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[punnybone]

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[everything_you_love]

[When Sans eventually returns back to his room, he'll find a note waiting for him on his board.]

Someone's having a rough night.

[punnybone]

[...This is the last thing he needs right now.

Normally Serif would be better equipped to respond to this, but god, right now he doesn't want to think of something clever.]

what do you want

[everything_you_love]

Why would I want anything from you?

I'm only checking in on an old friend.

[punnybone]

yeah, sure you are.

you must be really bored.

-v- hey.

[save_theworld]

[Pff, notice boards. Who needs notice boards when they have two feet and the knowledge of which room Serif is located in? Grit slips in as quietly as they can, slowly sneaking past all the other prone forms strewn about the place, until they come to the most familiar one. He looks like he's having a good sleep...

Welp. He did say they could come see him if something was up, right? Might not be the thing he meant, but-]

Serif? Dunkle Serif... [Wakey wakey, eggs and bacey.]

[punnybone]

[Be glad you caught him on a good night, kid. Then again, if this were a bad night, he probably wouldn't even be in his room.

Despite how much he sleeps, he's not always the deepest sleeper. Or rather, unless he's extra exhausted, it's almost like he picks up on what things he can and can't sleep through. Like Tempus nagging at him? That he can ignore. The kid's voice, though? That's a little different. So Serif's eyesockets open slowly and he looks up.]

Hm...? Oh. Hey kid. [Give him a sec to wake up...] Heh, don't tell me I fell asleep in the wrong room or something.

[That's not at all serious, of course, 'cause he knows he didn't. Just teasing them a little.]

[save_theworld]

[Good nights, bad nights- Grit has both, so they're pretty sure they could handle both from Serif, too. It's not something they're going to worry about now, however, letting loose a quiet giggle before putting their hands over their mouth and glancing at some of Serif's sleeping roommates nervously. Oops...]

No. I just want to tell you something.

[punnybone]

Yeah?

[In the middle of the night? Geez kid, what a time to pick. Well whatever, he doesn't really mind.]

Alright then. Lay it on me, kiddo.

[Backdated to the 24th, Day after Grit's Death - Christmas Eve

[everything_you_love]

[In Serif's darkest moments, he's there again. A note appears on the bulletin board, something that could have easily been sent to his personal board from another. It's crowded with tall, black writing, scrawled so hard it's nearly gone through the paper.]

YOU DID IT, SERIF.

[A second note is tacked to the wall itself, meaning its poster has been inside his room at some point. Perhaps it was placed there when he was lying in a hallway, waiting for someone who wasn't coming back. Or perhaps it was placed there quietly when he was sleeping. It's uncertain.]

I KNEW YOU WOULD.

[punnybone]

[...He really should've expected this. But honestly, after everything? Serif had kind of forgotten about this creep.

The response is late. Of course it is. Serif wasn't even anywhere close to a board to see it for a while, spending a lot of time avoiding his room. And you know what, fine. This is happening. Okay. Why the hell not, at this point.]

yeah ok

whatever

[everything_you_love]

You found a way out of the PROMISE.

You didn't even have to kill them yourself.

[punnybone]

didn't find my way out of anything

i made a promise

i kept it

[Just not in the way he expected he would.]

[Outside, in the hallway]

[everything_you_love]

[It happens in the dead of night, when there's hardly anyone stirring in the employee quarters. An uncharacteristic silence has settled over the building... until Serif's door will creak quietly, like a weight has come to rest against it. It's hardly anything to worry about, likely just a change in the atmosphere, or a light breeze from any widows.

Except it's joined by a single instance of noise: a hardly audible chorus of scratches, eerily reminiscent of fingernails against wood. Something is breathing, struggling and labored, just outside his door.]

[punnybone]

[The creaking doesn't even register at all, of course. But the other sounds? Those Serif notices. If the sounds were different he'd call it somebody else's problem, but it's... a little worrying. No, more than a little. Yeah, that's probably worth getting up for.

So he teleports across the room, right to the door, to avoid waking any of his roommates.

This is potentially a very bad idea, but he doesn't really think about that. He just opens the door.]

[everything_you_love]

[There's a hiccup in time, small and hardly detectable. But when Serif opens the door, nothing will be there waiting for him.

Imagination playing tricks on him, likely. After all, Serif is too quick. He'd come straight to the door. There wasn't any time to hide, even if they'd hurried. Serif would have certainly caught movement if there HAD been someone outside.]

Action

[chasescenes]

[Even as infrequent as Yonaka's nightmares are now - they're still nightmares. They're still dreams of seeing her parents eviscerated, and the smiling face of what used to be her brother.

She doesn't have a plan for anything in particular when she wakes from this nightmare and heads for the second floor lobby. She just needs to get out of that room, in case she cries or screams or does something else she wouldn't want to bother anyone else with.

It's not likely that she'll do either, though. Mostly, she's just exhausted, the kind of drained you don't get from lack of sleep.

There's only one other person in the lobby, who's obviously up to get a snack.]

Hi, Serif.

[punnybone]

[Getting up in the middle of the night is a regular thing for Serif, as much as it seems like he does nothing but sleep. Even on his better nights, he usually wakes up a bunch of times. So hell, he's awake, might as well get a terribly unhealthy snack that Tempus would absolutely yell at him for eating.

Though all he's got right now is some ketchup - what a shock. Well, at least it's just one bottle. It'll do.]

'Sup.

Up pretty late, aren't you?

[He's mostly joking, since, well, obviously so is he.]

[chasescenes]

Kind of, I guess.

[At least neither of them are in a position to lecture each other about their bad sleeping habits.

Yonaka takes a seat at the table - she's not going anywhere anytime soon, it looks like. And maybe having someone to talk to is okay.

...But try as she might to come up with conversation topics, her mind is still reflecting on that nightmare, over and over. It's hard for her to think of small talk, and eventually she gives up.]

...Have I ever told you that I envy you a little?

[Too tired to censor herself.]

Forward dated to March 1st [because patience isn't a virtue]

[save_theworld]

[Another late night.

They'd like to say this wasn't becoming more frequent, but even now that things have died down, Grit is still working themselves- as Serif would put it, to the bone. Their body's acclimatized to the workload, and being as they are, Frisk doesn't understand habits enough to really flick that switch back. There's every possibility that they'd be tired until the day they died.

...The final one. Not, uh, whatever one comes next. Grit's not even going to pretend that it's likely to be the last.

Sneaking into Serif's room is easy. There's nights where they're still wired, and if Serif was awake enough, they'd steal away somewhere. Have hot chocolate. Chat about things. Telling their story in a little more detail was getting easier by the day, and it was nice. He laughed at the right places. He hugged at the perfect times, as well.

Other nights, much like this one...they aren't really feeling up for that. What Grit does want is to conk out cuddled up against his ribcage, content with the knowledge that he'll still be there no matter how late they wake up. Even if he 'complains' about them keeping him from work. Shuffling up to his side, that's their intent. Steal all the blankets. Demand a cuddle.

It's the little things, really.]

i'm already in so much pain

[punnybone]

[It's been a tiring day, but honestly, that describes every damn day of his life. At least it was mostly uneventful. That's always a good thing.

The most that really happened was that he ran into a slightly unsettling spirit - a ghost or something? - but that happens so often in Koriko, it's barely worth mentioning.

Honestly, all Serif wants to do now is sleep. And he's putting his all into that when something makes him stir. Something... no, someone? Yeah, someone's there. For a minute, while still half asleep, he figures it might be Tempus. But then he realizes that what he's feeling is too small and too soft to be his brother. It's when that sinks in that his eye sockets open and he sits up, thoroughly confused.

He looks down at who's lying next to him and... huh.]

Uh.

[...

Now who the heck is this kid?]

-gets a train- get in Rem we're going to hell

[save_theworld]

[Seriously? Said kid looks up at him with beady eyes, clearly unimpressed when his motions pull the blankets down from where they were quite contentedly covering their face.

No 'sorry for waking you', this time. They'd stopped after he'd spent at least two hours one night teasing them relentlessly for it.]

I know; it's late. Don't tell mom.

[And back under the covers they go.]

[save_theworld]

Hey dad I got a present from the witches.

I think its really important but I dont know what to do with it.

[punnybone]

present huh?

[Oh boy, more witch magic, that sure is encouraging.]

alright well don't leave me in suspense here kiddo

what is it?

[save_theworld]

Its a candle.


[Sounds super important, right?]

[save_theworld]

They said it can break any curse but it only works once.