[Open/Mingle Post For All] Well here we are again

[sansational]

Sans has been keeping tally marks. Not entirely reliably, of course. But around about the point he first started realizing that his time in the castle wasn't just a dream, he started keeping marks on some of the older headstones in the cemetary. Just for his own sake. Just for what had been at the time the sheer novelty of watching time progress in a linear manner again. And after a certain point, it had simply become a force of habit. After all, by then he'd taken to poking around the cemetary regularly anyway to check for new people anyway.

One morning, he realizes that - give or take a few days - his tally marks now total up one year. 

That's...something to think about. And he takes a couple of days to think about it, while he works on a certain project alongside Tauriel. He thinks about everything that's happened in a year. All the people that have come and gone. Some of them haven't gone, though. Thanks to the most seemingly minor circumstances in the world, they're here beside him instead. He's more grateful for that than he would have thought he could be, back then.

After all, that means when he finally decides to put his plan into action, he has Serif and Papyrus to help him spread the world. He has Tauriel to help him pinpoint people he might not have met yet - there really are so many more people around nowadays. And he has Frisk to keep him motivated, even if they don't know exactly how they're doing that. After all, he can't relax too much from this project, because another certain project is always waiting for him. It has been for weeks now, even before the recent chaos.

So once the dust has settled from the mass transforming, more or less everyone in the castle will find themselves receiving a message from a skeleton in a blue hoodie. He speaks it in person if he feels safe to approach. Otherwise, he leaves a note with a date, time, and a brief mention of a plan. The location his invitation points to is the ballroom, with its mirrored floor and its impossibly long buffet tables full of sweets.

On the stated day, at the stated time, everyone will...still have to wait five minutes for Sans to pull himself together after a nap, remember what he's supposed to be doing, and suddenly appear inside the room, still in the process of hastily smoothing out his badly rumbled, wrinkled notecards. It had taken him literal hours to dig these up out of the mess his lab has become.

"so, uh, yeah," he says, looking from the assembled residents to the cards and back again. He has to learn in and squint to read his own faded handwriting. "should probably explain what you're all doing here. so. i'm sure you've all noticed that this castle has got some weird things going on, above and beyond the whole, uh...stealing us from across time and space thing. i'm also assuming that most of you want to go home and won't mind helping me figure out a way to get us there." He gestures at the table. "to do that, i'm gonna need to start testing some of these theories. guesswork is fun, but it doesn't get us anywhere. timing how long it takes this place to reset something seems like a good start. and so this particular experiment runs as cleanly as possible, uh...i'm gonna need your help eating everything on that table. like, all of it. just don't choke on any shiny bits." 

Message delivered, Sans crams the notecards back in his pocket, and spreads his arms in silent indication for everyone to dig in. 

Those castle residents who were here last year might have reason to be suspicious. Might even have reason to call this entire plan a lie. After all, they know that trying to eat everything on these tables ultimately didn't lead to a damn thing being discovered about the castle. At least, besides some uncertain notes that Sans never thought were worth sharing. Why get people's hopes up? 

But what had been accomplished was getting everyone together and talking. Connections had been made. Support systems had been built. Maybe that can happen again for some of the newcomers. He can only hope. 

Besides. Maybe this year will be different. Science is all about repetition, after all.

((ooc: Post comments for your characters that can be replied to, and mingle as you see fit! Eat, drink, be merry, have food fights, and try to be sick outside! There are very few people Sans wouldn't have invited. Even if you don't think he would have invited you, you can feel free to have your characters notice the noise and wander inside to see what the fuss is about.))

Comments

[darkerstripes]

At first, Toshi hadn't planned to show up. Social events are usually stressful and overwhelming... but there are a lot of reasons being alone is an even worse idea. Maybe a little socializing would be good. Check in with some of his acquaintances that have been so kind to him.

So he shows up, standing politely and hesitantly near a door. He doesn't eat, so he can't participate in that.

He does his best to not loom in the shadows or anything, but he isn't sure he's succeeding. At least he's being unobtrusive, looking for familiar, friendly faces. If he finds one, he will attempt to manage a smile.

[lostinmyway]

Grune is very glad to see Toshi here, too. Last month wasn't very nice for him, and she knows he hasn't been feeling well. He's very brave to come here even though he's shy.

Rather than call out when she's across the room, Grune waits until she's closer to say, "Hello, Toshi, dear. How are you feeling?"

[darkerstripes]

Grune is a very welcome, very familiar face. He senses her presence before she's quite within comfortable speaking distance, and he looks up to smile. It's a bit thin, him being unable to lie to her, it seems, even with a gesture, but he's genuinely happy to see her. She's comforting. Just the sense of her body in space, the heat of it and it's mass, knowing how gentle she is. He relaxes just a little. He'll be okay, if she's here.

"Hello, Miss Grune." He still can't drop the honorific just yet, but his voice is low and calm. "I'm better than I was. Things have.... settled." He still isn't sure how he feels about being back to normal.

[lostinmyway]

She can see the change in his body as she steps closer, and her smile grows. It's good to see him feeling better by the minute.

"That's good. I'm glad." He isn't all the way back to himself yet, but she knows he'll get there.

And she knows what will help: she opens her arms.

[darkerstripes]

He isn't sure what else to say. Conversation is hard, but it seems Grune has her own ideas. Of course, he should have expected that. His smile twitches a little wider, and slides into the hug, leaning his head on her shoulder.

"You've been safe, right?" He worries, and she's too good to let anything happen to.

[lostinmyway]

Grune snuggles in close to Toshi, and as she feels him relax into her, she relaxes, too. Hugs make everything better.

"Oh, yes, I've been just fine," she assures him. He's so sweet to worry like that.

[darkerstripes]

Oh, well, if she's going to relax into sort of just holding each other like this that's probably all right. He doesn't need to pull away. He loosens his squeezing until his arms are comfortably hanging around behind her back. He could be embarrassed but... but it's Grune. She's just a protector like that.

"Good." She doesn't deserve the shit this castle tries to pull, and besides, what would the rest of them do if anything happened to her? Toshi has the strong impression that she looks out for more than just him around here. He hopes the castle stays safe for a while.

[lostinmyway]

She smiles. "Are you having a nice time at the party?"

[darkerstripes]

He shrugs against her. "Haven't done much. Happy to see you. Better than what's been happening. I'm not... good at parties, though."

[lostinmyway]

She frowns, just the tiniest bit. "Not good at parties?"

[mediadarling]

Mettaton had been keeping an eye out for this certain someone. After all, robots who spent part of the previous month as a human have to stick together, don't they? Especially when one of them had an absolutely dreadful time of things.

The very moment he spots Toshi fidgeting in a doorway, Mettaton sweeps forward.

"Toshi, darling, welcome to the party--of sorts," he adds, because Sans has some very strange ideas about constitutes "fun." "It's good to see you."

[darkerstripes]

Mettaton is a very welcome sight always, and especially after the camaraderie they've shared over the last few weeks. Mettaton may have an incredible talent for flustering him, but it's in the friendliest possible way, and Toshi feels it's actually probably good for him. Even if he makes Toshi's wires feel all crossed and backwards sometimes.

So he smiles a shy but welcoming smile as Mettaton sweeps dramatically toward him. "Glad to see you too."

[mediadarling]

He doesn't stop until he's thrown his arms around Toshi's shoulders and planted a smooch on his cheek, kicking up a leg in the process.

"So how are you feeling, sweetheart? More like yourself again?" he asks.

[darkerstripes]

That nervous feeling of mixed up wires just grows and grows. Mettaton is friendly and all about casual touch, but this is a bit more than he was expecting. The way his face lights up pink only makes him more embarrassed. Shit. Don't be awkward, Toshi.

"O-oh, j-j-j-just fine." Too late, it's awkward. He swallows. "More like myself." Shyest smile ever.

[mediadarling]

He grins, completely unable to help himself. Oh, Toshi is so adorable!

But then his expression softens and he pulls back to let Toshi see his smile.

"I'm glad to hear it. You had such a rough month, didn't you?"

[darkerstripes]

Oh good god save him the way Mettaton is looking at him when he leans back from the hug is too much for Toshi's gay little robot heart to handle. How did he crush so hard so fast? He needs to get a grip.

"It was.. a bit of a mess, yeah... I think everything is settled down now though." Hopefully, especially for Barnaby's sake. That guy had it the worst of all of them, and Toshi has no idea how to help or make it better. "I'm touched you seem worried about me."

Can he go hide now?

[mediadarling]

"Good."

One last smooch to his cheek and Mettaton both lets go and steps back.

"So, did Sans tell you what this is for?"

[darkerstripes]

He's going to break his pigment controls if he keeps blushing like this. He absently brushes at his cheek.

"I caught something about eating, and regenerating food. Unfortunately, I cannot participate, however."

[mediadarling]

Mettaton catches that touch to his cheek. Well, well. Something to think about later.

But for now: "You can't, and I don't want to." He grimaces. "Don't worry about it, sweetheart. As long as the food isn't edible by the end of the party, I don't think the castle cares."

He looks slowly about the room. "I suppose we could always have a food fight. I can think of a few worthy targets."

Like the false Mettaton lying on the table over there. Ugh.

[lightofthestars]

Though there are many over which Tauriel keeps watch at this gathering, she still sees when Toshi enters. When she finds his eye, he smiles--and that smile tells her much about his heart. (Or what a man of metal has instead.)

She draws near, her own smile meant to be warm and comforting. "Well met, Toshi. I am glad that you are here."