'Cause I'm Lonely and I'm Blue

[panspermia]

Who: Frisk, Connie, Greg, Papyrus, and Sans
What: Rescuers rescue the kidnapped rescuer of kidnapped
When: April 20
Where: Wave Boulevard Mall, Spooky Virgo Torture Dungeon
Warnings: mention of serious violence at the least

It's been a week since Sans smuggled his fellow musicians from Virgo, contacted allies to let them know he was leaving... and then evidently vanished altogether. It's been two days since articles surfaced talking about his wild bender that ended him up in rehab, and isn't it a shame, let's all keep him in our thoughts.

Sans didn't ever have a whole lot of fans. The guy kept to himself, rarely made appearances, and generally only performed just well enough to justify being in the band in the first place. His legacy would likely be the toc-tic pun memes that would go around for a couple weeks, then fade out into obscurity. People wouldn't miss him.

It's pretty much all that's been on Greg's mind. His friend made a heroic effort, and paid for it. It's his fault. But life goes on, right?

So here he is. Buying flowers for his bedroom. To liven the place up, you know? Add some color, to contrast the blackened char left behind by giant laser blasts. It'll really brighten things up.

Comments

[spaghettimonster]

The conversation is brief, and strangely worded on Rarity's end. It's not until it's nearly over that Papyrus realizes why she's speaking as she is; she's afraid of being overheard!

And here he went and missed one of the best opportunities for using coded turns of phrase. He had some really good ones saved, too. Sure, maybe nobody else would know what he meant... but that meant bad guys wouldn't know either. Which would technically be a victory for Papyrus.

"She knew where you meant. Even though your description was terrible! 'The warehouse,'" he imitates Sans' low and chuckling voice as best he can. "I can't believe she knew where you meant. Did you come here together on a picnic? Not for the view, I hope."

But Sans seems to be falling asleep, so Papyrus just continues muttering to himself, not expecting answers. With no idea where in the city they actually are, who knows how long it'll be until the cavalry appears?

[sailorgenerous]

Not terribly long, as it turns out.

Their conversation is very brief but also very important, and Rarity moves quickly. Of course, it helps that she's come to know more of the smaller and sneakier thoroughfares of the city by necessity, and also that she was relatively close to begin with.

She takes the last few blocks at a calm, casual pace, despite the fact that it's killing her to wait any longer than she already has - but she can't afford to give the game away. She makes certain there's nobody around before slipping into the warehouse, taking a moment to drop her disguise and listen.

Someone's muttering, it seems, and she follows the sound to find Papyrus and-

"Sans!" She drops her bags by the door and drops to her knees next to the skeleton brothers. He's alive- but he's terribly hurt- she doesn't know what to do- she doesn't even want to touch him for fear that he'll fall apart completely-

For a moment, she's overcome, and she looks at Papyrus for reassurance.

[exhumerus]

It's been weeks since Sans slept well, and this nap alone feels more satisfying than anything he's had for a while. Papyrus grumbling about vague descriptions serves as the perfect lullaby. Of course, that doesn't stop Rarity's presence from drawing his attention.

He shifts in Papyrus's arms slightly, opening his sockets enough to see who it is. He's slow to speak, but it comes eventually.

"Hey buddy," he says lethargically.

[spaghettimonster]

Papyrus nods at Rarity, grinning far more cheerfully than his brother's injuries might seem to warrant. But Sans isn't dust, and he's here and recognizing him. Everything else... is just details that they can work out, somehow.

He loosens the hug enough that Sans could choose to sit independently, if he wanted to, but keeps his arm to provide a backrest.

"See! He's still injured," Papyrus admits, "apparently blue, dead people ghosts aren't very good at healing magic... but this is an improvement!"

Don't ask what kind of condition he was in when they found him, Rarity. Nobody wants to give or hear the answer to that kind of question. Especially not in this moment of happy reunion.

[sailorgenerous]

Papyrus is grinning, and Sans is- he's alive, and he's safe, and he's talking to her, and-

Rarity is smiling and crying, all at once, silently, before she really realizes it. She reaches out and gently - tentatively, even, he looks so fragile - takes one of Sans' hands in hers. "I think it's a different kind of healing," she manages, voice barely above a whisper.

[exhumerus]

He clasps his fingers around hers, his grin managing to look more like an actual smile than a grimace as he does so. He's still in a lot of pain, but the opportunity to rest and the relative peace that's been brought to his mind makes all of this feel relaxing in comparison.

He's not good at dealing with other people's emotions. He's not really sure what to say about her crying - crying about him of all things - and he doesn't really have any reassurances to offer, either. But he's relieved. He's really, really relieved to see her here, and okay.

"Good point," he says, and weakly gestures up to her horn with a lopsided grin.

[spaghettimonster]

That's a suspiciously familiar tone of voice, weary as it is. And paired with that hand gesture to Rarity's head... Papyrus gets it.

"Ugh," he groans, clapping his free hand to his forehead. "It's so good to have you back, brother! And your sense of humor. I'm glad they didn't break your... funny bone." It doesn't occur to him to wince at the terrible timing of the joke, given the more persistent injuries. After all, Sans already made that cracking up pun. The topic must be fair game.

[sailorgenerous]

They're making puns.

It takes a moment for that to sink in, but when it does, Rarity buries her face in her free hand. She wants to laugh, but she's still a bit too overwrought to get all the way there. She winds up somewhere between laughter and sobbing; whatever it is, it's not exactly pretty, but it does feel good.

It takes her a few more moments to pull herself together and manage to speak. "Well, if you're both going to be boneheads about it..." It's a bit ruder than she likes; hopefully they'll appreciate it regardless.

Another deep breath sets her on a more even keel, and she removes the hologram projector from her wrist and offers it to Papyrus. "Here. Get him home."

[exhumerus]

He can't help but smile a bit more broadly at the sound that Rarity makes. Ah. What a gal. She never seems to do anything half way, and right now that is making him feel exceptionally fond. He's really fond of both of these people, despite everything going wrong in his head.

He chuckles in soft appreciation (any more would be too jarring to his ribs) and leans back against his brother. He squeezes her hand once more before letting her go so that he can brace himself for being picked up.

Teleporting would be so much easier, he thinks, but he doesn't know where he's going and he's not sure he has the magic left to do it anyway.

[spaghettimonster]

Papyrus cackles a cacophony of "nyeh heh heh," following Rarity's contribution. Affectionate mockery of Sans is music to his non-existent ears. He can handle being lumped into the 'boneheads' category this one time, especially since it was his bad for not having a disguise with him.

Well, maybe it was a little bit Lion's fault too, dragging him off without warning. But a skeleton should be prepared for anything! And... that includes glowing pink teleporting lions...? This train of thought got away from him somewhere.

He accepts the hologram projector with a decisive nod, and begins fiddling with the settings to make something that could conceivably cover both of the brothers. While he does, he glances up at her. "What about you? I could give you a call when we get there! And come back for you. With a hat?" A big hat should hide all that's inhuman about her, right...?

[sailorgenerous]

Rarity is already coming up with a disguise as Papyrus chatters and fiddles with the projector. "Send it back with someone who doesn't need it - perhaps Frisk or Connie?" She magics her shopping bags over to her and removes a length of fleece. She'd been planning on making a blanket, but there are currently better uses for it. "Here. Wrap Sans in this and carry him. The story is that your son wore himself out playing at the park, and you simply didn't have the heart to wake him up for the walk home."

[exhumerus]

Sans titters again at that comment. Ha ha, Rarity is on a roll. Also, he is increasingly delirious with injury and exhaustion, so it's probably even funnier than it would be normally.

"Ah, classic Sans," he comments, the regained memories of his life with Papyrus still fresh and somehow novel. He likes that it's familiar. It helps, he thinks.

[spaghettimonster]

Rarity's still making them? That's it, the punning is contagious and they're all doomed to lives of wordplay. Papyrus grumbles something wordless and sighs, resigned to their fates. He nods a thanks to Rarity as he accepts the fleece as well.

"It is! This won't be the first time I've carried you home," he confirms, "but usually it's because you fell asleep, at the bar."

[sailorgenerous]

Admittedly, that last pun was unintentional - punintentional? - but if it made Sans happy right now, Rarity would roll with it.

"Papyrus, do you know the way back from here?" It's something of a worrisome thought, and she proceeds ahead without waiting for an answer. "It's two lefts, the second right, and then the fourth left to get back to 15th Street. I assume you can find your way from there?"

[spaghettimonster]

They're contagious, and it's too late for Rarity. Hopefully it's a happy fate.

"...15th street." That's the key here; knowing which street to aim for, to get back to familiar territory. It's not too many steps, and even if he gets one right, it would only take a little backtracking to get back ontrack. But with the concern of Sans' injuries, it's better he not going exploring. "Two lefts... the second right... and the fourth left?"

[exhumerus]

"You got this bro," Sans yawns, obviously only half conscious at this point. He leans against Papyrus's shoulder and makes sleeping noises.