Morning of October 1st, 201X, a Monday.
He arrives on the premises of their brand new pawn shop as he often does, even though it's several hours earlier than he'd usually show up.
Burgerpants, or 'Burgie' as he had affectionately come to be known as, scrutinizes his own faint reflection in the glass door, smoothing out his orange fur. He can't help but frown at the sight of his uniform, a grim reminder that even now they were all on the surface, he hadn't escaped his job flipping burgers. Gently squeezing the pack slung over his shoulder, he triple-checks for their contents: two glamburgers, one for Catty and one for Bratty.
He figured they needed it after what he had heard happened to them.
Taking in a steadying breath, he pushes the door inward and allows himself in. A bell affixed to the top of the door chimes pleasantly, alerting the two owners to his presence. Bratty looks up at him from filing her claws and Catty's ears swivel forward.
"Hey Burgie!" They greet him in flawless unison.
"Hey girls, the usual order." Burgerpants replies. "Uh, figured I'd get here a bit earlier than usual... Mettaton will be pissed, but I think he'll understand this time."
Catty dips her chin in a sharp nod, short black hair bouncing. "Hey, yo, yeah! You're here really early today."
"Yeah, why? Won't you get into trouble?" Bratty offers up.
"You guys... Y-you guys, uh..." He stumbles over his words, weaving his fingers together, willing the rest of it to come out. For some reason, it's all caught in a big lump in his throat. "You... 'fell down' a few days ago, didn't you? I heard. Everyone was worried. You look alright, though. That's good."
"Oh!" The blonde alligator chimes, characteristically upbeat as ever, "Uhuh, yeah, Catty fell down. I was terrified!"
"Terrified!" Catty echoes, dramatically placing a paw to her mouth, face forming a shocked expression.
"For a second it was like, oh my gosh, what do I do, what do I do? Then, like, you know, I just kinda... Followed her? I wasn't even thinking about it! It was instinct!"
"Hahah! That's my Bratty!" Catty chortles, dropping the dramatization to lean her thick body against the counter. "Always worrying about little old me, always a step behind."
Bratty sideglances her friend, wiggling her body appreciatively. "Like, of course! But I know you'd do the same for me!"
"Okay, alright, hold up though." The tangerine feline cuts their affectionate back-and-forth banter short. He leans over to where Catty was resting, picking her paw up from the countertop. He inspects the soft, fleshy pads of her paws, depressing his thumb into her toe beans. Then, as though he were conducting a medical examination, he lifts her arm and bends it experimentally.
"Yo, quit being weird! What's wrong with you?" Catty quips, snatching her paw back from him.
"It's just... You don't understand. I don't understand. Everyone thought you guys were... g-goners. And now you're just... standing here? Like nothing ever h-happened? When everyone thought you were going to die?!" The last sentence practically burbles out of his mouth, his whole body trembling wildly. He clutches his own wrist desperately, squeezing in futile attempt to slow the tremors.
A long silence. For the first time that day, the girls appear stern. They exchange glances as though they were capable of communicating through looks alone. For all he knew, they might have been able to.
"We were out for a little while, actually." Catty admits. "But you don't need to worry about us, we had a really good doctor. She fixed us up."
"Yup! A great doctor! She's a really good friend of ours from way back. She's toooootally smart!"
"Ah. Well, alright then. Good for you, I'm relieved. That story makes much more sense now. I was just shocked to see you looking so... normal, after what I heard." He rubs his arms sheepishly, avoiding looking either of them in the eye. His prior anxieties evaporated, leaving a sort of embarrassed shame in their place.
Bratty arches her body over the counter, seizing Burgerpants' hat by the brim and pulling it down over his eyes playfully. "Oh, lighten up, Burgie. Everything's fine. And you'd better still be hitting the town with us tonight!"
"Yeah, yeah." He retorts, brightening. "I just needed the peace of mind."
Afternoon of October 3rd, 201X a Wednesday.
He arrives on the premises of their brand new pawn shop as he often does, right on schedule at the end of his shift. But when he arrives, the lights are off and the store appears to be closed at an hour where it'd normally be open. He roots around in his pocket to retrieve his phone, only to discover that neither of them had messaged him since two nights ago.
He pushes on the door anyway and to his surprise, it swings open, familiar bell chiming overhead.
"Hello? Catty, Bratty? Are you around?" Burgerpants allows himself in with some trepidation, squinting at his surroundings. Despite the relative darkness, he spies a note left on the countertop. The dim afternoon light creeping in from the glass door at his back allows him to read it. He can't tell which one of them wrote it. Even their handwriting was close to identical.
'Burgie, we knew you were coming by today, but we don't feel so great right now. We're taking a little rest. Please leave the glamburgers on the counter. We'll have them when we're feeling better. Thank you so much! Talk to you soon! xoxo'
An inexplicable chill runs down his spine but he suppresses it immediately, self-talking through it. They did suffer a terrible injury and then acted as though nothing was wrong. It made sense that it caught up with them somehow. They'd probably be alright after resting some more and seeing their doctor again. There was nothing to worry about. He sets the glamburgers on the counter as he was instructed to do so and turns to leave.
Afternoon of October 4th, 201X a Thursday.
He arrives on the premises of their brand new pawn shop as he often does, right on schedule at the end of his shift.
He's caught off-guard by the fact that the store still appears to be closed. A quick inspection of his phone confirms his suspicion that Catty and Bratty hadn't contacted him, even though he'd shot them a quick message the last night to see if they were alright and if needed anything.
He mimics the actions of the previous day, seeing himself in and setting the glamburgers on the counter. The darkness at the back of the shop feels more oppressive and heavy than ever and his stomach churns, because something implacable about all of this feels wrong. He peers down the short hallway that led to the back rooms and tries to call their names, but nothing comes out.
Afternoon of October 5th, 201X a Friday.
He arrives on the premises of their brand new pawn shop as he often does, right on schedule at the end of his shift.
He just stands numbly in front of the door, phone in hand, staring at the dozens of unanswered messages he'd left them.
Morning of October 6th, 201X a Saturday.
He arrives on the premises of their brand new pawn shop as he often does. It's early on a weekend and he simply lets himself in, determined to get to the bottom of whatever was going on.
He stands in the center of the shop, just as eerily quiet and abandoned as it had been the last few days.
"Catty? Bratty?" He calls out, voice stern and clear. "I know you're usually around at this time to start getting ready. If you're around, come out and talk to me. I'm worried. Hell, send me a text or something if you just don't wanna see me around here any more."
Thump, thump.
Something was coming - no, lumbering - toward him. Panic flared in his heart as the heavy, uneven footsteps thundering against old hardwood floors grew closer with each passing moment. His immediate instinct was to run, but fear seized his body and rooted him in place, forcing him to watch as the unfamiliar form of something lurking in the shadows slowly emerged from the back of the store and into the light.
When he saw it, his blood ran cold. He inadvertently threw his body back in revulsion, spine slamming against the glass panes of the door.
"Mornin', Burgie! We haven't opened up for the day yet, it's a weekend."
"Mornin', Burgie! We haven't opened up for the day yet, it's a weekend."
Two unmistakably familiar, separate voices flowed from the creature's single mouth. It trod upon four thick, clawed feet with a clumsily large alligator tail in tow, body a mess of stripes: purple fur in some places and lime green scales in others. Its upper body appeared to be comprised of Bratty's lithe frame and long arms and Catty's generous bosom.
"Oh... Jesus.. No..." His muscles go slack and he slides into a seated position on the floor, body succumbing to uncontrollable tremors. He'd seen the other amalgamations before, of course, but it seemed like he was the only one who was bothered and disturbed by them.
Four eyes - two pink, two amber - blink down at him in unison, confused and hurt, as though they didn't understand this reaction.
"What's wrong? We feel much better now. Sorry we didn't respond to your texts."
"What's wrong? We feel much better now. Sorry we didn't respond to your texts."
Unable to take the sight of them, Burgerpants folds his knees up into his chest and buries his face into his palms. Bereft of response, he can only sob pathetically into his hands, hot tears streaming down his face and wrists, the taste of bile burning at the back of his throat.
"Like, why are you crying?"
"Like, why are you crying?"
He scarcely hears them over his own escalating crying, unintelligible, wounded sounds coming from him. His chest hurts.
"We can be together forever now."
"We can be together forever now."