{{ The Time Of Day
The night is darkest before the dawn. [ use https://paulschou.com/tools/xlate/ for hex code ]
{{ Dusk
[ * Ḑis͏͠͡c̛͏҉o̕͡vè͜ry͘ hasn’t sat up, even though he’s regained consciousness.]
[ * Were he slightly more aware, he’d remember to be terrified of what had happened, but at the moment he’s just laying there instead.]
[ * His soul remains under his broken ribs, though it seems a little unsteady.]
[ Bookie sighs - they suppose that makes sense but with as many siblings as they have it is hard to imagine being so protective of just one. ]
[TXT] In any case, I now have a bit more information about the tall sentry’s daily life.
[Yes, pretend like you never let Papyrus’ name slip. A perfect plan.]
[TXT] Is that something you would be interested in hearing about? Apparently he is quite a fan of a television star - Mettaton.
[ * Ḑis͏͠͡c̛͏҉o̕͡vè͜ry͘ is still laying on the ground.]
[ * His phone buzzes. What the fuck. Who’s texting him. How’d they even get his number. He pulls the damn thing out and squints through the haze of static. When did his phone screen get so weird and glitchy. Why did he even have a phone?]
[ * Reading the texts is.. tricky. Seeing at all is hard, really. The tall sentry? Mettaton? Who…. ugh. Who even was this.]
[ * You were supposed to reply to texts, right? That’s what was supposed to happen, right? He can’t remember, but taps out a slow reply.]
[TXT] * Sure. Tell me.
* Oh, g-gosh… where to begin?
[ Bookie begins typing. They’ll just go over the basics of the visit, then let their odd penpal ask questions as he sees fit. They fill up one message, then two….three… ]
[ The scientist’s phone buzzes again. ]
[TXT] * Well, despite his enthusiasm it turns out Papyrus is a very serious person! And very focused on his work. I am certain with that sort of attitude that he will get into the royal guard soon. He apparently has a routine of checking and recalibrating his puzzles every day, isn’t that impressively dedicated? He cares so much about protecting the city. In any case, once that routine is done he usually has a training session but he was not willing to divulge the specifics of (1/66)
[ The messages cover, in detail, everything Bookie had learned about Papyrus in that meeting - as well as a lot of compliments on Bookie’s part and quotes from Papyrus himself that they thought were interesting. We will do you, the reader, the kindness that we cannot give dear Gaster and skip to the end of things. ]
[TXT] * At which point we parted ways, with the suggestion that we might “hang out” again some time. He was quick to offer a parting hug but I couldn’t possibly have accepted, it would simply be inappropriate. However he referred to me as his friend and said that “AS SUCH, YOU MUST BE AMAZING! THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAS UNPARALLELED TASTE IN FRIENDS AFTER ALL!”, which has made me very nervous to meet all of his other friends as I’m sure they must be much better than me. But overall it was a quite entertaining day! (66/66)
[TXT] * Oh, my…. that seems to have gotten a bit long. Did you have any questions about him?
[ * He waits for a reply, and then his phone starts buzzing.]
[ * ……And doesn’t stop for several minutes. About halfway through, he takes it out and just stares at the screen as messages scroll by. What the hell.]
[ * He swipes a hand over his face, disturbing the clustered static in ripples, and sits up. Some static sticks to his hand as he pulls it away again, dissipating slowly.]
[ * What do you even say back to sixty six text messages of someone’s lunchdate. He looks unfocusedly through the phone screen.]
[ * Papyrus. Papyrus…]
[ * Who was that?]
[TXT] * He definitely seems verbose and focused. You seem rather fond of him, as well.
[ * Ḑis͏͠͡c̛͏҉o̕͡vè͜ry͘ slowly looks around himself. There was water nearby, he could hear it.]
* !!!
[TXT] * fFond of him?? ?
[TXT] * No, I simply was investigating him for your sake! As you had asked for more information on Papyrus and Sans! I certainly
[ They accidentally hit send mid-sentence in their scramble. ]
[TXT] * Sorry! I certainly don’t know Papyrus well enough for any sort of fondness! He is merely another neighbour, albeit a kind one!
[ smoooooooooth. ]
[ * Ḑis͏͠͡c̛͏҉o̕͡vè͜ry͘ stands up slowly, wincing as he looks down at his ribcage. Was it always shattered like that? No matter.]
[ * The water. He takes a few steps and has to brace on something for a moment to steady himself.]
[TXT] * I did, didn’t I.
[TXT] * You’ve fully completed that task then, good. Congratulations.
[TXT] * You and this Papyrus are neighbours?
[ * He pushes off the wall he was leaning on and starts limping towards the muted sound of water.]
[ * … ]
[ * Behind him, the door of the safehouse opens and the lost cat peers around it. It’s holding a small square of paper in its mouth.]
[ * The Lost Cat traipses after Ḑis͏͠͡c̛͏҉o̕͡vè͜ry͘, carefully holding onto the piece of paper. It follows him over a few hills, pausing when he stops to rest (which is frequently).]
[ * They approach the lake. The few other Lost Souls around the edge part slightly to allow him through, scenting at his newly Lost self, his ribs. One or two put their face to his, the static mingling briefly, and they pull away no more enlightened than they came.]
[ * The Lost Souls watch him as he kneels by the water’s edge, as he reaches out to gently sift his fingers in the sandy remains of what might have been stone or glass or plastic.]
[ * Nothing happens, except that his fingers get wet. He sighs, and stares into the waters.]
[TXT] * Well, insofar as everyone in snowdin are neighbours…
[ Bookie hesitates. Something isn’t right. ]
[TXT] * Dr. Gaster… is something wrong? Forgive me for my rudeness, but your wording seems strange.
[TXT] * Did you not want to know more about Papyrus and Sans? You seemed so eager before.
[ * Dr. Gaster.]
[ * Ḑis͏͠͡c̛͏҉o̕͡vè͜ry͘, nearly drops his phone in the lake, but scans over the rest of the message quickly. Papyrus and…. Sans. Why were those familiar. And….]
[ * The Lost Soul to his right tries to grab at the phone while he’s distracted, but he holds it out of its reach and sticks his tongue out at it.]
* Get y͟o͏u҉r̢ oẃn,̕ t̀his͟ on̛e͝’s m̸i̴n͟e͞.̧
[ * The Lost Soul pouts and crosses its little arms in a huff as he tics out a response.]
[TXT] * I would like to know more about everything.
[ * He pauses. Did he? Hm. His soul throbs gently under his shirt. There is a rustling from the hills behind them.]
[ * He looks at his phone. Scrolling up through more than 60 messages about a lunchdate was too much right now to figure out what was in the rest of his conversation with… ‘Bookie’.]
[TXT] * I want to know everything you have to say.
* O-oh…
[ Well, that was a little…. weird. But okay? ]
[TXT] Ah, well then. I’ve talked about Papyrus a lot, but Sans…
[TXT] As I said, I only spoke to him briefly. He was very casual, and did not seem to muster much energy for his actions… except when taking me aside. What you said about protectiveness makes sense, even if it seems quite intense to me, but… I get the feeling he would do anything for his brother.
[ There’s more to say, but Bookie’s careful typing is interrupted as their ancient phone begins to…. ring? Who on earth would be calling them? As they try to figure out how to answer, the partially completed text ends up sent.]
[ … ]
[ Not a minute later, Bookie’s phone clatters to the ground. ]
[ * The rustling gets louder, but he’s not paying attention, instead raptly focused on his phone screen.]
[ * Brother.]
[ * The other Lost Souls are paying attention, and scatter wildly.]
[ * Brother brother brother-
B̢̢͜R͏͡Ó͘͢Ţ̕͟͠H́͜͞Ȩ̸̸R͝ ̴̵́̀͟W҉͞E̸͡͝ ̷̡͟͝C̵̵̷O͝҉͏̶́Ư̷̕͡L̵̶͠D̶̢N͏̡'̶̵͝T̴̶̀̀͞ ́͞͝F̷͠͏̴I̷̧N̸͢͟D̵͘͢ ́̀̕Y̴͟͝O͏͢U̶̡̢̧͘͘
ṕ̸͢͡l̨̢̀̕͢e͘͡á͜s̶̢̡̀͟è̢́ ̡͠͠d̷͏̡̢o̴͘n̶̶҉͝'̴̴̡t̴̴̶ ̴̨ẃ͡͞a͠҉̀͟n̷͠d͟͜͢ę́͜͟r̢͡ ́́ơ̷f̶̸͢͠f͘͢ ͏́l̷̨̕͘i̷͟͝͡ķ͘͘͠͠e̶̴ ̴̕͞t̴̡͘h̨̢̕͡a͜t͢ ̷̸̨͢b̸̵̸̢ŕ̶͝o̷̷͏̢͡,͘͡ ̕͘͟͝i̸̢̛͘'҉́d̕͡͞͠ ̧͘h̴͘͜ą̸͞͡t̴̡̕e̡҉͢ ̵̕͢f̶ǫ͡r̵̸ ̀͞y̶̧͝ó̡͘͞ú̵ ̷̨t̴̸̀͝ó̵̷ ̵̛͟͢g̨̛e͠t̛͏ ̸̴̛h̷̛͞͝u҉͝r̴͢͡t́͜͞
- Discovery’s soul throbs again, glowing whole-heartedly, illuminating his ribcage from the inside and casting decidedly weird flickering shadows on the surface of the water.]
[ * He looks down at his broken reflection in the waves, static gone, eyes clear, mind… churning as remembered facts hit him like broken bones.]
[ * He was in the Void and he’d been here for he couldn’t remember how long and he didn’t know if anyone had gone looking for him or even wanted him back and he just wanted his family back and he didn’t want to be here and he was so scared-]
[ * He rocks back and forth for a few brief seconds, clutching his phone, oblivious to anything but his desire to go home, to be back safe, to be anywhere but here.]
[ * Something wraps around Discovery’s neck, something vibrantly teal and peculiarly triangular, and then his vision goes out in one eye, and then the other.]
[ * Dusk.]
YO͠U ͢D̕O̵Ņ'̧T́ ́WAN͜T T͘O̵ ̕BE ̵HE͜RE̷ A̵NY͘M͢ORE͡?
́
͠W̡E͡ A̧RĘ O͜F͏ ͞T̷H҉E̢ ŚA͢ME ̵M͞ÌN͏D, T͢H͝E̵N̶.
̴NE͟I͠T͢HE͘R͞ DO̸ I͝.
LE͝T̛ ̡ME ̕SHO͜W̛ Y̵O̵U ͠HO͝W͝ I̷T̡'҉S ͝D̀ǪNE͠.͢
[ * A trick. Not willingly given away, but a verbal loophole that lets Dusk just pluck the beaming soul right out of Discovery’s chest.]
[ * It doesn’t have a stomach, but it doesn’t need one to just carry it safely around with them. Dusk lets the skeleton fall, and tucks its newfound soul away with a shiver. Cyan lights bloom along its body, eyespots lighting up stunningly before they settle back into a more dilute color.]
[ * Dusk chuckles to itself as it looks down at where ̨͟D̸̡͘i͘͡҉̸́ś̸͟͞c҉̕͜o̢͘͟v̶͘҉ȩ̸̕͡ŗ̴̨͘y̡̡͘͜͝ had fallen.]
PITIFUL.
[ * It slinks away, starting to plot, and ̨͟D̸̡͘i͘͡҉̸́ś̸͟͞c҉̕͜o̢͘͟v̶͘҉ȩ̸̕͡ŗ̴̨͘y̡̡͘͜͝ just lays there, static blooming like flowers over his face, glittering by his broken ribs, rustling by his fingertips.]