know how stubborn you are."
He reaches up toward Mettaton's face with his other hand. It can't happen like this. They can't end up on opposite sides. That Reaper can't just--it can't just take Mettaton.
no subject
He shakes his head.
"I'm stubborn, always have been, but this is... this is more than that, darling."
He tries to keep his face away from Sans but when the monster reaches up and grabs him he doesn't resist, letting himself be turned towards him. He keeps his eyes closed. He can't bear to look at him. His soul pulses with agony.
"Shepard was right, you know. About electronics. I never. I never stood a chance, Sans."
He laughs, a little bitterly, and then looks at Sans, trying to hold the tears back.
"I'm sorry."
no subject
But that's wrong. This is--these are unique circumstances. He should be running. He needs to get out of here before Mettaton can do something they're both going to regret.
Mettaton's hand is limp in his own.
"metta, please."
Feels more like he's begging Wonderland. Or the Reaper. The Reaper can be kind, the things it's doing, the things it wants to do, it's a form of kindness, right? So maybe it can grant them both this one thing.
He shakes his head violently. No. Wrong. It's not kindness. Don't listen, don't listen.
"maybe--maybe if we get you away from it right now, before it can get worse..."
Stupid, since when do you go in for wishful thinking? Since when do you go for optimism? Don't be an idiot just because you...
Just because...
If there's anything that might get through to Mettaton, it's...
He's too high for them to touch foreheads, so Sans briefly leans forward and presses his forehead to the back of Mettaton's knuckles instead. Say it. Just say it. There's no such thing as the right time.
Say it and see if it saves him.
"listen, i... metta, i love you. please."
no subject
He freezes, eyes wide, soul trembling slightly as he hears Sans's words. His confession. Now? He tells him now!? Of all the times, of all the things.
The emotion behind it, the desperation, the bargaining, pushes along the connection between them and blooms in his soul. He's confused, worried, but then it really hits him what this means. What Sans means and for a moment all he feels is joy, a fragile happiness that threatens to overcome his own mind with its delirium.
And then the fear hits. And with it, resolution.
"Sans..."
He can't return his feelings. He can't say it. Not now. Not when there's even a shadow of a chance that the Reaper is making him lie.
"I want to say more, darling, but I can't. Not now. Not like this. Please trust me when I say that- that it's best if we part ways for now."
He turns his hand (gently, oh so gently) to cup Sans's face.
"I will be ok, in the end. This event will end and we'll be together again. All right?"
He can feel them coming back, the voices and images rushing back, and he knows that if Sans doesn't agree or tries to stall, he'll have to run. And he will. Because he-
Well. The feeling is mutual. He hopes.
no subject
And this must be why Chara and Frisk and Asriel all learned to hate it so damn much, because it fucking hurts. It's different from other hurts. It's almost the same kind of hurt as when he realized a version of Papyrus was about to kill him. Almost the same. Because he feels the confusion, the realization, the blossom of joy and then all of it overshadowed by fear and the foreign, encroaching sensation that must be the Reaper's presence. It's not going to be enough. Love is some kind of magic unto itself, but it's still not enough. Because Wonderland is more powerful.
It's already too late.
That hurts more than anything.
He barely even hears what Mettaton is saying. He just lets Mettaton cup his face and stares emptily up at him.
Right. The event will end and they'll both either die or they won't, and it'll all probably go back to normal, and maybe they'll even pretend this never happened. That Sans never said anything. That Sans didn't let himself hope for something and then fail so spectacularly.
The only thing that actually matters right now is that they don't end up responsible for each other's deaths.
"yeah."
He steps back. Lets go. It feels like he's abandoning Mettaton, liking he's letting the Reaper have him. Like he's giving up. Like he didn't do enough or love enough or move fast enough, like he should have done differently, done the right thing, whatever that is.
But if Mettaton kills him, neither of them will ever forgive themselves.
"i'm sorry. metta, i'm--so sorry."
He takes another step back and teleports. He doesn't reappear.
no subject
But that's not how it works here. Not now at least. He said I love you to save him and Mettaton wishes it had. He wishes it had been enough to break through the spell and set him free. It may not have saved him now, here, but...
It gives him hope. When this event is over, he knows. He knows it will be his turn to tell Sans the truth and he hopes fervently that nothing will get in the way of that when the time comes.