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[ashkente]

Good afternoon, Castle. There's a new arrival, a seven-foot-tall skeleton in the ballroom sampling the sweets. He may be the most unruffled newbie to arrive on the floating island in quite a long time. Those who can remember events before they happen tend not to be surprised very often, and this is nothing more than a vacation for him. No Duty to do at all, for he doesn't have dominion here. He hopes it'll be restful and possibly even pleasant.

He's going to try a little bit of everything in the room, in no hurry. For any witnesses, it's a bizarre thing to see. Food goes into his mouth, isn't chewed at all, and must go somewhere, because it's not ending up on the floor. No matter how long he's watched, it's going to remain a mystery as to how he swallows and where it's ending up. Best not to ask, you'd only embarrass him. Some things ought to be kept private.

(Of course, skeletons eating food can't be anything new here. Hopefully no one will stare at him too long.)

Comments

[fiery_goatmother]

In her adventures around the castle, trying to learn her way around, Toriel has, once again, stumbled into the ballroom. It seems like it keeps popping up any time she thinks she's gotten away from it, and so she's feeling a bit frazzled by the time she opens the door on the confection-loaded room yet again.

She's not even really thinking all that much, either. It's on an Auto Pilot response when she spots the tall skeleton at the table and, as she turns away, she calls out to him.

"Papyrus, please be careful not to chip a tooth on any of that."

The door is halfway shut before Toriel stops.

...Since when does Papyrus wear black robes? Since when is he here, at his regular age?

...This is a goat monster slowly turning back around to look again. Sorry for the stare, Death.

[ashkente]

Toe-bones click as he turns around, holding a plate with his latest slice he wants to taste. He's never been into wearing shoes.

"I ʙᴇʟɪᴇᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ'ᴠᴇ ᴍɪsᴛᴀᴋᴇɴ ᴍᴇ ғᴏʀ sᴏᴍᴇᴏɴᴇ ᴇʟsᴇ?" That's not something he has to say every day. Or week, or month, or year...

[fiery_goatmother]

Deeefinitely not Papyrus. The voice isn't even close. Toriel opens her mouth to answer, realizes that she doesn't really know what to say, and shuts it again. This can't possibly be the one she's read about in those human books. Surely he's just another skeleton monster. The blue lights in his eyesockets are hardly out of the ordinary, considering her friends.

After a moment struggling to find the right words, she gives a soft cough to clear her throat and tries again.

"My apologies. It seems that I have." She offers a sheepish smile. "Have you only just arrived?"

[ashkente]

"Yᴇs, ɪɴ ᴛʜɪs ᴠᴇʀʏ ʀᴏᴏᴍ." Then he saw cake and decided to celebrate in a quiet way, apparently. The scythe is leaning on a table, not in his hands--look, not even On Duty.

[fiery_goatmother]

Toriel is very deliberately trying not to look at the scythe. On the one hand, it's awesome and possible verification of who this is. On the other, well. It's honestly pretty intimidating.

"Is that so? I suppose I should welcome you to the castle, then." Manners, boss monster. She steps into the room, still looking sheepish. "My name is Toriel."

[dustless]

...Not the Riverperson. Unless they're a skeleton family member who was really good at hiding their face. They wouldn't be surprised with the unexpected monsters that tend to show up here, though.

Frisk slips in and waves. "Hi. You new?"

[ashkente]

"Yᴇs, I ᴀʀʀɪᴠᴇᴅ ᴛᴏᴅᴀʏ." He turns around, now trying the biscuits instead of the cake, very methodical. If he wants to eat for days, why shouldn't he? It's not as if he'll go and get fat and he has nothing else urgent to do at all.

Doing nothing is nice.

[dustless]

"Okay. 'M Frisk!" They're working on remembering to tell people their name during introductions. "You're at a castle in the sky now. If nobody told you already."

[ashkente]

"I ᴀᴍ Dᴇᴀᴛʜ." He dislikes drama and being dramatic very very much, but there's no casual way to say his name. He's glad it's over with. "I ᴡᴏɴᴅᴇʀ ᴡʜʏ? Iᴛ's ɴᴏᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴏ ᴛʜᴇ Dᴜᴛʏ, I ᴘʀᴏᴍɪsᴇ ʏᴏᴜ."

[dustless]

Frisk goes the tiiiniest bit tense until that last part.

"...Nobody knows why we're here. Didn't know you were actually a person, somewhere."

[mercybutton]

They wouldn't have even known he was a skeleton if Flowey hadn't pointed it out. As it is, a child and a small potted flower are having a hushed conversation in the archway leading into the ballroom. Eventually, the child turns to the newcomer, facing in slightly the wrong direction, and says:

"Careful, some of those have jewelry in them. Dunno why."

[ashkente]

"Dᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴡᴏʀʀʏ." Ah, that voice, that sounds like rocks falling, hollow places, things ending. But you know, trying to be friendly. "I ᴀʟʀᴇᴀᴅʏ ᴋɴᴇᴡ, I ғᴏᴜɴᴅ sᴏᴍᴇ."

[mercybutton]

Wow spooky. Reminds them a bit of Gaster, in the way they've both got weird, unnatural voices. "Okay, good. Say, are you new here?" They would have heard his voice before if he were.

The flower at their side seems to be staring intently at the stranger, quite suspicious of him.

[ashkente]

"Yᴇs, I ᴀᴍ."

He has a scythe, yes, but he's not wielding it, choosing to eat cake instead. It's only natural, though. He has a suspicious lack-of-face.

[mercybutton]

"Have you already been filled in? I'd hate to repeat what others have already said."

They make their way to the table, Flowey guiding their footsteps with verbal commands. They pull out a chair to sit down. He eyes the nearby scythe, but says nothing.

[notsogrimreaper]

That... certainly is a tall skeleton. Ryoji had gotten used to all the skeletons here being shorter than him, so this is a little shocking, but at the same time, he's gotten used to bizarre creatures. Seeing another skeleton eating sweets isn't anything unsettling, or even anything remotely new.

He approaches as the skeleton picks up a cupcake, snags one for himself, and then breaks it in half.

"You'd better be careful. These treats double as hiding places for jewels... and those aren't nearly as fun to digest."

[ashkente]

There's a scythe nearby. He's not On Duty, but he does want to keep an eye on that--imagine if he lost it.

"I ᴀɢʀᴇᴇ. Dᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴡʜᴏ ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ? Aʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇʏ ɢᴏɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ʟᴏsᴛ ᴊᴇᴡᴇʟs ʙᴀᴄᴋ?" Unusually clumsy, these bakers, to have lost so many pieces.

[notsogrimreaper]

The scythe gets a glance. That's... rather stereotypical Death imagery. Is that supposed to be a hint? Ryoji shakes off his discomfort to smile.

"Luckily, whoever made these don't seem to be around. I think the castle itself may have made all the cakes? It's a strange place, to say the least."

[ashkente]

"Aʜ. Pᴇʀʜᴀᴘs ɪᴛ ɪs ᴛʀʏɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ғʀɪᴇɴᴅs. Hᴏᴡ ɴɪᴄᴇ." He continues on being not surprised. A sentient castle handing out goodies to the people it's kidnapped would not be the strangest thing he knows of. Perfectly logical, if you're the castle.

[notsogrimreaper]

“Heh, with this castle, I guess I wouldn’t be too surprised to find out it was trying to make friends. Or at least apologize to us for taking us away from our homes.” He beams. “You don’t seem all that surprised either. Are you used to things like this?”

[sansational]

Sans' first thought, upon ambling into the ballroom that day, is to wonder if the River Person of all monsters has turned up in the castle. His second thought is mild surprise to realize that the River Person actually has feet.

Then he catches the gleam of bone reaching out for a muffin, and Sans grins. Well. This could be interesting. He periodically passes through the "hub" rooms like this one seems to be, just to keep an eye out for new people.

"watch your teeth," he calls over, to announce himself before he heads over to join the newcomer beside the table. "whoever bakes all of this is working out of a pretty weird cookbook."

The sight of a skeleton eating is absolutely no surprise, to Sans. Food going into his mouth and just disappearing after a certain amount of chewing is how he eats, too. It's just always seemed so much more efficient, to him, than whatever humans have to do. That doesn't make it any more pleasant to chip a tooth on a sparkly piece of jewelry.

[ashkente]

How interesting! In all his days being... well, Death, this is the first walking, talking skeleton he's seen, other than himself. And he's had quite a lot of days.

He saw it coming. He sees everything coming. That doesn't mean it's not a surprise and a pleasure. The eternal grin seems more real, for a moment. "Fᴏʀᴛᴜɴᴀᴛᴇʟʏ I ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴠᴇʀʏ ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴛᴇᴇᴛʜ."

[sansational]

Sans lets out an amused sort of laugh at the reply. "good for you. hopefully you get to keep 'em. i know a lady who can patch 'em up, though, if worst comes to worst."

And since he knows such a lady, Sans takes up a muffin and immediately goes digging through it for the usual trap. As he does so, he asks casually: "so, you new around here?" He knows for certain he'd have remembered seeing another skeleton around the place before now. "anyone give you the spiel already?"

[ashkente]

He himself picks up the next plate with a new flavor of cake on it, wondering who, if anyone, is going to come along to wash all the dishes.

He's prodding a bony finger into the cake to see what's hiding in there as he speaks, "Yᴇs, ᴀɴᴅ ʏᴇs. I ʙᴇʟɪᴇᴠᴇ sᴏ. I ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅɴ'ᴛ ᴛᴇʟʟ ʏᴏᴜ ɪғ ᴛʜᴇʏ'ᴠᴇ ʟᴇғᴛ sᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴏᴜᴛ."

[sansational]

Death will find a most sparkly diamond broach inside his otherwise ordinary strawberry cake. Sans, meanwhile, just brushes his crumby hands off right over the floor. If anyone ever comes along to clean up the mess, he's never seen them. But the mess gets cleaned up anyway.

"if it was from the people i think it's from, then probably not. we've had to give the spiel to a lot of new people by now. got it down to a science." He nods quite proudly at this, not least because: "and i know science. so, hey! welcome to the castle. you seem to be taking the whole 'trapped in a floating castle in the sky' thing pretty well."

But from Sans' tone of voice as he says this, it might be clear that this is meant as a compliment. "near as i can tell, we pretty much all just wind up here like you did."