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[bonedoggle]

uh, i think they're both valid? so whatever you think sounds better?

oh, what about dad? is he invited?

[spaghettimonster]

[He'll have to compare them a little more to decide. But for now, Papyrus is halfway to bluescreening.]

. . .

"Dad?"

[bonedoggle]

yeah, our... dad. he's invited too, right?

[Sorry, Papyrus, he's assuming your memories of Gaster must be returning, too. Like him.]

[spaghettimonster]

[Welp. Little bits of things are coming back, but they're less memory and more emotion. Feeling strangely hopeful and excited to hang out with the older skeleton, or alarmed by the sight of his shaking after becoming solid again.]

[He hasn't even heard the older skeleton's name yet, since Gaster didn't offer it.]

Our... dad... is here?

[bonedoggle]

yeah, dr gaster, he's been here since before i got here.

[This is starting to get worrying.]

you've seen him around, right... papyrus

[spaghettimonster]

We have...?

[Papyrus starts to ask, and his eyesockets widen.]

We had a dad! Wing dings... Gaster.

[Floor, meet Papyrus' butt. Papyrus' butt, meet the hallway floor. The way he abruptly sat down probably looks a little worrying, but it's not like anybody is walking by, so he's not in the way or anything. Please do not be troubled by the very alarmed skeleton.]

[bonedoggle]

[That is alarming. Sans can't help but laugh nervously.]

s-sorry to suddenly spring this on you, pap.

[spaghettimonster]

[For all that he's rattled, Papyrus is aware enough to shake his head at Sans' apology. No matter, don't worry.]

The other skeleton from home! The one who... [Papyrus holds his hands up and signs, showing Sans he remembers that much at least,] speaks in hands.

He, asked after me in the kitchen? I didn't realize...

[He rests his hands in his lap and shakes his head slowly, disbelievingly.]

[bonedoggle]

[There's a slight clattering as Sans joins Papyrus on the floor.]

hey, hey it's all right.

nobody really remembers him anymore...

[spaghettimonster]

'Nobody?'

You seem to remember.

[And Papyrus doesn't really remember something Sans does. Again. But he doesn't say that.]

[bonedoggle]

before coming here all i could really remember was that he was missing, or, uh, something like that.

[spaghettimonster]

['Or something?' One can't help but wonder if that's another evasion, or a genuine confession that Sans' memory was almost as vague on the topic as his own.]

Oh? Well, then! That's not so bad. I mean, it's bad for Dad, but...

[bonedoggle]

[It's the second one, Papyrus.]

heh. yeah.

and i'm pretty sure he won't be mad that you didn't remember him right away, it's just... how things are now.

[spaghettimonster]

[That's a relief.]

"Dad." Heh.

[Papyrus smiles a goofy little smile, strangely pleased about having a reason to say that word. He stretches his arms over his head, then glances down at Sans again.]

Why doesn't anybody remember him? Does it have something to do with how, not quite skeletal he was? Should I just ask him?

[bonedoggle]

well, uh, dad was the royal scientist before alphys, he was the one i was apprenticing under.

[Yup, once again, it all goes back to the mysterious past as a scientist.]

there was an accident...

[spaghettimonster]

I can see the family resemblance already. I got his height, and you got his science.

[Of course it does! The Great Papyrus called it, did he not?]

And... not the fun, super-power granting kind...

[bonedoggle]

no, more like the... erased from existence kind.

[spaghettimonster]

That's... a really roundabout way of saying "fell down," Sans.

[bonedoggle]

...

except he didn't fall down, papyrus.

[Falling down would have caused less pain for everyone.]

[spaghettimonster]

[See, Sans, that was your chance to ease the sudden case of heebiejeebies that Papyrus is feeling. Continuing to be all mysterious was the opposite of what your brother was going for.]

[...Okay, okay, he knows. Old habits are hard to break.]

Erased, forgotten... those really aren't good words. Why do I feel like, whatever you're going to tell me, was worse than...

[Sans, just come home, standing brokenly in the doorway in a sooty labcoat. Papyrus greeting him cheerfully, jokingly asking him what exploded this time, and saying he'd ordered out for dinner. No questions about their father, no sign that he knew anything was missing.]

[No calls or visits from concerned neighbors, because nobody knew the young men had any reasons to be grieving. Not even one of them.]

[Sans' sudden decision to retire, to move somewhere with new opportunities ("hey, maybe you could get a position in the royal guard if we're in some smaller town, pap? they're pretty full up here..." "THAT'S A GREAT IDEA!"]

[Snowdin, as far away as it was possible to go.]

[bonedoggle]

[Ah, but here's the thing, Papryus, Sans isn't deliberately being mysterious...]

heh.

no they're not. [Sans draws his knees up and hugs them.]

unfortunately, that's all i really remember about what happened to dad. there was an accident and... well, that's it.

[It was the beginning of the downward spiral that he was trapped in. Papryus's bright, driven kid brother had become dimmer that day, he was so quick to squander the potential that everyone who knew the brothers said he had.]

we've got a second chance, though. dad's here now... we can catch up on lost time.

[spaghettimonster]

[That's very hard to believe!]

...I guess. I could ask him about it? At the very least I'll want to talk to him and introduce myself properly!

[That last comment earns another sideglance from Papyrus. Sans, you know, that whole second chance thing, doesn't just apply to interacting with Gaster... right?]

Wow, you're right about that! That certainly is the case. Being in this world is a second chance, for all kinds of things, isn't it?

[SUBTLE HINT HINT]

[bonedoggle]

[He seriously can't remember, he'll just end up hurting himself if he tries to hard to recall missing memories.]

yeah, maybe you should do that. he probably recalls it better than i do.

[Of course it applies to more than just Gaster.]

yeah, it is. maybe i can make up for lost time, too?

[spaghettimonster]

[Huh, funny coincidence. That sounds a bit like when Papyrus was trying to remember your old job. See, this is why you talk to your older brother about things, Sans. He might have experience with the same sort of problem, and could give you advice.]

[For example, instead treating your mind like a Junior Jumble where the things are right there and you stare at them long enough that you notice them...? Treat them like horoscopes, where you only see bits of it and you have to infer the connections based on the things that aren't there.]

[Yes, Papyrus knows that he's terribly insightful. He's impressed too.]

Then that's what I'll do.

[A triumphant smile!]

That's exactly the kind of thing I want to hear!

[bonedoggle]

[I'm not sure that's how the horoscope works, bro, but other than that it's pretty sound logic.]

heh. really?

[He seems almost surprised]