lostcarnival | The Poor Decisions Continue

Entry tags:

lauren,
sans

The Poor Decisions Continue

Who: Lauren and Sans (And Stanley the Rat, and probably Sans' dogs.)
When: Day 50
Where: The Ringmaster's Treasure Tent or some other Prohibited Area.
What: Lauren is more than willing to resort to thievery if it means keeping his brother safe. Unfortunately Sans' job is to stop people who make bad decisions like this.

It wasn't difficult for Lauren to move about the carnival grounds unnoticed. He'd gone over the plan with Stanley several times, and while she didn't agree with the need of it she was still willing to assist him. She wasn't about to let her less intelligent human companion do something dangerous on his own. Plus, she couldn't help being curious about what sort of treasure the Ringmaster keep hidden from the rest of her crew. Lauren waited in the shadows, keeping a careful eye out for anyone who may be passing by, but at the early hour of 4:00 AM there weren't many people around. Once he was sure the coast was clear, and once he'd worked up his nerves, he focused inward on his magic and willed himself to transform. Stanley waited nearby for him to finish. They both assumed nothing would be off putting about a small fish just sort of swimming around. The mer-rat was was a bit less inconspicuous sure, but there wasn't much they could do about that.

Swimming together the two headed towards the areas people weren't supposed to go. It wasn't ever stated what these places held, but it was obvious enough that if people weren't mean to be there that they must contain something valuable or precious. Of course such places would likely be magically protected from anyone with ill intent, and this was why Stanley was so important to the plan. As a rat it was easy for her to sneak around places others couldn't, and as she had no intention of stealing anything hopefully she wouldn't set of any of the magical traps that might surround such a thing. Once she'd found something interesting she only had to tell Lauren, and then, well, and then maybe he could be quick enough about going in and out of the tent that he'd be able to escape without getting caught. To be fair, it wasn't a great plan, but well, it was one of the only plans he had.

So far phase one of the plan had gone off without any problem. Circling from above, Lauren was careful to make sure the coast was clear before swiming towards the ground and turning back into himself. Whispering words of luck to Stanley he placed her on the ground and watched as she made her way inside.

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"Actually, yeah, you can," Sans insists, still casual in his pace and tone. "Take it from an expert... Sometimes doing nothing is your best and only option."

It's not an answer he expects, so he's forced to swim and think with it a while before responding. Of course Sans, was right, he could do nothing, he just didn't want to. The realization only frustrates him more, because he doesn't understand the reason behind the feeling.

If he did nothing then... Then if something happened it might feel worse, like he hadn't even tried to stop it from happening. But if he did try and he failed would that be even more troubling? He doesn't know. He doesn't want to consider the possibility of failure, though he knows it's likely. If he had to pick though-

"Not with this."

"Okay," Sans says, levelly. "Why not?"

He can already imagine the reasons: pride, frustration, poor decision making. Yet, he can't hear what's going on in Lauren's head. He's gotta say it out loud so that they both can hear it.

Why not, it's another question he has to think about to answer, but this time he's prepared for it. The problem now is there are too many answers. Susan was in danger here, and Susan was important, that was one. He didn't like it here, that was another. Neither of those were the real reason.

"He's my only family." Without Susan he was alone. He didn't want that, didn't want to live on if he couldn't even protect the last of his kin.

Speaking of not knowing what's going on in Lauren's head...

Sans has to take a moment to parse what Lauren is talking about. The answer comes quickly enough, thinking about it. He pauses for a moment.

"...the kid?" he prompts.

He doesn't verbally answer, simply nodding as he avoids Sans' gaze. The kid, Susan, his brother, still to young to know the true dangers of the world, especially of worlds he didn't even know. He knows other people will think him paranoid or ridiculous for acting as though this carnival is so dangerous, but to him anything unknown was dangerous and the carnival seemed impossible to know at all.

"It's dangerous here in ways I don't understand." It's a full sentence, and it takes a lot of thought for him to even say it out loud, but he does eventually get there.

"I can't let anything happen to him."

Sans takes his own time to form a measured response, only slightly glancing back to Lauren as he speaks.

"I feel you," he says. "I do." And he actually does. He feels a similar way to his own brother, and towards the danger he's put in by being here at all. "But there's worse danger down the path that you're headed. If you stick with the carnival... you've got people watching your back."

He gestures, generally, up to the depths of water and the world outside.

"Out there? Against her? You won't."

And it makes sense, which is something he doesn't think he should be surprised of. He's used to people telling him his solutions don't work, but Sans isn't just saying no he's using reason. If only his reasoning didn't make Lauren feel even more helpless.

"There has to be something I can do."

"Protect him," Sans says, looking back at Lauren fully. He pauses for a moment, and then adds: "I know what you're gunna say. That you are protectin' him with this. But... you're not. Your need to feel like you're doing something is outpacing any benevolent intent."

He looks away again.

"If you wanna keep him safe, do it in the little ways, day to day. Protectin' someone isn't always about grand gestures or resolving a problems in a neat little package. If you wanna protect him, then do it."

When Sans looks back to him he catches Lauren's gaze and keeps it. Lauren actually rarely meets people's eyes, especially when they're speaking, but the statement feels significant. He's caught off-guard once more. Maybe it seemed obvious to everyone else, that the need to do something had turned a selfless desire into merely an excuse to act, but it had not been obvious to him. He realizes Sans is right, and that shakes him for a moment. The need to act, he couldn't understand it. Why did he feel that way? It stumps him. He'd just wanted to do something right, that's all he ever wanted really, but it seemed somehow he'd messed up again. The sting of failure doesn't hurt as much now though, not with the realizations it's brought. He's learned something this time.

He nods in understanding. Sans isn't a mind reader, but as always Lauren is a man of few words. There's no way he can express what he's thinking, so he simply nods instead.

"Thank you."

He's not completely surprised, but he is at least a little bit. Lauren has been a tough nut to crack in terms of understanding what's going on in the kid's head, so gaining a positive response is certainly informative. Maybe they are more alike than he would have expected.

He shrugs his shoulders, a small show of brushing it off.

"I'm not out to get ya, kid," he says, the next best thing to a 'you're welcome.'"If you and your bro make it through this alright, it's better for everyone."

Lauren nods, of course he hadn't assumed Sans was out to get them, excepting their first encounter. Still, it was nice to be reminded others weren't actively rooting for his failure. Speaking of first encounters, there really is something he should say. He looks back to Sans clearly feeling nervous and uncomfortable.

"I wanted to say... I'm sorry for how I treated you before." he glances away, embarrassed. "I assumed things here would be the same as they are in my world."

Which was just stupid really now that he thought about it. He sighs, letting go of his past frustrations.

An apology he can deal with. He's not inclined to make a big deal out of it, but he appreciates it being given in the first place. His trilobite legs scuttle in the water a little as he properly turns himself to face Lauren.

"It happens," he says, in genuine acceptance. "Monsters have a long history of those kinds of misunderstandings. Comes with the aesthetic, I guess."

It's not the aesthetic though and something about Sans even possibly thinking that bothers him. It makes him remember being the odd one out, pointed ears and darker skin and a name that didn't fit, and he hates thinking he made someone else feel like that.

"It's not the way you look." he responds, and despite the frustration he feels at himself he only sounds certain. His words are measured, as though he wants to be sure to give each one the proper weight so Sans knows what they mean. Of course Sans would think it was his looks, after all it was because he was a skeleton that Lauren reacted like he did. He looked like a skeleton so it was the looks, right? He huffs, frustrated at his inability to explain things.

"I mean the other skeletons I met, they weren't like you. If I'd met you first things would have been different."

If his first impression of skeletons had been like Sans his opinion of them would have been much different, he's sure. So it's not the looks, it's what the looks remind him of.

Sans is quiet, just letting the kid talk. He gets what he means - but it's true, even if it's just caused by bad memories, those experiences are the basis of most people's aversion to his appearance. Humans and the species like them just associate skeletons with death, and sometimes with evil, and it's for reasons that have nothing to do with Sans or his family.

That doesn't make it less tiring, though. It doesn't change how it affects things on his side.

"Look," Sans says. "I get it. I get that skeletons are bad news pretty much everywhere except for among other monsters. There's nothing to be done about that, so... the fact that you get it now is good enough for me."

Even if the bar is very low.

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The Poor Decisions Continue

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