#event:reset

‘….Weirdos?’

Now heres a very confused, concerned fire elemental. Who was stalking the bakeneko?

And he would. He of all people would be aware of their presence, after all. He was the one who passed judgement. The skeleton stops his storm of movement briefly. Just enough so that his skull would cant slightly in the apparition’s direction. Eye lights burn bright again. There is something nervous about his gaze. A few moments of observation and then he turns to walk away, pulling his hood up over his skull and drawing it close with both hands.

* nah, just the ones that don’t have the heart to buy anything. if you catch my drift.

((Part 18 of 19. Continued from: X )) PAPYRUS(HALIDOM):   Papyrus has come up the stairs at this point and opened the door. He  peers within quietly. He has a platter of tea. Seems like he thinks  this is a bad idea though given the tail end of what he obviously  heard Sans saying. He steps aside tentatively for Keno. He looks quite  worried.

THE GOOD DOCTOR:  Gaster walks out - more aptly, walks through the wall, and stands next  to Papyrus, opting instead to try and close the door on Keno.

 "...Not the best timing, Papyrus, but - what kind of tea might that  be?"  It seems he's VERY uncomfortable with how things are progressing.

KENO:  Her head turns from the skeleton, glancing to Papyrus before averting  her gaze entirely. There was no shock, no real reaction to the news  that he killed her human best friend. She's silent for a long time  before raising her head up, as if peering off into the distance.

 * A long time ago, I saw an ending where all of us were together.  Where we were smiling, free of hurt. Free of pain.  

 * I used to take Frisk to PTA meetings.

 * We used to prank our human neighbors.

 * We traveled the world together, with not a care.

 Her paws extended out before dropping them to her sides.

 * Why do I care? Because I wanted you to see that ending too.

 * I wanted to experience it with you again. I wanted to be there again  so badly. To the place where I felt the most comfortable. Where it  REALLY felt like you lo....

 Her words caught in her throat before she took in a breath. Exhaling  slowly.

 * I miss /you/ .

PAPYRUS(HALIDOM):  IT'S AH. CHAMOMILE. WAS HESITATING ON THE GOLDEN FLOWER ALL THINGS CONSIDERED IN THIS FAMILY.

 A hand comes up and offers one of the mugs towards the apparition.  Seemed he was nervous about that, too. Not by too much, granted.  Halidom would probably find this particular Gaster the least suspect  out of all Gaster he was aware of.

 But he was certainly AWARE of them. As well as the threat they posed  potentially. Unlike Sans however, he would embrace that danger quite  literally. Just. Not now. It was inappropriate.

SANS(BZ):  * you mean you miss -him.- i'm a stranger to you right now. and  because of everything that's happened since H E showed up. i'll  probably never turn out like that.

 Oh, there it was. The actual hurt IN the anger. He didn't want to hear  it. He saw it himself in what was stolen or trickled down from the  Dragon. He wasn't lying, either. How could he be? He hated everything  they embodied. The very concept of what he did to attempt to save them  made him writhe in revulsion. His teeth grit as he tries to force down  bitter tears.

 He was done crying. And this wasn't worth his tears as far as he was  concerned. The time for that had long gone.  * he's your golden boy, trying harder than anyone else right now to  save you. and he's wrong.

KENO:  A flinch, visible. It actually seemed like the feline stumbled forward  slightly, as if she had gotten hit with something. Teeth gritting.

 * No.

 * You're wrong.

 * Neither of you.....

 Silence and finally the feline would straighten her back, ears moving  back to a neutral place, tail gently swishing behind her. When she  finally turned, a smile was spread across her face. Eyes closed. The  mask was back, though in the corners of her eyes it seemed to be  cracking, as if she was forcing it to stay in place.

 * Furgive me fur thinking that what I've done would make a  di-fur-ance.  * I'll get out of mew'r fur.

SANS(BZ):  * there's no ending without the kid. i'm gonna try and find them.

 And there was his, back in place as well. The anger was sluicing off  of him now. Replaced by that too tired routine. It was over, maybe. He  would've taken the alternative over this. Even if his morbid curiosity  allowed him to hope, however briefly. This was as honest as he was  ever going to get with the Bakeneko.

 And it broke faith. He registered the details neatly and filed them  away before they could rise up and destroy him. This would have the  potential. Like everything else that could cause him to Fall Down. But  it wouldn't.

 He already trained himself to stop that when Flowey was a thing in its  infancy. His smile returns.

 * i'd say i'm glad that you finally understand how i feel about a lot  of things. but i won't. because i'm not.

 * later.

KENO:  * Mew've taught me a lot, Sans the Skeleton.

 * I'm glad to know. That none of any of it mattered to you.

 * Just another mistake.

((Part 4 of 19. Continued from: X ))

KENO:  She took a bite of the stew as the skeleton host made his leave to  give the additional bowl to his brother. Ever curious she'd listen,  and confusion would set in at the all too familiar low tone that  greeted her. Wasn't that... The stalker?

 Her expression seemed to sour and she would take another bite, even  more annoyed and baffled by the reasoning behind coming to this house  in the first place. Gods... Surely the stalker was beside himself....  Gross.

 Keno's gaze rose as Papyrus made his return with a scraping noise of  bones being wiped across bone. Surely this kind monster didn't know  his brother was a gross stalker.... And she was in no mindset to want  to bring it up. There were far more pressing concerns after all, and  even if this skeleton could act as some kind of .... backboard for her  to bounce her ideas about this whole mess against, surely it'd set her  mind at ease if even a little bit.

 *... I don't even know what I would ask. I've been having these really  strange nightmares of late, been losing sleep beclaws of it even.  * It's always pitch black, but not dark like all of the lights went  out, it's a crushing, looming darkness that's almost suffocating.  As she began explaining, the feline would gesture with one of her  paws, as if trying to convey the size and scope of this darkness that  she experienced every night.  * It feels as if something is always watching from that darkness, and  if I look for it, then I'm shown glimpses of scenes? Memories? They're  not mine, I'm certain of that, but they feel familiar... Or..  Nostalgic even?  * I've seen a few things in the darkness. A human falling into the  Ruins. A talking flower.... This house.  She laughs at this, dragging her free paw through her hair.

 * I've gotten so tired of the nagging feeling these nightmares cause.  I've lost so much sleep. I wanted to find an end to it. So I came  looking for those images? And found your house.  * But now I'm here. And have no idea why.

PAPYRUS(HALIDOM):  As Keno speaks, Papyrus eats carefully. Somehow, stew isn't falling  through his lower jaw or even visible once it passes his teeth. A few  spoonfuls like this however and he sets his own utensil down to  steeple his fingers before his face to simply take in her words.

 Once she stops talking, he nods knowingly. It is a slow and almost  uncharacteristic gesture in the face of how he normally behaved.  Silence follows. It was clear now he DID know something. But what, was  hard to discern.

 If anything, it made him look fatherly. Like Keno was in some kind of  danger and he was her charge. He begins to speak, choosing his words  gingerly.  YOU KNOW THE CONVERSATIONS. YOU HAVE LIKELY FELT UNIMAGINABLE PAIN, AND CAN TELL YOUR MIND ISN'T JUST MAKING IT REAL.

 THE DARKNESS ISN'T FOG. IT ISN'T DARKNESS. IT ISN'T ANYTHING, REALLY. YOU ARE JUST FLOATING IN IT. IN TOTAL LUCIDITY.  THERE'S SOMETHING MISSING, YOU TELL YOURSELF. AND YOU ARE RIGHT. BUT WHEN YOU WAKE UP, YOU LAUGH IT OFF. IT ISN'T REAL.  IT CAN'T BE.  IT'S LIKE A PHANTOM LIMB, AND YOU CANNOT IGNORE IT. I HAVE THESE  NIGHTMARES TOO.

((Part 17 of 19. Continued from: X ))

KENO:  The feline rose from the bed, brushing herself off before giving the  two of them another cold look, one that concealed a lot of pain. After  a moment she shook her head, beginning to make for the door.

THE GOOD DOCTOR:  "Keno." The Doctor spoke up, his voice firm, yet sockets empty.

 "Trying to save them was admirable, but we would have all been  consumed with them."

SANS(BZ):  * you wanna justify it? go for it. we're weak, keno. we're weak, and  fallible. and i am especially. even now, no. i never asked for any of  this.

 * i didn't want to make friends with the kid either. i told myself  frisk was another flowey and i'd never let them in.

 * in fact, if it wasn't for a promise i made to toriel, i would've  tried to kill them.

 Sans just continues watching Keno leave. His voice has lost some of  its edge. Instead, it is replaced with... Something colder. This was  more truth than he'd likely ever let her in on. And he was making it  heard, quite loudly. His tone was even and crisp.  * i would've probably succeeded, and actually put us on an entirely  different course. i've seen some timelines that are like that. they're  not pretty either.  

 * universally though, i think everyone's apparently missing out on  something. especially in regards to me. since that seems to be the  topic of the goddamn hour.

THE GOOD DOCTOR:  Gaster is looking between them, his brows furrowed, his mouth opened  loosely in concern as he's darting back and forth, trying his best to  mend what was quickly falling apart at the seams. Sans had lost his  temper, Keno was storming out, and he was feeling like he was about to  fade back into nonexistence at every passing stressful moment.

SANS(BZ):  * i'm a nobody. in the grand scheme of things, the only people that  matter are frisk and that T h i n g everyone assumes so much about.

 * and this all started when it was revealed frisk was still corrupted.  get used to that reality.  * it's not gonna change any time soon. won't stop me from looking for  frisk. but you've always misplaced your judgement with me.

KENO:  She came to a stop in the doorway. Ears flicking back toward the  skeleton as she listened.

 * A nobody?

 * The greater scheme of things never mattered me. Not one bit.

 * I've been exposed to the world on the border of our universe. I've  BEEN on the verge of being ERASED LONG before you and Furisk had your  little fight!

 * I was shattered to PIECES, clinging to scraps and fragments of my  home in order to persist.

 * Why? Because of Frisk? Sure. Our human friend is the main reason we  even met in the FIRST place considering I would not have bat an eye at  a skeleton monster when you two came into MY time.

 * But the reason I clung to life for so long was because of YOU.  * I wanted, EVERY TIME that things got bad to be able to get back to  one of the few things that EVER mattered to me in this universe.  * One of the FEW damn things that I ever FUCKING cared about  * Evelyn is gone.  * Frisk. Is gone.  * You're still here.

SANS(BZ):  * ..a-argh! WHY though? W h y am I the one who's somehow responsible  for this then?

 Sans' vocal tic has dropped entirely with his anger now. This was  likely something a lot more familiar to the part of Keno who had been  beyond the ending. A less guarded monster.

 * Why am I still here? What is so important that you can't look me in  the eye anymore after what happened to you?

((Part 16 of 19. Continued from: X )) KENO:  *....

 She simply continued to stare at the two of them, as if hesitating to  answer the question. She seemed confused, disorientated.

 * .... Fur-isk... Had taken over as... .Ruler of monsters.  * But they're supposed to be the ambassador.  * Was there another RESET?

SANS(BZ):  He wasn't sure he could do it. Sans looks pleadingly at Gaster for a  moment as he goes to sit on the back of the treadmill now. He simply  watches the Bakeneko afterwards. His hands begin to move nervously  over one another again. The same excited motion from before, but more  subdued.

 * i ah. ...i really dunno what to say or how to break this to you.  * those aren't the right memories you're technically experiencing  right now. they're kinda. late to the party. by a timeline or two.

THE GOOD DOCTOR:  Gaster returned Sans' pleading gaze, before looking at the feline  before them.

 "...It's looking like the backup would have stored BOTH of their  memories..."  "Both 'Keno's' as it were."

KENO:  An ear flick, more confusion.

 * .... No. I'm not.

 * I remember Fur-isk. OUR Furisk...

 * Seated on the throne. They shouldn't have been there.... Why were  they there?

 Confusion turned gradually to something else, something much, MUCH  more tense.

 * ... Fur-isk DID drop down recently. Didn't they?  * They triggered the RESET. Didn't they?

THE GOOD DOCTOR:  "Oh. I think we may have been... a little early in saying we were out  of the woods."

SANS(BZ):  * that's funny. i'm the judge. you should know better than to even  throw around an expression like that. guess we just gotta wait this  out now.

 One eye socket lilts slightly in Sans' fatigue. He lets out a sigh  near simultaneously as he continues to watch tentatively. Truth be  told, he'd offer no defense against her wrath if it were incurred. Ris  would just meet Asgore, fight FLOWEY likely, and then that would be  the end of it.

 He'd be restored and then they would be stuck in another loop while  the kid figured out the rest.

KENO:  * You're not...

 Building anger.

 * No answers? Again? You leave me OUT of something important AGAIN?  For who's benefit are you doing this?

 * Is it mine?

 * WAS IT MINE WHEN YOU DESTROYED EVERYTHING AND LEFT ME

 * WAS IT MINE WHEN YOU MADE US LEAVE FURISK

 It seemed the conflicting memories was causing a physical toll upon  the feline. Those vine like scars flashing across her fur over and  over, eyes flickering from dark to light in the blink of an eye  Her fingertips, the tips of her ears, the end of her tail. All of  these places seemed to begin to... Fizzle.

THE GOOD DOCTOR:  The Doctor takes a step forwards, hand outstretched hesitantly.

 "Keno. We don't know exactly what happened. Frisk was consumed by the  corruption. The timeline, and you, were reset. After that, you've been  having nightmares involving - me, it seems. Perhaps it was the flower,  I can't quite tell.

 You're mixing memories of this Sans, and another. Please. We're here  to help."

SANS(BZ):  * ...we voluntarily had to leave frisk behind. i won't sugar coat that  part. i appreciate what you're trying to do old man, but no.

 * ...it was the responsible thing. and telling her is also the  responsible thing now that she's gotten the memories back.

 The skeleton moves to stand now, before placing his hands back into  his pockets. He's attempting to meet Keno's eyes.

 * we're only here right now because we had to leave them behind. you  can't stop the anomaly. i can't stop the anomaly.  * H E,

 Sans gestures vehemently at the Doctor.

 * cannot stop the anomaly. and he's in the best place to do that out  of all of us. and now that we're here and i've got time to lay that  out as perfectly blunt as i can.  * you asked us to voluntarily kill ourselves, permanently by bringing  them along. it would've changed literally nothing. THE GOOD DOCTOR:  "I meant HOW they became corrupted. She knows well we left them."

KENO:  * Oh yes. Because killing a human child for the good of Monster kind  has treated us SO well in the past.

 Her eyes locked on Sans, eyes narrowing into a cold glare.

 * Clearly that 'anomaly' that you're so hung up on wants to keep us  around. Or we wouldn't be here. We wouldn't keep happening.

((Part 15 of 19. Continued from: X )) KENO:  Another sharp jolt. Corners of her mouth pulling back slightly as if  in mid snarl. Hand paws clench.

THE GOOD DOCTOR:  Q \\\\A hand opens the bedroom window.

SANS(BZ):  * in consideration to everything ever that's happened since you did,  yeah. i'd say you have.

 * we'll hold other bits of you accountable, sure. you by proxy, maybe  in respect to the potential danger. but i'm starting to ease into this  idea that you're not all bad. weed not withstanding.  Sans sounds somber. And maybe a bit winded, now that he's been on the  mill for long enough. He's not stopping though. Likely due to the fact  that he's now at a full sprint and the window was conveniently open  for him to jump out if he needed to.

 He wasn't considering that though. Not at all.

THE GOOD DOCTOR:  There's a contented sigh and leaks from the Doctor, a smile bright on  his face.

 "...Thanks, Sans. That means... quite a bit from you."

 Gaster certainly wasn't considering the same exact thing either.  Not in the slightest.

KENO:  Bristling fur, bared fangs, ears plastered to her head. It almost  seems as if the feline is struggling through a horrid nightmare,  especially if the quite yowls were anything to say for it

THE GOOD DOCTOR:  A frown.  "I'm sorry, Keno. In the short term it's not pleasant, but in the end,  it'll be better this way."

SANS(BZ):  * starting to think i should get moving. i have a feeling the kid is  gonna be heading to waterfall relatively soon. papyrus is getting kind  of tired of locking them up in the shed.

 * never got why he insisted on doing that, but hey. i can't judge.  Of course, the real reason why he is saying this is painfully obvious.  Keno wasn't pleased. At all. The open window? A convenient excuse to  ratchet up his paranoia a few thousand degrees.

 He needed to bolt. But that was pretty tactless. He was trying to feel  out his escape.

KENO:  * Don't/  * Don't.  * please don't.  * DON'T TAKE HI-

 The shouting would cause the feline to wake herself up, eyes shooting  open as she let out a defensive yowl. Tears bubbling down her cheeks  as she took in breath after shaky breath.  Golden eyes train on Sans and Gaster. And where they expected anger,  they'd only see fear, and so much sorrow.

THE GOOD DOCTOR:   Quiet, and an arm raised in shocked defense, crossing his chest as  lights flickered, staring directly at the feline.

 "..."  Silence is his response, at least until something that makes more  sense is uttered.

KENO:  Her eyes moved slowly, trailing from Gaster to settle on Sans.  *.... y... you're alive.

THE GOOD DOCTOR:  Eyelights flicker between Keno and Sans, resting back on the feline  with confusion written on his brows.

SANS(BZ):  The treadmill slows to a stop as Sans cuts the power to it. He slides  off the back, and steps around to stare pointedly at the Bakeneko. He  looks even more surprised than he had been earlier. Wasn't she livid  with him..? He had to be held accountable for that.

 This type of reaction only served to blindside and frustrate him even  further. He had no idea what she meant.

 * y-yeah? i'm alive. of course i am. how much do you remember?

KENO:  Her look of surprise faded into an almost sobbing laugh, ears flicking  back as the tears continued to roll.  * Oh... Oh gods the flower. I thought he had... Felix was.... And then  Fur-i....

 A pause, and confusion on the part of the feline.

 * .... Wait.... What.

SANS(BZ):  The skeleton repeats the question, even as sweat beads his brow from  the nerves. Those memories weren't his Keno's. They may have been  caused from the mingling the two experienced, but if she remembered  and prioritized the WRONG memories, it would have probably been even  worse that if she didn't remember.

 * ..how much do you remember, keno? what else?

THE GOOD DOCTOR:  Gaster stops and his brows are furrowing.

 Remembering Felix and the Flower immediately, before anything else -  worry surged through the Doctor.