"SAAAAAAANS!"
The shorter of two skeletons lazily opened his eyes, looking up at his taller brother, who marched into the living room, after having stormed downstairs. Papyrus looked puzzled as he stared at an old, torn, somewhat crumpled paper in his skeletal hands. "yeah bro?" Sans asked casually, blinking dolefully.
"I FOUND THIS PICTURE ON YOUR BED, SANS. WHOEVER DREW THIS MUST BE VERY TALENTED, SO I KNOW IT WASN'T YOU. I JUST WANTED TO ASK WHO THIS PERSON BETWEEN US IS." Papyrus practically shoved the dirty old image in Sans' face, whose demeanor shifted at a moment's notice, his eyes widening in slight shock.
"uh..."
The image in question was something Sans easily recognized. He was probably the only person who could recognize it. As Papyrus had pointed out, both he and Sans were on the image, drawn crudely in crayon. A third, very tall figure stood between them, hands resting on either of their shoulders, his face a twisted, broken grin.
Funnily enough, the drawing used to show what the middle man's face used to be, but after he'd 'died', well... this had happened.
"OH, I DIDN'T NOTICE THIS," Papyrus mentioned, now staring at the back of the image. "IT SAYS 'DON'T FORGET' ON THE BACK. FORGET WHAT? IS THIS A PRANK? AM I BEING PRANKED??"
"yeah," Sans replied, still staring at the face of the middle monster, before the picture was pulled away and Papyrus let out a sigh.
"I SHOULD HAVE FIGURED. FINALLY, I THOUGHT THERE WOULD BE A COOL MYSTERY TO SOLVE OR SOMETHING. OH WELL, BACK TO MY PASTA!"
Papyrus tossed the drawing aside as he stormed into the kitchen. Sans caught the picture, folding it carefully into a smaller square, and stuffing it into the pocket of his moth-eaten blue hoodie. He peered over the back of the couch at Papyrus, who was shaking his hips as he hummed, currently stirring a pot of dry noodles in cold water. He was still rather early in his cooking lessons with Undyne.
"hey bro?" Sans called.
Papyrus didn't look up from his work, but responded anyway; "YES, BROTHER?"
"what uh... were you doin' in my room?"
"OH, RIGHT. I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF RINSING THE NOODLES, BUT BEFORE I COULD CLEAN THEM WITH A WASHCLOTH, SOMEBODY TOLD ME THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING FOR ME IN YOUR ROOM. I THOUGHT IT WAS YOU TALKING, BUT IT MAY HAVE BEEN MY IMAGINATION. UNDYNE'S BEEN TRAINING ME REALLY HARD, AFTER ALL! I SHOULD PROBABLY CATCH UP ON MY BEAUTY SLEEP!"
Papyrus began to stir a lot faster, as he tended to do anything faster when he was recounting a brief story. He got over-excited way too easily.
Sans didn't reply as he leaned back against the couch, staring down at his lap for a moment. Somebody had told Papyrus to go up there, and... well, this drawing had been in his workshop since they'd moved in. Not on his bed.
Was it Him? Trying to communicate?
Possibly.
...
...
... hopefully.
——————————
"Project Lazarus, Entry Number 95. Subject 13 has been showing signs of improvement. After the incident, I thought for certain he would perish- but it was the Determination. He prevailed, where others could not, despite his shattered SOUL fragment. I interviewed him this morning, recording in the attached document. His magical affinity, unfortunately, has weakened severely. His combat capabilities are nigh useless, leaving him to be, unfortunately, a failure to Project Lazarus. I... would normally dispose of such things, but I have developed a personal attachment. Despite his combat prowess being reduced to pathetic numbers, astronomically small, his mind is just as sharp as my own. Asgore continues to press me for an assistant, so... perhaps Subject 13 is my ticket to getting the old king off my back for a while. He'll be wanting an update on Project Troy soon, so I should probably consider leaving Project Lazarus and Project Nexus on hiatus- for now. End log."
