And good luck getting Sans-Serif to budge from his stance on this particular subject. He scowls a little at Duchess' insistence. "it's okay not to have a mother if you have a brother," the little skeleton insists, a stubborn sort of expression coming over his face. "my brother takes really good care of me. better than anybody does. even better than they made him for. so...so don't say that to him. you'll make him sad again." S-4 was so sad, at first, when the two of them realized that they didn't have a mother. But then Sans-Serif reminded him that the little bird in the story didn't have a brother, either, so they were still pretty lucky.

He's getting worked up again. Thinking about his brother isn't supposed to get him worked up, it's supposed to have the opposite effect. Sans-Serif folds his arms tightly across his chest, just to be safe, and ducks his head a little to hum to himself.

"...but that's nice of you to offer." He says the words at last like he's memorized them off a card, because sometimes that's the best way to be sure of what you're saying. "so, um, thanks."