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video 01 | Aortic Aneurysm
(You know who is not going to react to this situation decently no matter how many times it's explained to him? Eddie. You know who doesn't have a good game face against fear? Also Eddie. He's alone, he needs an adult, and he's pretty sure they don't restock on inhalers here. He knew he didn't need it, not technically, but he also knew that his lungs were contracting at a rate that lead to hyperventilating and as far as he was concerned, that was exactly what an asthma attack was all about. He was having an asthma attack. Maybe. His body was thinking about it.
By the way, he's definitely just been staring at the video for a couple of silent seconds, his jaw working back and forth as he just tried to remind himself that he was actually capable of breathing. This kid......)
My mom's going to fucking kill me.
(The words are whispered under his breath and he would think twice about swearing if he realized how many adults might be watching this video. He was enough of a loser that he could get the whole communication device thing, really, that was fine. But he wasn't quite able to wrap his mind around the full extent of it all.
After a second, he decides fuck it. He needs his inhaler. It goes up, he gives it a few shakes, and takes a deep, deep breath in with it. Holds. Holds.
Then his whole body deflates, his eyes rolling up. He closes his eyes and thinks about how he would talk to the police in Derry. Ha. If that wasn't the biggest fucking joke ever. When he speaks next, his voice is pitched higher than before, that typical 'I'm trying super hard to be polite and endearing' voice that he uses to call his mom 'mommy' when he's real apologetic. He's not even trying to be a suck up. The kid's just scared.)
Um. My name's Eddie Kaspbrak. I'm Sonia Kaspbrak's son and I definitely need to be home for dinner which is like, in an hour. So if anyone can help...I would really appreciate it.
.....God, I really hope this isn't that creep who was taking all those kids.
By the way, he's definitely just been staring at the video for a couple of silent seconds, his jaw working back and forth as he just tried to remind himself that he was actually capable of breathing. This kid......)
My mom's going to fucking kill me.
(The words are whispered under his breath and he would think twice about swearing if he realized how many adults might be watching this video. He was enough of a loser that he could get the whole communication device thing, really, that was fine. But he wasn't quite able to wrap his mind around the full extent of it all.
After a second, he decides fuck it. He needs his inhaler. It goes up, he gives it a few shakes, and takes a deep, deep breath in with it. Holds. Holds.
Then his whole body deflates, his eyes rolling up. He closes his eyes and thinks about how he would talk to the police in Derry. Ha. If that wasn't the biggest fucking joke ever. When he speaks next, his voice is pitched higher than before, that typical 'I'm trying super hard to be polite and endearing' voice that he uses to call his mom 'mommy' when he's real apologetic. He's not even trying to be a suck up. The kid's just scared.)
Um. My name's Eddie Kaspbrak. I'm Sonia Kaspbrak's son and I definitely need to be home for dinner which is like, in an hour. So if anyone can help...I would really appreciate it.
.....God, I really hope this isn't that creep who was taking all those kids.
Video
That's when the video feed clicks on and.
It's a skull.
There's a faintly high pitched sound (He could hear Richie Tozier now: Somebody turn Eddie off! He's reached his boiling point!) and dimly realizes that it's him making that noise. He brings his inhaler back up to his face and takes a deep puff from it.
Then another just for good measure. (It's just hydrogen and oxygen, Eddie. Camphor to give it a medical taste.)
But somehow, somehow, despite the panic, Eddie's looking right into those eyes. They aren't the eyes of the leper. They aren't the eyes of the- the what?)
...W-What are you? (What are you, Big Bill now?)
Video; let's pretend i didn't forget to turn off comic sans up there
As it was, Sans gets the sense Eddie might just choke if he tried.]
A skeleton. [He offers, voice low and affably rumbling. For emphasis, he lifts a hand and moves each of his fingers to show off their articulation.] A monster, if you wanna get technical.
You're a human, right? [Asked casually, but genuinely. He was about 99% sure, but appearances could be deceiving aboard the Avagi.] As long as learning about each other.
video; i saw absolutely nothing
It wasn't even like. That overbearing niceness either. It was just normal nice. The kind of nice a lot of adults tried to aim for but failed miserably on.
A skeleton. That could talk. Okay. Well, he was on a space station so maybe he had to start expecting weirder things. Shiro had said there nonhumans.
In a very small voice, Eddie says a simple:)
I don't think you're a monster.
(Adults were the truest monster he knew. Other creatures too. But this guy?
No way. He didn't have that looming god-like presence of Eddie's mother, didn't have that cruel twist of a smile Mr. Keene had when he dangled his information over Eddie's head. No. That was being a monster.)
...Yes. I'm a human.
video;
The permanent rictus stretched across his face softens into something that appears almost genuine.]
I appreciate that, kid. But I promise, monster's not much of a dirty word we're I'm from. [Not exactly true -- it certainly was to humanity -- but things were different underground. Humanity saw to that, too.] Neither is human, for the record.
[That's also not exactly true, but he'd never claimed to be honest, did he?]
Listen, Eddie, I get dinner's in an hour and I don't wanna spoil it, but d'you like french fries?
video;
Oh...Well it is where I'm from. (So he was indirectly giving Sans an out of being put into the designated 'bad things go here' box of Eddie's mind.
Granted, he knew people could change. Sans might actually be worse than he seemed but Eddie wasn't so good yet at looking past the surface value of first interactions.)
I'd sort of hope so. I don't really think there's much I could do to something like you.
(That's implying the worst of humanity is all physical, Eddie boy, and shouldn't you know better than most?
Oh ho but Sans says a magic word here because suddenly Eddie's eyes are widening up as big as Richie Tozier's behind those coke bottle glasses and it's the first time since getting here that he actually smiles.)
Yes. There's fries here?
video;
Couldn't do much to someone like him? Whatever the history or reality might be, that Eddie could express such a thought was all it took to make it true.]
Sure. [Kinda.] Whaddya say, think we've hit not-stranger status enough to share a few?
video;
(Is that what happened to Georgie? He was even younger. God, Christ, he bled out-)
just because they seemed safe.
But then it occurred to Eddie that there was safety in public. He had a good feeling and maybe that feeling would secure itself if he spent some time with Sans.
So he nods.)
Okay, but can we go somewhere other people are?
video;
[Whoever she was, whatever she believed, she'd raised her son to act smart.]
You know the greenery? Kinda can't miss it, it's the only place here that isn't metal.
video;
And frankly, Sans might change his tune a little bit later once he understands the full situation that is Sonia Kaspbrak.
But he's got a point. Granted, it's a combination of Sonia's upbringing and the whole kids-missing thing that has Eddie being wary.)
Yeah, I do. I biked by it earlier. Did you want to meet there now?
video;
You biked? [Well goddamn.] Yeesh, kid, looks like we've got the makings of a race.
First one there gets the crispy fry bits?
video -> action
(He'd been biking home when this had all happened, after all. And he liked his bike. It felt familiar. As he didn't really have a place he was living just yet, he was nervous to lose his bike. So it came with him everywhere.)
A race?
(He wanted to say that he wasn't fast, that he wasn't going to win, but the idea of someone wanting to race him...He couldn't deny the little thrill he got from it.
(Eddie, you can't go so fast on your bike! Edddddie! You'll catch a rock and fall! You'll die, Eddie!))
Okay, okay yeah. You're on.
(He seems positively gleeful.)
On your mark, get set- go!
(The video clips off and Eddie damn near falls to get to his bike quicker. He pulls it off the wall he had propped it up against and as he jogs off, he swings himself up onto the bike and takes off. He has to swerve around people every now and then but it's easy enough to get around.
He's pretty sure he remembers where the greenery was, knew he had seen it, and after taking only one turn, he's pedaling up to it. He's standing in the pedals rather than sitting down but he lowers himself as he approaches, coming to a slow stop and setting his foot down on the ground to balance himself. He's panting a little bit, his cheeks flushed, but he doesn't seem to notice. Instead, he's staring around for any hint of a skeleton guy.
Did he win?)
action
It didn't look all that different, but looks weren't everything, were they?
As Eddie leaps atop his bike, Sans stretches with a roll of the shoulders.
While Eddie huffs and puffs, Sans fishes the half-eaten carton of Grillby fries out from his makeshift bedside table.
When Eddie slows to a steady stop, Sans looks down at his communicator-slash-watch from where he still sat in the library. About eight minutes since their call disconnected.
That was probably enough time.]
Jeez, kid. [The voice from the communicator is a little crisper in person, sounding from behind Eddie as Sans walks forward from seemingly nowhere. How'd he get here? Where'd he come from? Details, details.] How much did you clock on that thing?
[He holds up the paper box of fries -- cold, stale, but fries -- with a quick rattle.]
I'm a skeleton of my word. [Another rattle.] To the victor go the fry bits.
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He's rocking back and forth on his bike with simple childish elation for the sheer fact that he's never won a single race in his entire life. Eddie puts his head down on the handle bars and allows himself this private moment to smile.
Not such a loser after all, am I?
Maybe not, maybe not.
Eddie doesn't think that maybe Sans was giving him an easy out. It didn't matter for someone like Eddie, Eddie who was just young enough that this kind of validation mattered so much to him.
Eddie picks his head up and whips it around at the sound of that familiar voice. At first his eyes widen because okay, yeah, skeleton is still pretty creepy, but he relaxes pretty quickly after once he does confirm that yes, it's Sans.
All at once he's grinning from ear to ear.)
Clocked enough to beat you. Although I think I might have an unfair advantage with having muscles and all.
(Look at that. He was even joking a little. His eyes fall to the fries and he rotates his bike to face Sans, leaning over it to grab the box.)
Thanks! Maybe next time I'll have something to offer you as a prize. (He suggests, sitting back on his seat and looking at the fries. Sure, they were cold and stale which was kind of gross but as a principal, Eddie didn't get to eat junk like this a lot and he was going to relish in it. And relish he does.)
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It was a strange anomaly in the grand scheme of the Avagi. Gone were the rusted metal plates that made up the winding station halls, replaced instead with grass and trees. Two weeks of climate flux meant that grass was a little yellower and the trees slightly wilted, but it couldn't completely rob it of its otherness. A slice of something different in an already wildly alien place.]
C'mon, ditch your bike, take a load off. [He invites, settling on a particularly soft patch of grass.] You ride a lot?
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(Eddie slips himself off his bike so that he could walk inside with Sans, leading it along next to him. As they entered, he stared about him in wide-eyed wonder. It looked a little like fall, he thought.
He does as Sans suggests and nudges his foot to get the kickstand out. Leaning his bike upright, he took a seat next to Sans and folded his legs together Indian-style.)
Yeah. I ride everywhere mostly. It's the only way I can really get around town and do stuff with my friends.
(They all rode. He munched on some more fries but wasn't such a glutton that he was going to hog them. After two more, he holds the box out to Sans.)
Do you know how to ride a bike? Actually- like. Were you ever a person? I mean, you look like a skeleton of a person but...
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But even without the first hand experience, there was something nostalgic about it. That funny spot between life and death -- and whaddya know, limbo had french fries.]
Me? Nah. I mean, I am a person, but I was never human. [He winks, leaning over to steal one of Eddie's fries with a quick finger to his "lips."] I was a kid like you, once. A lot smaller, though. N' nope.
[Another fry stolen.]
Never learned how to ride a bike.
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Eddie wonders if this place is going to have all that too. A keen ache fills into the pit of his heart. Longing.)
Oh. Okay. (That...made enough sense for Eddie. Eddie looks a little frazzled at being winked at and he's reminded, not for the first time, of his friends. That ache deepens.)
A lot smaller than me?
(Eddie sounds incredulous. He snaps up a fry for himself.
Then his eyes widen spectacularly and his mouth opens until it's damn near gaping.)
Seriously? Riding a bike is one of the coolest things ever. I could teach you if you want?
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[He bites the "head" off the fry he's holding.]
Would I lose cool points if I told you I'm a real speed demon on a tricycle?
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Eddie sniffs at that.) I've had harder challenges before. It's not too hard. And trust me, if I can ride a bike, anyone can ride a bike.
(It had taken him forever to even get his mom to agree to that one.
Sans startles a laugh out of Eddie. It's more of a snort really and something he hides behind a hand but the amused delight is obvious in his eyes.)
Trikes are cool, sure, for babies. And seeing as you're not a baby? Yeah, you lose mega cool points. That's okay though. I don't hang out with cool people anyway.
(And he sounds rather proud and fond of this fact.)
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It's relaxing, in a strange way, listening to a kid talk like this. All of it is, despite the looming shoe hanging over them, inching close and closer to falling.]
Your friends, right? You mentioned them before. What're they like?
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Eddie wouldn't know what to think of someone actually finding him calming to talk to. He was mostly described as shriek-y and panicky and way too rambly.
For a beat, a strange looks comes over Eddie's face and he has to think for a moment.
Then he wants to laugh at himself. Jeez. How could he forget? Maybe it had to do with the space travel. He sets the fries down and works his fingers together, feeling...weirdly exhilarated. He has never once in his life been able to talk about his friends positively. His mom hated them so much and he- well. He didn't talk to anyone else.)
Well there's Bill. Bill's like, the coolest guy you'll ever meet. I'm pretty sure he knows just about everything there is in the world. He even taught me how to change a flat on my tire. He's kind of our leader, you know? He has this really bad stutter but like, that isn't his fault. His kid brother was one of the kids who went missing in his town. Bill's just. He's got a good heart.
(Can you see the stars in his eyes? They're definitely there. Eddie loves Bill, loves him a lot and there's nothing short of a little bit of hero worship there.)
And then there's Richie- (His voice pauses, his whole everything pauses. Fucking Richie Tozier. Eddie sighs and props his elbow onto his knee, chin going into his palm.)
Richie Tozier is literally the most annoying asshole you'll ever meet. (Eddie's on a tangent now and doesn't seem to notice his own swearing. His voice is...oddly fond though.) He's always doing these dumb Voices that sound nothing like what he's trying to imitate and he always is going on about my mom and pinching my cheeks and is so annoying. I hate him.
(Except for the part where he absolutely did not and honestly kind of liked the attention. But like hell he'd ever admit that.)
Ben's a good guy. He was new to the group this year. Kind of- big. It's weird seeing someone so big. But he's smart as hell and helped us build a dam. We accidentally flooded a bit of our town from it but we didn't get into too much trouble. And then there's Mike. He's the only negro friend I have - and he's actually really cool. He gets homeschooled cause his dad's a farmer so it sucks not getting to see him at school but we hang out a lot outside of school to make up for it.
Then there's Stan. He's a good guy too. Do you know what a Jew is? Because that's what he is. He's safe now that the war is done. Stan Uris' remaining fear is that they are still gonna be cutting the tip of his dick off.
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Plenty of people back home didn't find him very cool, either. But Sans always did. Always would, too. Maybe that's why the scene felt familiar in a strange, bittersweet sort of way. It'd been a long time since his little brother was young enough to talk so openly with him about his hopes and fears. It was nostalgic.
Of course, Papyrus never would've sworn quite so much. Not to mention the fact that Eddie was still alive, for the time being.
But details were cheap.]
Uh huh. [Sans nods along, listening closer than he might appear to be. Occasionally he punctuates the story with a soft mm or nod of the skull, taking mental notes on each new wrinkle and twist Eddie's words took.
Ben, new kid, smart, big. Mike, negro (whatever that was), farmer. Bill, a leader with a missing little brother, Eddie's favorite.
Richie, annoying, a jerk, Eddie's other favorite.
Call it a talent for reading people, call it the obvious earmarks of a kid with a crush, but Sans didn't have to stretch too hard to hit that conclusion.]
I dunno what you mean about you not hanging out with cool people, your little crew sounds pretty rad. I mean, flooding a town? [He nudges Eddie gently.] Not bad.
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It's like being seen for the first time.
Sans has a whole lot more awareness about the kind of person Eddie is than Eddie would even know where to begin with. His obliviousness to himself is a trademark of the time period he came from. The only time Eddie has ever thought about himself was alone in the dark of his room, feeling the fear soak in and letting it fester under the skin where the rest of his diseases lay dormant.
(You're a sick boy, Eddie! You're my delicate boy.)
Sick. That's all Eddie was to himself. Sick, sick, and sicker yet.
Except when he was with his friends. Then he forgot sometimes that he was sick. And right now? Sitting with Sans? He forgot to be allergic to the grass.
The kid might just have a chance this turn around. Honestly, Eddie's abduction to this space station was a lot better for him than the future that lay at his feet back home.)
Well we didn't flood the whole town or anything. We just started to cause some backups and then a cop came- it was horrifying. (He smiles a little proud. It had been horrifying in the moment, anyway, but with Sans approval, he felt like maybe it was pretty cool too.)
Nah. They're the greatest guys I've ever met in my life. Everyone calls us losers but that's okay. We kind of are losers.
(He grins at Sans then, his nose wrinkled up, and yeah, he was fine with that name after all.)
What about you, Sans? Do skeletons have a lot of friends?
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It was a special thing. This kid had spark in him. Weighed down, maybe, but too bright to miss its shine.
... This place was gonna tear him to pieces.]
Skeletons? Oh, sure. I'm a pretty popular guy back where I'm from. [In so far as popularity could be measured by how many people who knew his name and his drink order, but nothing else.] Here? Eh... I'm eating french fries with a new pal now, aren't I?
[He winks, and steals another fry. They were down to the dregs now; only bits left. Those were Eddie's spoils of victory, and Sans avoids them in favor of a shriveled up frankenfry.]
S'alright if I ask you something a little more serious, kid?
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The only difference is that unlike at Derry, this place seemed to have no shortage of actual quality adults. Adults who maybe wanted to help. Like, actually to help.)
Yeah? What are some of your friends like? Are they monsters like you? (Eddie uses the word 'monster' like a physical object. He holds it in his mouth curiously, realizing maybe for the first time that words did not have to have concrete meaning. That a monster could be simultaneously good and bad.
That was information he wasn't sure what to do with. For now, it's tucked away.)
We're friends?
(There's a small hopefulness that melts its way into Eddie's voice. He does not make friends often. He stares at the bottom of the fries and tips the box back to eat them.
Half of them.
The other half he holds out to Sans and grins a bit sheepishly.)
I'm stuffed from the others. (A lie, sure, but Eddie wanted to give his new friend (a new friend, mom) the rest of the good pieces.
But the serious question thing? That has Eddie lowering the box a little and he feels a prickle of discomfort under his skin.)
Um. Yes. (His gut instinct is to ask if he's in trouble but he doesn't. He waits for Sans to ask him instead.)
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