[Backdated towards the end of the month] Well there's no use crying over every mistake

[sansational]

Sans comes back to life on the floor of a dark, reeking cell deep in the bowels of the castle. The first thing he knows is that ribs ache fiercely. It takes him a few bleary minutes to remember why.

Once he does, Sans scrambles gracelessly back to his feet, summoning his blasters over each shoulder as he stares hurriedly around. Empty. No prisoners, no captor. No Adam, no Frisk. The chains hang empty, in a couple of cases ripped out of the walls. Was Adam dealt with? Or did he pack up shop, and take Sans' friends with him?

He needs to go and check.

But he realizes that there's something he needs to grab first, to keep the second verse from just being the same as the first

So unless anyone is down there in the cell when he first reappears, the first anyone is likely to see of Sans is him in the graveyard, hunting around the tombstones and open graves with a very intent expression on his skull. His blasters float lazily behind him. He's not sending them away for a while.

"where is it, where is it..."

Eventually, he manages to find a real knife, if not necessarily the Real Knife, somewhere in the castle. Finally. It feels heavy and cold as he curls his fingerbones around the hilt. But it also feels powerful. Let Adam try sawing him in half with this between them.

It's only then that he wonders if this is what the human felt like, as they walked down the hall for another round with him. Before they knew whether or not Sans could die at all. 

Either way, Sans takes a slower route through the castle, up and down and all around, trying to zero in on Frisk's location. He hopes so, so much to find his sense of their presence untainted by that other human's. But at least this way, he's prepared in case he doesn't. Concerned friends or people who are just generally concerned to see a skeleton with two blasters at the ready and a knife in hand can find him anywhere, poking around, checking for trap doors, flinching at loud noises or sudden movements.

Comments

[sansational]

Sans doesn't hear Papyrus following behind him right away, too intent on his own goals and anxieties. But even he can't miss the rattling clatter that is a skeleton collapsing noisily to the floor. He doesn't properly register what the sound is, at first - just whirling around, knife half-raised, the blasters turning with him.

...and then full-body shock makes his hand let go of the knife. Sans almost scrambles to catch it, at first, but finally just lets it fall with its own noisy clatter to the tiled floor. He just stares at the other skeleton, feeling tears gathering in his eyesockets. Not as much emotion as he might have shown, once, but it's one thing on top of another and Papyrus will be able to hear him rattling faintly with the effort of keeping that emotion under control.

"hey, papyrus. it's, uh...k-kind of a long story." With his focus entirely shot, the blasters disappear, equally unregarded.

"hi. sorry. didn't mean to scare you."

[einspine]

He heaves a small sigh when the blasters disappear. Good. That's a start. But why were they there at all? This is still suspicious. Very suspicious, but for now, he might as well clear some of the tension.

"You don't need to apologize, brother! I'm just... surprised. It's so unlike you to have your guard up to such an extreme."

But after a moment, he puffs out his chest and beams. "But, fear not! I have all the time in the world to hear this story, however long it may be!"

[sansational]

Don't cry don't cry don't cry don't you dare cry. Why the hell is he about to cry anyway? This almost certainly isn't even his specific Papyrus.

...he's about to cry because it's been actual years>o? since he's seen his brother when he was this tall and this old and this loud and enthusiastic and alive and and...

Sans hiccups pathetically and then covers his mouth with his hand, looking away for a minute. When he looks back, he's managed to muster up an approximation of his usual smile.

"well, i'd like to. but tibia honest, it's been a pretty long morning. i'm already kinda beat. maybe if you can carry me the rest of the way outside, i might be able to muster up the energy to tell ya what's going on."

Or at least a carefully edited version of it.

[einspine]

"...You lazybones." He huffs, shaking his head and crossing his arms. Typical Sans, really. Can't even do his own legwork today? He could scold.

But Sans clearly looks like he's a bit out of it so, with a touch of reluctance, Papyrus crouches down low enough that Sans can reasonably climb onto his shoulders.

"Don't expect this to become a regular service! I can't always fuel your bad habits, you know."