[ He waits for something, but so far as what Break can hear and feel, there's nothing. However, he's not so naive as to think that Undyne is letting it go or calming down. Actually, he's imagining something rather close to the truth, since he just thinks that she doesn't have the energy anymore to take this out on him. He should probably feel relief for that, since even if he was skilled, he was also only human. He knew well enough by now that Undyne could kill him rather easily if she wanted to. But he doesn't. He doesn't feel very much at all, since at this point, it's difficult to care about anything.
Her hand doesn't grip his throat, and he doesn't even know that she tries, but that sharp smile stays. There's nothing that happens to change it, but at least the pause in whatever she's doing gives him a chance to speak further. His words aren't barbed, but they're sharp and upset. ]
I know exactly what failing to protect people feels like, so throwing things at me isn't going to give me any more ability to set things right.
[ If only it were that easy. The thought gets him to laugh, and he bows forward tiredly to put his head in a hand. It's more a gesture of thoughtfulness, though, since even if he didn't know Papyrus at all, it weighs more heavily on him than even Break would like to admit. If not for Papyrus himself, then for Undyne, who is upset enough to come take it out on him. It's probably selfish, and he's aware of that, but in the face of things like this, he just feels the weight of that one simple question that's haunted him for so many years now. ]
People are going to die, and there's little I can do to stop that. I can only hope that what comes after will work at this point.
Edited (i changed my mind slightly) 2016-04-20 18:18 (UTC)
[i want you to know i've had most of this tag written up before today's death went up and just refused to post it out of anger
Okay, now Undyne feels like a shit. Grudgewank and serious matters aside, her wrath burns hot but quick, and Break's comment about failing to protect people drives a stake into it faster than anything else. It isn't fair of her at all to make him feel even worse just because she's furious at something that isn't his fault in the least, and the guilt's enough to get her to put a corporeal hand gently on his head out of apology.
But with the initial fire of her rage burned out, rational thought finally comes back. Papyrus might be dead, but there's still someone else in the town who needs help more than ever. She grabs his hand and writes out four letters on his palm, hoping it's enough for him to recognize what she's trying to say.]
s a n s
[She's not asking for Break to look out for him - he already has enough burdens of his own. But if there's something else he can do...]
You don't need to tell him the details, but at least give him hope that there's something else in store. He's smart, he'll figure the rest out on his own I bet. Maybe he'll even be able to help you guys out more than I have. But he's going to wind up doing something incredibly stupid if he doesn't think there are any other options left.
[And yes, she realizes that she is calling the exact same thing she did incredibly stupid, but she also thinks that Sans stands way less of a chance against the sinparents than she did.
[ Break isn't sure what he expects, but that hand on his head gets surprise to show very clearly on his face, though it's followed with a smile. He bows his head as if he needed to do so under the weight of her hand, but that smile turns tired and sad, even though the latter is much more subtle. Break isn't the sort of person to ever complain about the burdens he carries, but he's only human. They wear down on him even though he would definitely prefer to pretend otherwise.
It's why he partially misunderstands when Undyne takes his hand to spell out the name. It's a mild misunderstanding, since nuance is hard for her to convey to him, but he fills in the blanks with his own expectations. He feels those letters traced out, and they're not a surprise at all. He laughs again, then curls his hand delicately into a fist like a gesture of acceptance. ]
I'll do what I can.
[ No "I promise," because he doesn't feel like he can do that. Promising something that he's not sure that he can actually fulfill isn't something that Break wants to do, and especially not to someone he likes. He taps his fingers against his palm thoughtfully, but he has a question of his own, surprisingly. It might seem out of the blue to Undyne, but there's a connection here. Undyne might have an idea of what it is by now, or if not, then I'm just tormenting cappy apparently. ]
Have any of you seen Miata, by the way?
joke's on you i am too DEAD INSIDE to be betrayed ever again!!
[Yeah, Undyne still doesn't and probably will never give a single shit about Miata, but she has grudgingly accepted that she might not be the worst person ever and should maybe be allowed to live if only so she can be useful for once. So the fact that she taps Break's right shoulder for no (and hopefully he still remembers the code) is probably a good thing, as much as she'd love to personally beat the shit out of Miata in the graveyard.
But then she taps his hand twice. Looks like there's something else she wants to tell him, though getting the actual message through is likely going to be a pain.]
[ He remembers, and the "answer" gets Break to laugh, though it's soft and half-hearted. ]
Ahh, I suppose I shouldn't be surprise. I'll just have to wait and see how much of a coward she is.
[ But he at least says weird, cryptic shit while he extends his palm to be flat again. At least he's intuitive enough to understand ghost charades, otherwise this would be even stupider, which would be almost impressive. ]
[Right. This one's going to be hard because Undyne isn't even really sure what it is she's trying to get across, let alone how to convey it so Break can understand. She hesitates before writing five letters on his palm.]
d o o r s
[Is she really wasting her energy telling Break that the ghost broke all the doors in the hotel MAYBE!!!]
[ Break does have a concern about that, and he pauses after he understands the word that Undyne has traced out. There's nowhere for him to look exactly, but his attention does shift upward with a mildly cautious look. ]
...Are you still breaking doors?
[ There's definitely an implied "chill" in his tone ]
[She rolls her eyes and taps his right shoulder for 'no'. Man, it's a good thing a ton of people are about to die this week, otherwise this conversation is probably going use up all the energy she has.]
[ So it's not that. Color Break surprised! Or not really, since he doesn't think Undyne is exactly the kind of person to waste her energy and brag about that. His brow knits together, but his expression turns thoughtful. ]
...Is there a door in particular you want me to know about?
[She will only brag about breaking Vegeta's door on his face, it's true. She pauses for a moment because she's not quite sure if it's a wholly accurate answer, but with no way to get more specific she shrugs and taps his left shoulder for 'yes'.]
[ This at least gives him something to concentrate a bit more attention on, so he's happy to go with that. He holds out his hand to her, ad then flexes each finger in turn to indicate it as he explains. ]
Just tap whichever finger corresponds to where it is. [ And he'll flex a different finger as he goes through the basics: ] The ground floor, first floor, second floor, third floor, somewhere else in the hotel, or somewhere in the town?
[ Break's expression shows that pretty clearly, and he pauses for a few moments as he tries to piece it together... But nope, it goes over my head, so it's going over his. ]
Er... Should I go through the buildings in the same way?
[UGH THIS IS WHY YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO SEE BREAK!! Not that she's surprised that he didn't get it, since yeah this is all pretty confusing shit.
She taps the finger he used to indicate 'somewhere in town' again. Then she opens his palms and tries to wiggle all of his fingers at once in that universal gesture for 'oooh spooooky!'. Surely there will be no mistranslatation this time.]
[ He is still... Not completely getting it. He stares at the spooky ghost hand out of habit, but his expression just goes a bit flat as he tries to guess what that could possibly mean. So he's going to take more or less a random guess. ]
[ He nods, since at this point, he's not quite as keen at keeping certain cards close to his chest. He laughs, then shrugs. ]
It's in poor shape, I'm assuming?
[ Wow, it sure seems like Break knows a lot about this town, actually... Though actually, he only knows a story about this town and nothing about it in specifics. That question is more of a guess, but it's definitely one that comes from something with a solid basis. ]
[ ugh don't be irritable undyne this is hard ok!! ]
[ Break sighs, but holds out both hands for her again. He'll go through the same process of listing out buildings for her to tap which one to narrow it down to. He'll list all of the buildings in town, but I'm just too lazy to list them all... ]
[ Now that's a surprise, and it shows rather clearly. He hadn't heard anything about the ocean, so he's a bit confused, and as such, he wants to make sure that he's understanding. And not Undyne misspelling... Sorry Undyne. ]
[ Luckily, he can, but this does not help his confusion at all... He had a picture in his mind for where the dead people were hanging out, but this is really throwing it off. ]
...There's a door to an ocean? [ he hopes that he's misunderstanding, though, since what does that even mean ]
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Her hand doesn't grip his throat, and he doesn't even know that she tries, but that sharp smile stays. There's nothing that happens to change it, but at least the pause in whatever she's doing gives him a chance to speak further. His words aren't barbed, but they're sharp and upset. ]
I know exactly what failing to protect people feels like, so throwing things at me isn't going to give me any more ability to set things right.
[ If only it were that easy. The thought gets him to laugh, and he bows forward tiredly to put his head in a hand. It's more a gesture of thoughtfulness, though, since even if he didn't know Papyrus at all, it weighs more heavily on him than even Break would like to admit. If not for Papyrus himself, then for Undyne, who is upset enough to come take it out on him. It's probably selfish, and he's aware of that, but in the face of things like this, he just feels the weight of that one simple question that's haunted him for so many years now. ]
People are going to die, and there's little I can do to stop that. I can only hope that what comes after will work at this point.
i can't believe i've been betrayed twice in a row
Okay, now Undyne feels like a shit. Grudgewank and serious matters aside, her wrath burns hot but quick, and Break's comment about failing to protect people drives a stake into it faster than anything else. It isn't fair of her at all to make him feel even worse just because she's furious at something that isn't his fault in the least, and the guilt's enough to get her to put a corporeal hand gently on his head out of apology.
But with the initial fire of her rage burned out, rational thought finally comes back. Papyrus might be dead, but there's still someone else in the town who needs help more than ever. She grabs his hand and writes out four letters on his palm, hoping it's enough for him to recognize what she's trying to say.]
s a n s
[She's not asking for Break to look out for him - he already has enough burdens of his own. But if there's something else he can do...]
You don't need to tell him the details, but at least give him hope that there's something else in store. He's smart, he'll figure the rest out on his own I bet. Maybe he'll even be able to help you guys out more than I have. But he's going to wind up doing something incredibly stupid if he doesn't think there are any other options left.
[And yes, she realizes that she is calling the exact same thing she did incredibly stupid, but she also thinks that Sans stands way less of a chance against the sinparents than she did.
also fuck you zia and fuck you christy]
and it's only wednesday!
It's why he partially misunderstands when Undyne takes his hand to spell out the name. It's a mild misunderstanding, since nuance is hard for her to convey to him, but he fills in the blanks with his own expectations. He feels those letters traced out, and they're not a surprise at all. He laughs again, then curls his hand delicately into a fist like a gesture of acceptance. ]
I'll do what I can.
[ No "I promise," because he doesn't feel like he can do that. Promising something that he's not sure that he can actually fulfill isn't something that Break wants to do, and especially not to someone he likes. He taps his fingers against his palm thoughtfully, but he has a question of his own, surprisingly. It might seem out of the blue to Undyne, but there's a connection here. Undyne might have an idea of what it is by now, or if not, then I'm just tormenting cappy apparently. ]
Have any of you seen Miata, by the way?
joke's on you i am too DEAD INSIDE to be betrayed ever again!!
But then she taps his hand twice. Looks like there's something else she wants to tell him, though getting the actual message through is likely going to be a pain.]
:)
Ahh, I suppose I shouldn't be surprise. I'll just have to wait and see how much of a coward she is.
[ But he at least says weird, cryptic shit while he extends his palm to be flat again. At least he's intuitive enough to understand ghost charades, otherwise this would be even stupider, which would be almost impressive. ]
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d o o r s
[Is she really wasting her energy telling Break that the ghost broke all the doors in the hotel MAYBE!!!]
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...Are you still breaking doors?
[ There's definitely an implied "chill" in his tone ]
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...Is there a door in particular you want me to know about?
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Just tap whichever finger corresponds to where it is. [ And he'll flex a different finger as he goes through the basics: ] The ground floor, first floor, second floor, third floor, somewhere else in the hotel, or somewhere in the town?
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Then she taps the same finger on his other hand.]
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[ Break's expression shows that pretty clearly, and he pauses for a few moments as he tries to piece it together... But nope, it goes over my head, so it's going over his. ]
Er... Should I go through the buildings in the same way?
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She taps the finger he used to indicate 'somewhere in town' again. Then she opens his palms and tries to wiggle all of his fingers at once in that universal gesture for 'oooh spooooky!'. Surely there will be no mistranslatation this time.]
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In the town... But also not?
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fuck notifs
Is it something about the town you're seeing? I do know that it's different from what I'm seeing, at least.
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It's in poor shape, I'm assuming?
[ Wow, it sure seems like Break knows a lot about this town, actually... Though actually, he only knows a story about this town and nothing about it in specifics. That question is more of a guess, but it's definitely one that comes from something with a solid basis. ]
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[ Break sighs, but holds out both hands for her again. He'll go through the same process of listing out buildings for her to tap which one to narrow it down to. He'll list all of the buildings in town, but I'm just too lazy to list them all... ]
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s e a
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The ocean? There's an ocean where you are?
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d
[Which hopefully he can interpret as standing for 'doors' since she doesn't want to waste energy writing the whole word out again.]
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...There's a door to an ocean? [ he hopes that he's misunderstanding, though, since what does that even mean ]
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