Gradually, the tension in his bones began to relax to a small degree, despite the earlier intrusion of his soul, it seemed she had no true intention of harming him, though the wary glint within his white irises didn’t fade, silently assessing the other while she worked to help his friend.
While his gaze hadn’t wandered much away from her and Sunny, now that his focus had sharpened, it was clear they were in some iteration of the True Lab, though much less derelict than the version he was used to.
This one was obviously still utilized for experimentation.. was Sunny’s timeline still in the midst of DETERMINATION research?
He couldn’t help but roll his eyelights from her comment, just barely able to hold back a contemptuous snort.
As if dust itself bothered him anymore..
Besides, it would be more than a little hypocritical if seeing such a negligible amount of Sunny’s dust got to him.
Angel knew the poor guy had seen more than his fair share of his.
He hopped down from the table to get a closer look, recoiling just a bit from the sight of the pitch-black tendrils that had a vice-grip around his friend’s mutilated SOUL.. it was the first time he’d seen the extent of the damage, but he recognized them.. somehow.
He was staring at the vicious parasite that oozed seemingly from within Sunny’s very being, only to start when he realized the other had addressed him, tearing his gaze away to meet those impassive orbs of light that so resembled his own.
Pain flashed a momentary shadow across his eyelights, reflexively gripping onto the front of his hoodie while returning his attention back to his unconscious friend, trying to weather the escalating waves without betraying the amount of agony he was experiencing.
Likely a delayed reaction to her grip against the raw core of his own soul.
‘n-nothin’.. ya can help me with, anyway.. f-focus on sunny.. please..’
—{ Looking down at the skeleton practically folded over as obvious pain wretched his features stirred... something within her own self, something buried so deep, (or perhaps, had simply never felt before?), that trying to grasp upon the feeling was like trying to hold back a scream of rage, as dust and blood mingled on a barren battlefield.
...or perhaps, on a less morbid soliloquy, like trying to punch a ghost whilst running uphill in the rain. Entirely not worth the effort. Perhaps her other half might have raced after this strange feeling, but unlike him, she is not one to get lost searching her SOUL for something so unnecessary. }—
—{There was work to be done.
Work that was currently being neglected, as always, by complications. }—
—{ ❝ ...I see. ❞ She murmured, an underlining hum edging her words that continued as she scanned the room, aiming for causal but more than likely appearing dismissive and or skeptical. Ah, well. She’d never been very good at playing sympathetic.
Though she could muster up a sense of guilt. The skeletons current state was her fault after all. The pain she had detected from him earlier gave that away. However, she hadn’t thought he would experience yet another delayed reaction to her magic. Curiouser and curiouser. }—
—{And so, with a snap of blue, a chair floated over, gently nudging the back of the skeletons kneecaps until he fell back, the arms on each side preventing him from accidentally falling onto the floor or some-such nonsense.
With that done, she turned back to her son, just in time to see the void twitch- }—
—{ And for Papyrus to give a weak whistling shriek as one of his true ribs shatters, the dust disintegrating into nothing before she can jump back to the machine and crank up the output, multiple swears escaping her in alarm.
With a sharp spike of anger, because that would not have happened if she had not distracted herself for so long, she snaps at the high cabinets as she stalks to the back of the room, grabbing a bright orange vial with a burst of magic as she manually hunts for a syringe. }—
—{ ❝Only six now.❞ She growls at the ominously empty cabinet, carefully extracting the orange liquid with hands that are. not. shaking. ❝💧⚐☠ ⚐☞ ✌ ☝☹✋❄👍☟.❞ Guessing how much is required this time really should not be a thing, ever, but her time is rather limited at the moment, racing as she is with the phenomena of a near sentient void trying to drag her son out of existence.
The needle slides into her sons sternum like a sigh, his hoarse shrieking quieting into a whimper as the solution works its magic. The dull grey glow of his SOUL flares gold for a moment before settling into a orange bronze, the tendrils of void slowly beginning to fade back into thin lines. }—
—{ A few moments pass before she is able to breathe freely. Re-adjusting the machine one last time is a good excuse to snuff out the adrenaline that makes her hands jitter, and also because she has sworn on Queen Toriel’s good name that she refuses to rattle in good company, let alone with a complete stranger so near.
❝ What a mess. ❞ She says, mostly to herself, voice quiet as she rubs at a tense spot above her eye-socket. }—
