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[sciencelizard]

"This is Alphys. Uh, l-leave a message, please!"

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[sciencelizard]

[She doesn't know how to explain to him what those words mean to her. Alphys pretends she's good at being alone- she's done it so much, she's pushed forward so far, gotten so much done by herself. But she's not. She never has been. She thrives on the encouragement of friends, the comfort of strangers, a smile at a crucial moment, an outstretched hand. All she ever needed was someone else.

But to hear he wants to try too... it's indescribable. The most valuable thing he's ever said.]

You t-too. I mean, if you need it, I...

I appreciate it. Really. And I want to... I want to be m-more open with you, too.

[As if she isn't also an emotional disaster.]

[skelebro]

[Look at the two of 'em, right? Regular champions of not saying anything to each other, and not knowing how to broach topics of discussion. As if either of 'em have any kind of reliable metric for how a healthy discussion is meant to work.]

Well, uh...let's work on that.

[It's not much, but it's something. It's the barest effort. The bare minimum of decency.]

I'll - work on that.

[sciencelizard]

We both can.

[She doesn't know how to approach this. Knows he doesn't either. But they're trying. They've both said they're willing to try. That's a step, however small. She lets the silence hang for a few moments, looking towards the counter.]

Uh, well, I made... one p-pancake. If you want it. I guess there's more batter to put stuff in 'em, if we uh, wanted to.

[skelebro]

[Seems...pretty characteristic of both of 'em, actually. A meandering conversation full of regrets without any solutions presenting themselves, and a single sad pancake between the pair of 'em.

He'd laugh, but just now, that'd seem like a cruelty.]

Heh. Well, uh...I'll call that a win. 'S good enough, yeah?

[sciencelizard]

[It probably represents them pretty well. They're... bad at solutions. Bad at fixing.

Maybe can get better. Even one pancake is more than no pancakes, right?]

Yeah. I t-think so.

... Thanks again. For talking to me, uh, about this.

[skelebro]

...thanks for, uh. For listening.

[The least he can do is talk and listen after dumping all that shit on her shoulders the night prior. He's already full of regrets as far as everything else is concerned.

But at least he ain't screwed this up too much. Yet.]

[sciencelizard]

Of course.

[The least she can do is listen when he comes to her for help. She already wishes she could've done better.

It'll have to be close enough.]