thisavrou | [video] Feb 17th

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[video] Feb 17th

[It's either very late at night or very early in the morning. Papyrus grins at anyone watching as he usually does, but this time around, something's off. His usual cheer seems forced, and there's a subtle, constant background rattle and the screen never quite seems to stay still.]

Hello again, everyone! This is the great Papyrus speaking, and... and I...

...

[For a moment, he seems at a loss for words. Then he rallies again and holds up his other hand. He has Sans's jacket in a tight grip, and clinging to the inside is an odd, distinctive sort of dust.]

I seem to have lost track of my brother!! That lazybones... now he's managed to slack off on naps! Is there no end to this?

So! If anyone has any idea where he is, please let me know! He probably just... fell asleep somewhere weird! There seems to be a lot of that going around lately.

[He starts to switch off the feed, then hesitates.]

Also, could someone bring some cleaning supplies to Sans's room? There's so much dust in here... I've been trying to get it all up, but it's just... getting everywhere.

[For a moment, he looks distressed, then he pastes the smile back on.]

O-once again, this is the great Papyrus! Signing out!!

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[ miles' chest feels tight. chara must be back, the timing makes sense -- resurgence isn't always a given, but the odds are good -- that can't have been a coincidence. and he can see papyrus' panic under the thin veneer of pretty unconvincing calm. ]

And he went back to his cabin after that?

No, no, I've been coming here! He's been a little lazier since his release, which is why this is so weird!

[ miles hesitates. he hates doing this over the network. ]

Listen, Papyrus -- what I do back home, sometimes it involves investigating this sort of thing. If you'll permit me to, I can come by and take a look for myself.

[ he knows damn well what happened, and so must papyrus, but this isn't a conversation he wants to have over MID. ]

[Papyrus is absolutely aware of what this dust is as well -- he's seen it before, when he was the one struck down -- but everyone's got their coping mechanisms.]

Oh! Like missing persons? I don't think it's that bad, there are only so many places he could be!

But if you'd like to come by, you're welcome to!

[ missing persons. right. the only place sans has gone missing is whatever ether the ingress pulls them all from.

miles arrives in pretty short order, looking grave, but he keeps the slightly nauseated look off his face at the sight of the dust and sans' strangely empty jacket. he looks up at papyrus with a short nod, professional but not dispassionate. ]

Papyrus. Hello. [ he blows out a breath and looks over the scene. ] This is how you found -- it?

[ he almost says him, but bites his tongue on it. he's not really sure there's a delicate way of going about this. ]

Not entirely! His uniform was in the pile too, I already tidied it up.

[It's on Sans's bed, neatly folded and equally dusty.]

I guess he must be out and about in his old stuff from home.

[ yikes. talk about denial. miles resists the urge to squeeze his eyes shut as he surveys the scene. odd, for a bunch of dust to seem as visceral to him as a body -- say, a child's body, broken and battered... context is everything, he supposes. his gaze snags on sans' neatly folded uniform and he almost winces. which is crueler -- breaking papyrus' self-delusion, or letting it go on? he draws in a breath and turns to papyrus, holding out one hand palm-up in an open gesture. his face is serious, but not hard. ]

Papyrus... I think we both know what we're looking at. [ papyrus probably doesn't expect him to know, but sans had been uncannily honest with him back there in his office, after chara's death. ] I think you know that Sans isn't just skiving off somewhere. He isn't missing, he's --

[ miles feels about as good about this as he would breaking the news to a child. his tone is gentle, as gentle as he can make it. ]

He's right here, where you left him last night. I'm sorry, Papyrus.

Edited 2016-02-17 18:14 (UTC)

[Papyrus's smile, already brittle, starts to break down in the face of it. Others suspected the truth or figured it out, but Miles was the first to drive straight to the point.

He hems and haws, unsure of how to respond. He knows. He does. Whether he's acknowledging it or not, some part of him knew Sans was dead the moment he saw the clothes filled with dust.]

I-I don't... he's not...

[Papyrus straightens, looking uncomfortable. If there's one thing the brothers have in common, it's their inability to talk about these things.]

I should probably be out looking for him.

Papyrus...

[ miles reaches out to lay a hand on papyrus' bony arm, his expression heavy with concern, but open. ]

You're not going to find him, Papyrus. I know it's hard to acknowledge, but...

[ he lets out a breath, and not for the first time, he wishes he had any scars to show for caducus primary. the only marks are in his bones, under his skin. he couldn't show papyrus if he wanted to. ]

There's something I'd like to share with you. A few months ago, on the planet we visited before Emiri, things went...badly. Worse than Emiri. [ he decides he'll spare papyrus the grisly details of that hellish day. ] I died down there, on the planet. It collapsed in on itself. There wasn't anything left of me, not even dust, and yet...

[ he gestures along the length of his short body, a mere few inches taller than sans, and looks up at papyrus. ]

I came back. Sans is going to come back too, Papyrus. Soon, I think. But he isn't here now...alright?

[Papyrus starts to protest, but as Miles speaks again he closes his jaws and stands still, silent except for that subtle, ever-present rattle.

It may sound incredible, but he knows it's possible. He was dead before he came here, after all, and he's heard similar stories from others. Death, while still terrible, is more of a temporary condition here.

And if no one stays dead, then it's less of a mystery how Sans fell down. He'd rather not believe it, and he won't say it out loud, but he doesn't have any other explanations yet.

He squeezes Sans's coat, worrying the material.]

All right.

[Nothing about the response is convincing, but he doesn't want to keep harping on it. He wants to get out of here, and he wants to bury himself in responsibilities so his focus doesn't have to be on what the heck he's meant to do now. Taking care of Sans and cleaning up after him burned through a good chunk of his day, and the prospect of all that free time is alien. He doesn't like it.]

[ in truth, the stillness miles is trying to project is unbearable. he shoves his hands in his pockets to keep them from twitching, fidgeting, as questions scream through his mind of who, why -- he has an idea, but that's not an answer. it's not solid information. accidental deaths, casualties of catastrophe were one thing -- chara's murder, and now sans' death, almost unquestionably murder too -- things are getting out of hand. and niko said they didn't need security.

but he can't go running off right now. not yet. sans might have dumped responsibility on him, but miles takes it seriously. he said he'd look out for papyrus, and he meant it, so miles doesn't go anywhere, doesn't say anything, just waits for papyrus to finish processing. miles lets out a breath and nods, eyes drifting to papyrus' hands around the jacket. ]

I'll notify the captains, if you'd like to leave. Or -- [ he hesitates, then opens one hand in a gesture. ] I can leave you alone, if you prefer.

[What does he prefer? That's a good question. Being alone sounds awful, but having been in a similar position with the captain of the Royal Guard, he can appreciate that Miles has a duty to report this as soon as possible.]

Well, I suppose I won't keep you. Steven's coming by to help, and others have responded as well, so it'll be all right!

[But just as Miles reaches the door:]

Hey! Er... can I ask you a question?

Ah, good.

[ miles is relieved to hear it. steven's a good kid with his head on straight, and papyrus could use someone like him right now. because as much as he'll respect whatever papyrus wants to do, miles isn't keen on the idea of leaving him alone just now.

he stops at the door and glances back at papyrus with an encouraging nod. ]

Sure.

So, when people-- I mean, when you came back, where did you wake up? The same place we all were when we arrived?

[It follows a thread of logic, from his perspective. After all, he was dead too before he got here.]

[ miles blinks, but the question doesn't come as a surprise. he smiles faintly, his hand straying to his throat to rub it briefly, as though checking for something, then he jerks up the collar of his uniform. a new tic he'd acquired, since his death and subsequent revival. ]

Not quite. I came to in the medbay -- fresh out of a cryochamber. [ how he got there, exactly, is sort of a matter of confidence. but of course it's all related to the ingress. ] Check with Captain Cúrre in a few days. It won't be right away, but with me and Eggsy, we were back within a week or so.

[ he waves his hand in a vague gesture of mixed sympathy and farewell. ]

He will come back, Papyrus. And don't hesitate to call on me if you need anything.

[Medbay. He knows where that is! And now he's glad he's asked, even if this is about as close to the truth as he's going to let himself get.

He's already brightening again, pulling the facade of being okay back on, as Miles leaves.]

Of course, of course! Have a nice chat with the captains! Tell them I said hi!

[ miles smiles back at him, though a little painfully, and turns to leave. ]

Sure thing, Papyrus. I'll see you later.

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[video] Feb 17th

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