[open: tw for blood, mind fuckery, suicidal ideation] I guess it's over now

[dr_awesome]

Before:

He just needed something fun. That's what he's been telling himself. After nights of various unpleasant dreams being hijacked by his friends, and then being forcibly shoved into everyone else's weird nightmares like a far less fun version of the Matrix, Watts needs a break. He's not helping Sans with his science. He's not trying to wander the castle and have conversations with people that more than likely are annoyed by him. He just... needs some stupid harmless fun.

And when there's no gaming consoles or wifi in the castle, you have to get a little creative.

Apparently, Neil's codes aren't completely useless in the castle. Sure, he can't reset memories, disable speech or taste, turn off his visibility, or even lure out mementos, but he still has some skill with manipulating data.

He's found a nice little private space in the lounge, and passersby may find him focusing very hard on a patch of air in front of him. Literally a patch, it seems to jut out from the rest of the air, shimmering and shuddering in front of Neil's hand. Eventually, it grows and morphs, changing colours... and in another instant, there's a tabby cat letting out a loud meow as it's suddenly dropped from the air back down to the ground.

"Haha, yes!" Neil gets down to his knees, scratching behind one of the cat's ears. The cat surveys him and lets out another mew.

"Hm... not exactly up to my usual standards, but I'll have to make do. Now, what else can I try..."

After:

Neil's still in the lounge... it's just that now there are more of them.

There seem to be a literal crowd of scientists slouching around the lounge, leaned back on couches, staring out windows, walking in place. They're all mumbling to each other, some of them more clear than others. One of them smiles at a double of himself as you walk past.

"Well, I suppose I had a good run."

The other stares back at him. "Not good enough, it seems."

There's one that has cornered another Neil against the wall, constantly slamming his fist into the doppleganger's gut. "It's how people blew off steam before FPS were invented," he reassures you with a grin.

Still more snippets can be heard if you push through the crowd. "We always succeed, because we're awesome." "The geezers just keep getting crazier..." "I'd be screwed either way."

In the center of the group is Neil. The real one, not buzzing in and out of existence in bursts of static, but... he still doesn't look good. He's curled up on himself, nails digging into the floor, feebly coughing and hacking as blood dribbles down his jaw and onto the collar of his shirt. A few copies of the same woman stand around him, looking down at him with the same mixture of annoyance and apathy.

"Tell me what you see." One says, holding out a pill bottle. She takes off the cap and holds it upside down. Nothing falls out.

"Shut... just shut up." Neil mutters hoarsely, and another one laughs, answering in his own voice.

"'Shut up' isn't my name, you know."

He tries to pull himself away from them, crawling along the floor.

"Why are you working so hard for this? 'All this trouble, just for some girl.' That's what I thought you'd say."

One of them finally turns to look at you, and moves so she can block Neil from view. "Get out. This ain't a movie and you're no hero. You're just being a moron."

There's more coughing from behind her, but Neil doesn't seem to be trying to move anymore. There's no point, is there? He's fucked up enough here already. And he didn't want to be here anyways...

"Why would you waste time like that?"

Yes, why would he? Being here isn't doing himself any good. He's not going to fix his machine, he's not going to make any advances... all he's doing is running out his clock.

Might as well let the batteries die a little early.

Comments

[lostinmyway]

"You don't need to say thank you." On the way back to where she left her flowers, she stops by the table to lay her hand upon his head. "Neil is my friend. I'm happy I can help him."

After a moment, she returns to the counter. A little bug has crawled out of the elder flowers; carefully, on her finger, she gives it a ride to the door.

[sansational]

After the silence has stretched on for a moment, Sans lifts his head, curiosity overcoming exhaustion for a moment. He does so just in time to see the bug flutter off of Grune's finger and out the door, into the late afternoon air.

He smiles just a bit, despite himself. "one of these days, i've really gotta ask you what home was like." He doesn't think he ever has.

[lostinmyway]

Grune glances toward him as she returns to counter and begins carefully separating out the elder flowers. "Oh, do you mean the Legacy?"

[sansational]

Sans rests his chin in his hands to watch her work. The more he can even begin to memorize about how to do this, the better - Neil's sickness doesn't look like the sort of sickness that will easily clear up even after a cup of good tea. "sure, if that's what you call it." He comes from the Underground, after all.

[lostinmyway]

"Well...." She spends a moment thinking. "The Legacy is a very beautiful place with so many friendly people. The towns are lively and cheerful, and the forests and mountains and oceans are wonderful. I'm very happy to be able to live there."

[sansational]

"oh, yeah? sounds nice." It sounds just as nice as this place, and certainly as lively. If Sans had come from a place like that, with friends that were still alive, he didn't think he would stop looking for a minute for a way to get back.

"don't you miss it?"

[lostinmyway]

"Hmmm...." She thinks for a while. Her hands slow.

After a moment, she says, "I miss my friends."

Then she resumes working at her earlier speed.

[sansational]

Sans stares at nothing very much for a while. Then he smiles, tiredly. "...yeah. me, too." If all the people here in this castle have nothing else in common, it seems as though they at least have that.

Then he closes his eyes and lets her finish up, and the sound of the water starting to boil is the last thing he hears before dozing off.

[lostinmyway]

When the tea is ready, with the teapot and cups set on a tray (and a few cookies set beside it just in case), Grune almost doesn't wake Sans. He doesn't get very much sleep, after all, and she knows Tauriel is worried about that.

But Sans is worried, too, about Neil. She'll make sure Sans gets his rest later, after he's seen that Neil is all right.

Gently, she sets a hand on his shoulder and bends down to murmur, "Sans? It's time to wake up."

[sansational]

Sans opens one eyesocket, mumbling sleepily. For a blessed moment, he doesn't remember why he's dozing off at the kitchen table and getting woken up by Grune. He almost expects to smell a pot of Sorry Soup cooking away on the stove again.

Then the memories come trickling back, and he sighs. But after that, Sans sits up and stretches out a kink in his spine. "yeah. guess it is."

He gets up to his feet and, seeing that both Grune's hands are occupied, takes her elbow instead. "hold on tight to that." And then it will turn out that the nap was just what he needed, because it gives him just enough energy for one more shortcut back into Neil's room.