|| text | @ciscodelamancha ||

[franciscoramon]

informal poll for you guys. if you had to choose, is this place more like:

a) fantasia, from the neverending story
b) oz, from the wizard of oz
c) wherever the hell it was with the muppets and stuff, from labyrinth
d) wonderland, from alice in wonderland

[ The question might seem like a frivolous one, but the answers should actually be pretty informative, and it's way more fun than just asking people to describe what this place is really like. ]

Comments

[bone_idle]

[ Cisco didn't correct Sans on the 'more than once', so had he tried to leave it at that, Sans might have called him out on only meeting him halfway to honesty. That he explains even though it seems to make him uncomfortable -- for, uh, y'know, really legit reasons -- means his respect for this guy just ticked up a little.

Right choice. Even if he sorta feels like scum for asking, now.

He only knows a little about how these humans tick, that they've got all sorts of squishy parts inside of them, pushing a variety of fluids all through their body. He knows a lot about human food, too, so the only thing he can equate that to is if someone, somehow, took hold of a monster's SOUL and dashed it to pieces.

This time, he says exactly what he's thinking out loud: ]

I'll be honest. I wouldn't have any idea what that's like, but I'm real sorry. That sucks.

[ And, as he eyes him off: ]

And I guess the doctors here are better than I thought..? Holy moly.

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco does what he's used to doing; when Sans says that it sucks, he just shrugs. His facial expression is a little too casual to actually be casual, but this is his strategy. He can just about manage to say what had happened, the actual facts of it. But any sort of discussion about the aftermath, or how it had been, in any more detail? No thanks. Not today. Not ever. ]

Yep.

[ And as far as he's concerned, that is that.

Sans' confusion about the doctors is what unsticks Cisco's tongue and gets him talking again; he waves a hand in the direction of the camera, shaking his head and explaining: ]

No, no, it didn't happen here, this was months ago. Trust me, no doctor's that good. It was- [ He stops, hesitates a moment, then just shakes his head. It wouldn't have been possible. Even knowing that they'd managed to somehow bring back Eddie... Cisco just knows in his gut it wouldn't have worked for him. ]

The only reason we're having this conversation is it got erased. That timeline was reset, and things happened differently, so I didn't die. Which is why I said 'depending how you look at it'. 'Cause... it happened, but then it didn't.

[ And this is why he had set the conversation to private - not hard to make the connection that Cisco shouldn't be able to remember something that was erased. But it's clear from his demeanor, the discomfort and awkward pauses and way he is speaking, that he's not talking about a story he just heard. This is something he'd lived through - or rather, didn't live through. ]

djfklshg

[bone_idle]

[ Cisco shrugs. Just shrugs that off, and the gesture's so familiar that Sans knows immediately that the best thing he can do is lay off. So far, this guy isn't even the first he's encountered who seems to have come outta a bad situation or two.

Makes a monster like him glad to have dodged that bullet.

He's staring, eye sockets somehow sleepy for the dim lights occupying them, grinning -- because that's just how skulls work, y'know -- until something happens. Those lights wink out for a few pointed seconds, a little like a surprised 'blink', though his sockets show every ability to open and close like the eyelids he doesn't have.

Though Sans passes it off with a shrug of his own, what Cisco said had a notable impact. Using words like 'erased' and 'reset', describing things that did and didn't happen. That's a lot to take. ]

... Don'tcha think that sounds far-fetched?

How'd you even know something like that happened?

[franciscoramon]

[ Cisco feels some mild alarm when the light in Sans' eyes goes out for a moment, and he's internally wondering if that's a good sign or a bad sign, or maybe it's actually totally normal and not a sign at all. He's just wondering if he should ask about it, if that would be rude and ignorant and too-human of him. Then it becomes a moot point; Sans' eyes go back to normal. Cisco feels unnerved still, but he tries not to acknowledge it.

And, of course, just as he'd dreaded and half-predicted, Sans cuts right to the heart of the matter. When Sans asks if Cisco thinks it sounds far-fetched, Cisco raises his eyebrows ruefully: ]

I think it sounds so completely freaking far-fetched that there's no way I'd invent something that bonkers.

[ It had been that sense of how utterly improbably and weird it all was that had kept him silent for so long, after the vibes first started. He hadn't told anyone because he hadn't even had the words for what was happening to him. It was easier to just pretend it all wasn't real. That uncertainty had gone away - after the lucid dreaming, after the trap, after Dr. Wells had told him he must be a metahuman.

Cisco is wary of telling anyone any details about his powers, but he's already come this far. Might as well reveal just a little more - enough to satisfy Sans' curiosity. ]

I know 'cause I remember it. I shouldn't. But I do.

[bone_idle]

[ A skeleton's unsettling to most people to start with -- what little effort Sans actually puts into socializing also means he takes pains to minimize his more, uh, 'monstrous' features. Humans tend to attack when they're threatened, or so the old bias goes, and Sans prefers to appear as unthreatening as possible.

Heck, he doesn't even need to breathe, and pretends to for the subtle reassurance it offers his other, respiratory-system-having folk. Sans is typically more careful about 'tics' like that one, but hey, can't be helped. Cisco really surprised him with that one.

Too crazy for fiction. ]

Point.

[ Ok, he can't argue that. ]

Man, heh heh. How d'ya keep that from messin' you up? Sounds rough.

[franciscoramon]

[ Wow, Sans, way to absolutely go for the jugular there. The simple and honest answer, of course, is to say I don't. But right at that very moment, Cisco realizes he's reached his absolute maximum quota for emotional honesty for the day. Maybe the week. Time to shut this shit down. In a friendly way, of course. So he shrugs and says: ]

You do what you gotta do.

[ Which is about as vague and abstract a non-answer as he could come up with, on the spot. And the fact that it's not really an answer is only underscored by the fact that he follows it with: ]

Look, um, I only just got here so I better gooooo, actually. I gotta get my lab set up. And, y'know, find where my lab is in the first place! But seriously, you ever wanna watch some sci-fi, I'm your guy. Nice talking to ya!

[ Yeah, that's way too cheerful way too suddenly for it not to be obvious that Cisco's covering up, but it'll have to do, because this conversation got too real. ]