Label: VIRGO ENTERTAINMENT Band: VANDALISM IN PROGRESS Instrument: TROMBONE Fame Lvl: 0 Current MP: 0
Short Description: ► Sans is a trom-BONER lol. jk I'll do this properly soon. (though it would be in the spirit of Sans not to.)
Regains So Far: ► MODERATE SPACE-TIME MANIPULATION: He can teleport himself around the city, and also teleport other people and objects within range of sight.
[ Greg can joke around on the phone a little--it makes it easier to pretend things are okay, and it's just another chat. Except, he even botched that much, so you man imagine how much more awkward he looks in person. ]
[Sans, on the other hand, looks totally unphased...which is perhaps expected, given that it's Sans. He's just lounging around on one of the couches with some miscellaneous mess lingering around him, suggesting that he's probably be at it for a while now.
It's hard to tell the difference between his cold shoulder and his normal face because they look pretty much the same - which is to say, he's prone to grinning near constantly and without particular motive. It's a sharp change to when they were talking before, at least.]
Hey, you made it.
[Is he acting casual because he's chill with it or is he acting casual because he's mad?! You just don't know.]
[ If anything, Sans acting like normal makes Greg more anxious. Things didn't end smoothly last time, there ought to be some sort of reaction. Yet, this is Sans we're talking about. Last time was the least enigmatic he's ever been, and... well. ]
Yeah. Yeah I did. I, uh...
[ He scratches at his hair, stalling to think of words. ]
[That's the thing, isn't it? Sans isn't really sure that he does want to try again. It was kind of a hassle the first time, and more than a little bit out of his comfort zone. The results had been disappointing to say the least.
He doesn't necessarily want to give Greg an outrageously hard time about it...but he's also not too keen on making the same mistake twice.]
Has your perspective changed?
[Or does he just feel bad about making someone upset? It's a key difference.]
[ It's like he said before, isn't it? For once, Sans tried to speak honestly with him. It was about something terrifying, sure, but it was important enough to Sans to try.
That alone means he ought to try harder. ]
I still don't get it. [ Can't fault him for honesty. ] But... I want to.
[ He's still freaking out a little, but he'd like not to be. ]
[Sans pauses and glances around the room. It's not full but it's not super private, either. Ah, well. He doesn't really want to get into the raw specifics much anyway.
This is hard, though. After all, it's just as hard to understand what part of this Greg isn't comprehending.]
Everything's got a reason. That's basic causality. Where we seem to have the disconnect is your presumption of what my reasons are.
[ He tucks his thumbs into his pockets, glancing around as well. He'd be more than happy to move somewhere more private--the question is if Sans can be bothered. ]
[Can he be bothered? Standing up would imply a level of commitment and importance to this discussion that he's not sure he wants to invest in it yet. Going somewhere private means there are going to be secrets and he's not sure there is.
Greg is trying, at least.]
You know you can sit down, right? This is kind of painful to watch.
[That...obviously catches Sans off guard. He pauses for a moment, watching Greg. He doesn't look exasperated or incredulous so much as just surprised.]
...You haven't?
[Where do people like this even get plucked from...]
[No kidding. Sans's expression becomes just a little bit more bewildered, but in a characteristically chummy sort of way.]
...You've never watched a movie where the hero kills a guy for good reasons and wondered if it was right? Or heard a news story about mercy killing and wondered if you would do the same thing in their shoes? Self defense? Revenge for something meaningful? Justice? War?
It doesn't have to be anything personal, pal. Hell, it could be the furthest thing from your mind in terms of actual possibilities. But you've really never even wondered, at all?
[Sans blinks, and then scratches his head. Welp. Alright then. Moving forward.]
Well...given that...
[He exhales heavily. Is he really doing this? Yeah, okay. He'll do it.]
This is the source of your whole problem: I start talking about the morality of killing, and straight off you take it as a discussion of you, personally, thinking about killing other people. When, in fact, it isn't just about you, is it?
Thinking about the concept of murder becomes the same as being willing to murder. Killing once becomes the same as killing constantly, unpredictably, and without discretion. A soldier becomes a murderer. A cop becomes a sociopath.
You're right. I was thinking about me. It scares me, man. People don't always think right when they're scared. Gets hard to see the big picture. They say stupid stuff they don't mean.
[He heaves a sigh. No matter whether he really believed words said in a moment of fear and stress, it can't be unsaid.]
You're the one who brought it up. Said you didn't want me to keep being a sucker. This what you meant?
[Whether or not Sans is soothed by that admission - that he was scared and irrational when straight up calling Sans a murderer, repeatedly - it isn't really clear. His expression doesn't change. He just keeps looking at Greg like he's taking down notes somewhere in his head.]
'People don't always think right when they're scared. Gets hard to see the big picture. They say stupid stuff they don't mean.'
[He parrots the exact phrasing back to Greg, looking ever so slightly weary.]
I don't have the luxury of knowing my own motives, Greg. And while I hadn't exactly pegged you for quite this level of doe-eyed innocence...I didn't think it was the time for you to start making assumptions about the kind of person I am just because it's what you want to believe.
[ He doesn't know what to say to that. The way these memories are working, it's unlikely Sans can give him any more context than he has. Now he thinks of it, even if he knew all the details, would it make him feel better? It sure wouldn't make Sans any happier to tell it.
This much wasn't any easier on him, either.]
You never had to tell me a thing, but you trusted me enough to. [ Look how he repaid it. ]
Could be more wishful thinking, but. I think that goes a way towards saying what kind of person you are.
[Sans looks at him for a moment, and then his grin widens back to something more natural. He guesses he hadn't been wrong when he'd risked Greg being the type of person at least capable of getting it. Even if it had taken a little prodding.]
Heh. Maybe so.
[It seems like he might just let the conversation end on that point - Greg understands what he was getting at initially, and seems like he understands the source of his insecurities. It would be easy enough to back off and keep the rest of his inner life to himself, as usual. But...he's here already, he guesses. He's spent plenty of time sorting his head out between that delirious rant of a few nights ago and now, but there are still some mysteries out there. Mysteries that are perhaps more relevant than ever.]
Can I ask you something? The things you remember...do they ever directly conflict? Is it ever like...you're seeing two different versions of the same story?
[ The new line of questioning catches Greg a little off guard. But is it a new line? Sans doesn't always talk through his connections, after all.
Greg needs to take a few moments to think it over.]
I don't think so. I mean, there's a lot of weird stuff, things that don't make sense, sure. I can't think of it getting contradictory or anything, I though.
[ Aside from with his own life now, but that goes without saying. ]
[As usual, it's not immediately clear whether Sans is going to elaborate or whether he's just going to drop the topic without further explanation. It takes a small period of silence, but eventually he decides to push forward.]
That kid.
[He looks off to the side, obviously considering something deeply.]
I've seen 'em do things besides kill and fight. It was like they were a totally different person.
[And helpful to him in a way a bit too profound for him to be comfortable saying, just now.]
There's enough blank space in between that I guess they coulda gone bad somewhere along the line, but I just don't see it. But when I was talking to them, when things were the worst...it was like I was hoping they'd come around. Because I'd known 'em before.
[Like it somehow mattered what they chose to do after death.]
[ As if this all wasn't complicated enough already.
Greg could try and explain it away with twins or something, but it sure sounds like Sans doesn't think that's the case. And if not a friend who changed over time, then what else was there?
Someone who was a good person, once... who hurt people that trusted them, who seemed like two different people...]
[Oh, god. He hadn't even really considered that, since for whatever reason he had been categorizing the memories as a fairly separate existence from this one. But what if this is something they had encountered while they were...whatever they had been? If that's even in the past. Unbelievable.]
My, uh...grasp on linear time seems to be a bit, shall we say, damaged, based on my own commentary on the situation. [How weird it is to hear yourself saying things you have no recollection of.] Causes, of course, unknown.
It's amazing how knowing for fact that something sketchy is going on doesn't make it any easier to figure out what.
[ It takes even longer to register that Sans is talking about the him in his memories, rather than currently. At least, presumably not the current one. Or maybe also? See, this is why it takes so long to figure anything out. ]
Wish I knew what to tell you. I thought I was seeing the future or something, but now it feels like it already happened... wish these things at least had the decency to come in order.
Blanche may as well be taunting us with it as this point. [ Just saying the name urges Greg to glance around, in case the man's around. Or, not him, but one of his goons. Feels like we're further than ever.
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Yo.
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It's hard to tell the difference between his cold shoulder and his normal face because they look pretty much the same - which is to say, he's prone to grinning near constantly and without particular motive. It's a sharp change to when they were talking before, at least.]
Hey, you made it.
[Is he acting casual because he's chill with it or is he acting casual because he's mad?! You just don't know.]
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Yeah. Yeah I did. I, uh...
[ He scratches at his hair, stalling to think of words. ]
I really wanna try that again.
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He doesn't necessarily want to give Greg an outrageously hard time about it...but he's also not too keen on making the same mistake twice.]
Has your perspective changed?
[Or does he just feel bad about making someone upset? It's a key difference.]
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That alone means he ought to try harder. ]
I still don't get it. [ Can't fault him for honesty. ] But... I want to.
[ He's still freaking out a little, but he'd like not to be. ]
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This is hard, though. After all, it's just as hard to understand what part of this Greg isn't comprehending.]
Everything's got a reason. That's basic causality. Where we seem to have the disconnect is your presumption of what my reasons are.
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[ He tucks his thumbs into his pockets, glancing around as well. He'd be more than happy to move somewhere more private--the question is if Sans can be bothered. ]
I am now.
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Greg is trying, at least.]
You know you can sit down, right? This is kind of painful to watch.
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Right. Sure.
[ Everything about this is a little painful already, he hardly noticed. Greg sinks himself into a spot on the couch without too many crumbs. ]
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Greg. Do you think there is such a thing as a good reason to kill a person?
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[ Yes feels callous. No feels naive. ]
I've never thought about it before.
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...You haven't?
[Where do people like this even get plucked from...]
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[Well this seems to hit on sort of the crux of the issue, doesn't it. ]
Sans, do I strike you as a guy who thinks about killing people much?
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...You've never watched a movie where the hero kills a guy for good reasons and wondered if it was right? Or heard a news story about mercy killing and wondered if you would do the same thing in their shoes? Self defense? Revenge for something meaningful? Justice? War?
It doesn't have to be anything personal, pal. Hell, it could be the furthest thing from your mind in terms of actual possibilities. But you've really never even wondered, at all?
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[ He rubs at his neck. You're making him feel bad for not thinking about killing people, Sans. ]
Even if there are good reasons, I don't think I ever could, so I never got to thinking past that.
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Well...given that...
[He exhales heavily. Is he really doing this? Yeah, okay. He'll do it.]
This is the source of your whole problem: I start talking about the morality of killing, and straight off you take it as a discussion of you, personally, thinking about killing other people. When, in fact, it isn't just about you, is it?
Thinking about the concept of murder becomes the same as being willing to murder. Killing once becomes the same as killing constantly, unpredictably, and without discretion. A soldier becomes a murderer. A cop becomes a sociopath.
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[He falters, then rubs at his face. ]
You're right. I was thinking about me. It scares me, man. People don't always think right when they're scared. Gets hard to see the big picture. They say stupid stuff they don't mean.
[He heaves a sigh. No matter whether he really believed words said in a moment of fear and stress, it can't be unsaid.]
You're the one who brought it up. Said you didn't want me to keep being a sucker. This what you meant?
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'People don't always think right when they're scared. Gets hard to see the big picture. They say stupid stuff they don't mean.'
[He parrots the exact phrasing back to Greg, looking ever so slightly weary.]
I don't have the luxury of knowing my own motives, Greg. And while I hadn't exactly pegged you for quite this level of doe-eyed innocence...I didn't think it was the time for you to start making assumptions about the kind of person I am just because it's what you want to believe.
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This much wasn't any easier on him, either.]
You never had to tell me a thing, but you trusted me enough to. [ Look how he repaid it. ]
Could be more wishful thinking, but. I think that goes a way towards saying what kind of person you are.
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Heh. Maybe so.
[It seems like he might just let the conversation end on that point - Greg understands what he was getting at initially, and seems like he understands the source of his insecurities. It would be easy enough to back off and keep the rest of his inner life to himself, as usual. But...he's here already, he guesses. He's spent plenty of time sorting his head out between that delirious rant of a few nights ago and now, but there are still some mysteries out there. Mysteries that are perhaps more relevant than ever.]
Can I ask you something? The things you remember...do they ever directly conflict? Is it ever like...you're seeing two different versions of the same story?
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Greg needs to take a few moments to think it over.]
I don't think so. I mean, there's a lot of weird stuff, things that don't make sense, sure. I can't think of it getting contradictory or anything, I though.
[ Aside from with his own life now, but that goes without saying. ]
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[As usual, it's not immediately clear whether Sans is going to elaborate or whether he's just going to drop the topic without further explanation. It takes a small period of silence, but eventually he decides to push forward.]
That kid.
[He looks off to the side, obviously considering something deeply.]
I've seen 'em do things besides kill and fight. It was like they were a totally different person.
[And helpful to him in a way a bit too profound for him to be comfortable saying, just now.]
There's enough blank space in between that I guess they coulda gone bad somewhere along the line, but I just don't see it. But when I was talking to them, when things were the worst...it was like I was hoping they'd come around. Because I'd known 'em before.
[Like it somehow mattered what they chose to do after death.]
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Greg could try and explain it away with twins or something, but it sure sounds like Sans doesn't think that's the case. And if not a friend who changed over time, then what else was there?
Someone who was a good person, once... who hurt people that trusted them, who seemed like two different people...]
Could they be like us...?
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My, uh...grasp on linear time seems to be a bit, shall we say, damaged, based on my own commentary on the situation. [How weird it is to hear yourself saying things you have no recollection of.] Causes, of course, unknown.
It's amazing how knowing for fact that something sketchy is going on doesn't make it any easier to figure out what.
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Wish I knew what to tell you. I thought I was seeing the future or something, but now it feels like it already happened... wish these things at least had the decency to come in order.
Blanche may as well be taunting us with it as this point. [ Just saying the name urges Greg to glance around, in case the man's around. Or, not him, but one of his goons. Feels like we're further than ever.
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