Chapter 10
His neck cracked slightly as he sat up. Hours had passed, he could be sure. Frisk glanced over at his ghost friend, assumed sleeping until he noticed his wide, empty eyes. His breath hitched a moment, fear piercing his imagination in an instant, giving him a moment's desire to wake the little thing, until he saw a gentle rise and fall of his body.
He was breathing.
Ghosts…breathe. He didn't know that.
He also didn't know they slept with their eyes open.
Unsettling, nonetheless.
'"Afraid I strangled your little friend?"'
No response, other than that of awkward recovering from overreaction.
'"Can't kill what's already dead, I'm afraid."'
Frisk stood up, wincing in pain as he rotated his head, resulting in a few cracks.
'My neck hurts.'
'"That's what happens when you sleep on hardwood flooring all night."'
'Is it even morning yet?'
'"No telling, really."' A pause. '"If you're rested, just go. No use fucking up your neck any more."'
Deciding not to wake the other, he took his quiet leave, making his way from Waterfall's center to the beginning terrain of Hotland. The area was quiet, only the distant hum of heavy machinery as he made his way to the laboratory.
He passed the two guards blocking the upward path, not giving them much acknowledgement given he already knew there was no making them budge.
The laboratory's door was unlocked, and he entered the building, lights off and dark other than the large screen which tracked him on camera.
As he passed a messy desk covered in strewn about paperwork and little knickknacks, the lights came on, nearly giving a heart attack to the home's occupant as she noticed her guest.
"Gah! Oh my God!" she gasped sharply, clutching the robe she was currently wearing closer over chest.
'"Guess it is morning, then."'
"Heya." Frisk waved at her casually, despite her slightly compromised state.
"Oh. My God." She looked around nervously and started quickly pacing about in her spot. "I didn't expect you to show up so soon- I haven't showered, I'm barely dressed, it's all messy, and…" she trailed off. "Umm… H-hiya!" She waved her fingers shyly. "I'm…Dr. Alphys… Royal Scientist…and such… A-anyway, nice to finally meet you, Frisk!" She waved a second time.
"Wait- How do you know my name?" A half-genuine inquisition. Deduction of how was about as obvious as that enormous screen in the other room; but given she'd never used his name directly in past timelines, this minute anomaly sort of begged such a question be asked.
"O-oh-! Ah- A-actually, since you've stepped out of the ruins, I've…been watching you- Wait! I mean no-! I-I mean-! I was watching you, but not like, watch watching you, I mean- Oh-!" She covered her face embarrassedly. "I-I'm sorry...y-you must think I'm like...really weird now or something... G-God what an awful first impression..." She curled in on herself further.
"No, its fine." he replied nonchalantly.
"...Wh-what?"
He smiled. "It's not the weirdest first impression I've seen down here."
Alphys giggled at that, much more abrasively than she'd intended, through gritted teeth posed in the stiffest sort of grin imaginable. Her shoulders rose high above her neck, hands clasped together in front of her with such tension that her discomfort would be visible to anyone in the same vicinity as her.
She was, to her very essence, all that encompassed being painfully awkward.
Suddenly, out of blue, an animated, slightly effeminate and distorted male voice rung out from behind a door further down the room.
"Augh! Alphys! Just when were you planning on giving me my grand introduction?!"
"A-ah! I-I'm sorry- Um-! Frisk! A-allow me to- introduce- er, grandly introduce, my very good f-friend-"
There was a loud robotic sigh. The door opened, and a humanoid robot emerged from the confines of whatever small little space he had crammed himself in.
"Oh, no matter. The mood's been killed." Another sassy sort of huff as he walked over to the other two, smoothing out his slightly ruffled hair as he went. A welcoming smile of perfect white teeth flashed as he stood before their guest.
"Why hello, Frisk!" He waved elegantly.
"You know my name too?"
"But of course! Oh, I've heard so much about you! Alphys here has been stalking you non-stop for the past three days or so-"
"Mnn-!" A sort of 'eep' was emitted, half-caught in her throat and further muffled by her tightly pursed lips.
"What darling, it's only true!"
"I- I wasn't stalking him, I was….silently observing…for research…on physical confrontations…" she murmured under her breath.
"…Right. Of course." the other agreed with a cheeky grin.
Her face was absolutely flushed. She ran off to the escalator on the right, shouting as she did so. "L-let me go get changed real quick!"
"She's a delight, isn't she?" the robot spoke as he watched her go. "Anyway~" He turned back to the boy. "I am Mettaton~ Star of the Underground! King of Monster Entertainment! Primary producer of…well, pretty much every TV show you'll see down here; you get the idea."
He grinned proudly and Frisk smiled back, extending a hand to him. "Well it's nice to meet you."
"It's a pleasure, darling~" Instead of shaking it, he took the other's hand to his lips and kissed it. This certainly caught Frisk off guard, but he held back any weird reactions and just sent him another polite smile.
His head rose again with a sort of flirtatious look. In that moment, Alphys came riding down the other escalator, now dressed in a formal looking lab coat. "Ok, I'm back!" She ran over excitedly to a spot next to the others, stopped, then took a few nervous steps back as all attention shifted to her.
"R-right, so where were we on this conversation?"
"You were stalking the boy."
She huffed loudly in protest. "Don't you have boots to mend or something-?!"
Mettaton gasped. "Oh dear Lord my boots!I need those for my show tomorrow night!" he exclaimed, rushing off in a fit.
"Mm!" She straightened her glasses with a passive little huff. "Well. On a more important note. Frisk. If my predictions are correct, you're ultimately on your way to the barrier- the uh, 'portal' if you will, that leads to the surface, right?"
Frisk nodded.
"R-right, so um- to get to the barrier, you'll have to go up through the Core, and to get there you'll have to go through the rest of Hotland, wh-which is where we are now…o-obviously…" Her posture shuffled slightly. "This…normally wouldn't be much of a hassle… H-however, right now our…elevators are…well…less than functional."
"They're busted."
"Y-yeah."
"And you want me to fix them."
"Y…es…?" She laughed uncomfortably. "I-it's just jammed, probably. If you ride it through each level, then down from the top floor, it should get…unjammed. Of course, uh, to get there you have to…sorta…travel up through the whole area on foot…through uh…several floors…of puzzles…" An apologetic looking grin. "I-it'll certainly make getting around a lot easier in the future though! F-for everyone, actually! You'd be like a local hero, s-sorta!"
"Well, I think I can do that." he stated with a confident smile, walking off to the lab's exit.
"Wait, wait!"
The girl ran over to him.
"Let me give you my ph-phone number! Th-then…m-maybe…if you need help, I could…" she trailed off, smiling awkwardly at the ground.
"Actually, I don't have a phone." Frisk spoke up after a few seconds.
"O-oh!" She went quickly to her desk and began searching one of the drawers. "Um- ah, here!" She pulled out a fairly normal looking cellphone and rushed back to him. "You can have this one! I-it's the latest model. S-sort of."
"Aw, thanks-"
"Ah!" She pulled it away just as he was reaching for it. "W-wait a sec-" Her fingers were feverishly typing something. "Th-there! I, uh- I signed you up on one of our s-social networks, and…um…added…myself…to your friends list… F-for convenience purposes of course!"
She grinned stupidly.
Such a weird tension accompanied the silence.
Her eyes shifted from side to side. Beads of sweat rolled down her forehead.
"I-I have to go to the bathroom!" she finally exclaimed, running off through a labeled door and leaving Frisk to his own devices.
He left through the exit at the far right. He missed the air conditioning the moment he stepped out. The heat here…it was beyond all natural levels a human should be expected to endure. This place was basically a settlement inside of a volcano.
"…Welp. Here we go."
'"Yep."'
"On this really long hot-trek."
'"Tediously long."'
"Tediously hot…"
'"…Yes…"'
He began walking toward the first conveyer belt.
"Lots of monsters about to jump my poor, defenseless self."
'"…You want me to do it, don't you?"'
'Would you?'
A long, drug out sigh.
'"Fine. Move over."'
There was a slight shift in him, his posture instantly stiffening.
"Lazy fuck." his new voice muttered under his breath.
"Well that was nerve-wrecking experience…" Alphys murmured to herself as she resurfaced in her home. Hiding out in the bathroom, it never failed her.
"Oh, where'd Frisky go~?"
She jumped slightly. "A-ah, I j-just sent him out. He's going up to the upper levels t-to repair the elevator."
"Ooh, fun!" he teased. "Think I should follow? Give the boy a…proper MTT greeting?"
"Er, no." Her subtle frown quickly faded, eyes lighting slightly. "Eh um- A-actually…" She rubbed the back of her neck.
She looked up, only to realize he wasn't paying a lick of attention to her, instead looking through a fairly large closet storing various costumes and props.
"Which bit do you think I should do for him, then?"
Mettaton didn't seem to be asking her, so absorbed in his frantic rummaging, his words came out as little more than thoughtful utterances to himself.
A red boot went flying behind him.
"No. No." "Dammit! Where did I put my good boots?"
A neon pink jacket joined a growing pile of discarded outfits.
"Oh, no matter. I suppose I'll have to wear last week's costume. Or perhaps-! A mix of both last week's and the one from Thursday's episode!"
Alphys now was no longer paying attention to this. She sat stiffly by her computer, tapping her fingers on the desk absentmindedly. She sighed, picking up her phone.
This would take awhile.
The human stared down at a Vulkin, who had been delightfully happy about five minutes ago before he had started publicly berating him for no apparent reason.
"Your ass looks like a sack of trash."
"You aren't worthy of love."
"I don't want your coffee, little shit."
The little monster sniffled as the intimidating human insulted him.
He simply huffed, backing away slightly to conclude his 'battle.' It still counted as sparing. Out of line to his end goals as his host would deem it, it still counted, dammit.
He trudged further along as the monster scampered out of his sight.
"Good God if I see one more fucking-"
At that moment his phone buzzed obnoxiously in his pocket.
"What?"
"Ah-ah-ah-um-ah-I-I-"
Dial tone.
Just as he was about to shove it back in his pocket, it rang again.
He took a long breath, letting it ring two or three times in the process, before answering again. His tone was controlled this time, though still teetering on annoyance; his words forced through about the fakest smile one could imagine.
"What is it…doctor?"
"Uh- I think…um… H-hey, about the puzzles on the left and right-! They're a bit difficult to explain, but-"
"…"
"O-oh…y-you already solved them…?"
An uncomfortable pause.
"Awesome! Er, s-sorry for bothering then-!"
"Mhm." He hung up and continued walking.
He barely made it 10 feet before she called again. He answered, out of obligation.
What she said was unimportant to him; just where he already knew they were going, and frankly he hardly payed attention to her words, breaking off the conversation as soon as he reached the first elevator. Its lights blinked in a rotating red, orange, and yellow hues; the ride itself, was rickety as all hell.
At the next level, there was a tad more population, especially around a hotdog stand run by a certain skeleton. He passed through quickly, most monsters there not even noticing his ignorant behavior over their focus on their food.
Though one of course, failed to fall onboard with the rest of them, greeting the boy despite his standoffish behavior.
"Hey buddy, what's up?"
The human stopped walking.
"Wanna buy a hot dog?" the skeleton asked with a cheesy smile as he held one up in offering.
He turned his head slightly. "No. Thank you."
"It's only 30 G."
"No, that's…quite alright."
Sans shrugged, still grinning as always. "Suit yourself." He closed his eyes and took a bite of the hotdog himself.
The other winced at him before turning to continue through the hot metallic environment. Gears turned in the distance above a sweeping ground of lava. Just as the stress was lessening slightly in his mood, he got another message, amongst a previous insufferable slew of status updates from a certain lizard girl.
"Dinner with the- What? What in the hell is wrong with this woman-?"
The phone dinged with a status update from Papyrus, of equal ridiculous comedy lost to Chara. He turned the phone off, his only regret having not done so sooner. Thanks to that he got through the conveyor belt obstacle without distraction.
He passed an out-of-place microwave with melted cheese in it, then came to find that pair of guards in the next area. Ultimately, the battle with them consisted of little more than cleaning off the second one's armor and telling the first to be honest with his feelings as the other found it hard to keep said armor on.
He'd hardly continued from that room when his phone buzzed again.
'What? I thought I turned this damn thing off.'
He answered begrudgingly.
"…Yes?"
"Oh- h-hi, um… I…noticed you've been kinda quiet lately…"
"…Have I?"
"Y-yeah…your uh…phone was off."
"Was it really?"
"Y-yeah. Heh. Happens sometimes, I know, so I- um, turned it on again…from here…so I could, uh…call you… "
A long shallow sigh on his end.
"B-but, I-I'll uh- leave you alone for now, I guess-"
She hung up quickly.
After clearing another perilous and lengthy set of puzzles, he arrived at a place completely overtaken by spiderwebs. The first area within held a bake sale, selling familiar spider products at an unaffordable price.
Muffet, the human sized, daintily dressed spider girl in charge of this operation, was not in fact pleased that he had bypassed her scam. His lack of a spider pastry meant the young man was not spared a treacherous battle with Muffet's disturbingly oversized 'pet.'
'You can't remember to do anything right, can you Frisk?'
He received no messages from Alphys as he went through the Core. Unusual, but of little concern to him. He wouldn't be surprised if his cold tone had scared the timid thing off their backs for good.
He made his way through this place with a confidence and decidedness most unbecoming of a man who'd never set foot here before. The lights, the paths, the mechanical nature of the hallways, it all looked the same. In addition, the monsters here were of the strongest sort they'd encountered thus far; not uncommonly appearing in pairs of two, or even three.
He cleared them easily, still keeping to the other's goal of non-violence.
To the very last floor he continued like this, and there, at last, the elevator was fixed. Right next door, however, neon lights beckoned him to another room.
Frisk's consciousness wavered in the blackness that was Chara's domain. It was an uneasy, all too familiar feeling. He had no idea what was going on out there, and no way to signal or demand back control of his body. That was absolutely petrifying. He'd failed himself at keeping time, and as such, any guess between 2 and 4 hours would be perfectly reasonable. A long time to sit alone in pitch black darkness, that's for sure. All he could do was remain calm and patient and trust Chara to do this properly.
Out of nowhere his consciousness was thrown back into his body.
'"Here, you do it. I can't stand him."'
He blinked about in confusion for a second, trying to get his bearings.
"Well hello, darling~!"
His eyes focused on the man in front of him as he took a dramatic stride forward. Lights were flaring, there was mist for dramatic effect. A lot to take in for a guy who just regained his vision.
"What do you think of my stage~? Absolutely dazzling, is it not?" He gestured widely at his surroundings. "A perfect place to showcase a little…friendly competition~"
He took a few steps closer.
"I heard you're a very resilient man! But are you daring enough to take on me ~?"
"Sure, why not?"
"Oho! Did you hear that, my darling viewers-?"
"Wait-! Are we on TV?!"
"But of course, silly human!"
"You didn't even know I was gonna show up!"
Mettaton grinned brightly, striking a pose. "I'm always prepared for these things! When opportunity strikes, you must grab it, my darlings~!"
His eyes fell on a spot near the ceiling, smile fading immediately. "And you!"
Frisk followed the other's gaze up toward the strobe lights. There was a chunky cat man up there, smoking a cigarette while he ran one of the cameras. Poor guy looked like he'd rather be anywhere else.
"This is a non-smoking area, Burgerpants!"
A low sigh. "You got it, boss." he grumbled as he snuffed the cigarette out on the walkway.
"Anyway..." he turned his attention back to Frisk. "How very lucky you are, to be able to star on this, a brand new episode of my show!"
"Does your show have a name?"
"Ah-! Of course it does! They all have names! The channel, however, is simply called, the MTT Channel."
"Wow, that's so original."
"Thank you, I do like to think-" He stopped. "Wait. You're being- sarcastic, aren't you?"
Frisk smirked.
"Oh. Oh. You." An angry sort of grin overtook him. "You're a sassy little devil, aren't you?" He strut forward, floor tiles lighting up as his heels touched them. "Well then! Let's put that sass to the test, why don't we?"
With that, Frisk was faced with a fabulous crescendo of Mettaton themed attacks.
He'd frequently kick his legs at him, adorned with neon pink boots.
...Were those spikes on the heels of those boots?!
Small robotic bombs fell down on parachutes and exploded near him. They were mostly for show. Mostly.
Strobe lights flared about at disorienting speeds.
Ratings skyrocketed with every eccentric pose thrown at each other.
In the end, however, Mettaton was bested by the human's stamina.
"Well, darling." he panted. "I would love to continue this fabulous showdown, but I'm afraid to say, I'm…running quite low…on battery…"
He straightened himself and brushed non-visible dust from himself. "So let's call this battle a draw then, alright darling? We needn't make Alphys trek all the way up here to retrieve me, hm? Having collapsed from exertion... Tsk, my my, what an embarrassing thought." He made eye contact with Frisk. "You go right ahead, then. I'll catch up shortly."
Frisk left for the lab, the trip back to take but a tiny fraction of the time it took to get up there.
'Time to go tell her I got the elevator fixed.'
'"I got the elevator fixed."' the voice corrected.
'Right, well, I'm not about to tell her that.'
The room was dark as he entered. Alphys was just sitting on her computer. The boy walked up casually.
"Hey Alphys, I fixed-"
"Oh my God!" She clutched her heart and spun around in surprise.
But Frisk was now fixated on her computer screen. A video of two shiny cartoon chicks. Getting something on.
"OH MY GOD!" She blushed furiously and covered the screen best she could with her thick arms and tiny hands.
'"Ah, so this is why she's been so quiet."'
"Whatcha...whatcha watchin' there...?" He cocked his head with a smile, trying to peer at the video. He couldn't see much, but the girly, high pitched moans were still plenty audible.
"N-nothing! Nothing at all!" Her finger frantically went for the power button, missing several times before actually hitting it.
Frisk just glanced away, still wearing that mischievous smile. The poor girl was dying from embarrassment.
"I-I'm so sorry, I was just- I was doing some r-research, y-you know how it is, search results and what have you-" She nervously pushed her glasses up on her flushed face. "S-so, you fixed the elevator!" she exclaimed, a little louder than intended. "That's great! That's super great! Now we can all move around again and whatnot!" She was off on a desperate tangent to change the subject. "But yes! I have something that needs done really fast! But I'll be back soon! So just, uh-"
"Why hellooo, darlings~!"
"Ahh, Mettaton...!" She grinned awkwardly, still flustered as ever. "Fancy you showing up-! T-too!"
The robot gasped. "Oh Alphys dear, you look a mess!"
"Ahh..." she wheezed softly.
"What were you up to? Don't tell me you were writing more of those lewd self-insert stories!"
"Ahhh-!"
"She was watching porn."
"Ahhhh!"
Another gasp. "Alphys!"
She fell out of her chair dizzily, Mettaton wasting no time taking her spot.
"What was it about~?"
She pulled her coat over her face and lied perfectly still. "I can't. I'm dead. You guys killed me."
"Oh? Perhaps I can bring you back, dear~" He jumped down over her and pressed his lips to the fabric over hers in mock CPR.
"Ahh-! G-goddammit, let the dead woman rest!" she squeaked as she squirmed out from beneath him.
Frisk just watched the spectacle, covering his mouth to hide his amused chuckling.
"Ah, just teasing, just teasing." He smiled as he stood up and straightened up his hair. "Actually I'm going to have to step out for a bit. Blasted recharge and all that. Frisky here gave me quite a workout back there." He winked playfully. "Also, knowing her, you're about to end up watching 6 hours' worth of sappy anime re-runs, so have fun with that."
"Hey!"
"See you later, darlings!"
With that he sprung onto the escalator and was out of sight within seconds.
Alphys huffed defensively at the ground. "Sappy anime re-runs. W-well just cause he said that means we're about to do the exact opposite of that! Yeah! That'll show him! Th-the exact opposite of that... Which...wh-which is... Um..." Her eyes opened wide in nervous ponderment.
She looked up at Frisk, blinking several times within a second or two. "U-um..." She grinned, her face heating once more. "I...do do o-other things, I swear! I just...those other things aren't quite...coming...to mind...right now..."
The girl perked up after a few seconds of silence.
"B-but hey! I-it shouldn't be about me anyway! You're the guest after all. So we'll do whatever you feel like doing." She took on that stupid grin again as she waited for a response.
Now it was Frisk's turn to be awkward; to make a conversation between two, subjectively boring, poorly socialized people, even more uncomfortable.
"You know, personally, I very much enjoy sitting in silence and contemplating the divine meaning of life."
"R-really? Me too!"
He blinked his eyes, recovering from a moment's blackout.
'Me too what?'
"A-actually I know a really good place for that. Back in Waterfall. By the river." She smiled. "Should we…um…go?"
'What?'
"Uh, sure."
And with that they were off to Waterfall, apparently. Silently sitting on the edge of a neon blue river, to the continued confusion of Frisk.
Alphys looked like she was…meditating?
Were they meditating?
'Is that why we came here?'
It'd be kind of embarrassing to re-ask such a question. And there was no help from a certain someone.
He fiddled with the grass. Tossed pebbles in the river. Looked over at Alphys from time to time. She seemed lost in thought. It was practically silent until a slight clinking sounded from behind them.
"Alphys?"
Alphys jumped at the familiar voice, spinning around in an instant.
Undyne was fully dressed in her guard armor. She pulled up her helmet as she spoke again. "Alphys, hey!" She waved with a bright smile.
The lizard girl seemed to melt in her spot. "U-Undyne! H-h-hi! Wha- Where- Wh-what are you doing h-here?" She was a bumbling mess.
"Uh...working?"
"A-ah of course, obviously, ha ha!"
She grinned again. "So what are you guys doing here?"
"O-oh!" She turned to Frisk as if she'd completely forgotten he was there. "We- were um-! Uh-! Um, wh-what was it we were doing again, Frisk?"
"I'm not so sure myself to be honest."
"Ahhh-!" She flashed an awkward smile at the other girl. "It was something- about- ...rivers, I think-?"
Undyne was trying her damndest to hold in her laughter. She failed, apologizing repeatedly as she was lost to it.
"Ahh I'm sorry, I'm such an idiot- I-I just need to stop talking now-" Alphys covered her face in embarrassment.
"No, no, it's cute!"
Alphys peeked over the sleeves of her coat, eyes wider than goddamn dinner plates.
She fell over into the mushy blue grass.
"Alphys?!" Undyne was quick to kneel at her side.
Frisk poked her cheek playfully. "I think you killed her."
In an instant she regained herself, jolting up with deep breath. "Ohhmygod." Her eyes darted up to meet Undyne's, mouth curving into that nervous little rabbit-toothed grin. "I...just had the most- interesting dream-!"
They both laughed. Undyne wrapped an arm around her playfully. They warmed up to each other quickly. Stories from Undyne, fun facts from Alphys.
They forgot he was there. He didn't mind this time. In fact, he was beyond happy; to see their interactions being restored to what he once knew.
It was a good 20 minutes before their chat eventually came to a close.
"Well, I should get goin.' I was supposed to check up on Papyrus at his post."
"O-oh yes, of course!"
"Heh, see ya later, Alphys!"
"S-see ya!" She waved eccentrically as the other departed.
"Well you two sure seemed to be having fun."
"Ah-! W-well yes! But uh, s-sorry for er- leaving you out so much-"
"I don't mind." He shrugged. "If you haven't noticed yet, I'm…not always one for conversation."
"Ha. Finally, someone who understands…"
The boy smiled. "Honestly I had fun just listening to you two go back and forth."
"Heh. W-well that's convenient. Because…I kinda…can't remember most of what we just talked about." She held her hands up. They were shaking slightly. "Ah, God, my hands are so clammy- Ha. U-usually I just sorta- like- run off information…whatever comes to mind…to, y'know. Continue the conversation." She met his eyes. "Is that weird?"
"Nah." Another smile. "At least you have information to go off of. I kinda just stop talking and hope for the best."
They made small talk as they headed back, Frisk filling the girl in on some conversational bits she'd spaced out on.
They arrived in lighthearted mood. Mettaton, having finished re-charging, was there to greet them.
"Well, hello~" He was posed sensually on her desk.
Alphys pinched the bridge of her nose. "Mettaton, please get off my paperwork."
He hopped down with a huff, hips swaying as he strut over to them. "I was shocked you weren't knees deep in ice cream, eyes watering as you finish off the sappy finale of one of those shows of yours. Tsk, always so set on proving me wrong, Alphys." He shook his head. "So, where did you two head off to?"
"Oh, w-we just went and sat by the Waterfall rivers. It was nice. Quiet. …Also Undyne showed up." She said that last part quickly.
Mettaton bit his lip teasingly.
"Wh-what?"
"Oh, you know what~"
"Stop it-!"
"River romance~?"
"I-it's not like that-!"
"Not yet at least~"
"Ahh-!" She frowned, hiding her face in her lab coat again.
"Tsk, to be serious though, when are you going to tell her, darling?"
"Mmm-! I-I-I- don't know-! N-never, p-probably...knowing me and all..."
"Oh Alphys, chin up! There's confidence to be found in you yet!"
"Doubt it..." she mumbled through her clothing.
"Tsk, don't be such a downer, dear. Nobody likes a downer."
She kicked at the floor with an adorable grumble of protest.
He lightly grabbed her cheeks and pulled her from her hiding place. "Anyway… Do tell me more about your little...rendezvous-"
"Mmh-!" She slapped his hands away with light, non-threatening little swats.
Mettaton just broke into a fit of laughter. "Oh, I'm sorry, darling, it's just too much fun to get you going like this!"
He turned his attention to Frisk. "Actually, I'd quite like to know what you think of our little knight in shining armor, Frisk." He smiled with a finger to his chin.
Frisk raised a brow and stared off in thought. "Well. She did try to kill me. Several times. Chased me down like a damned tiger."
Mettaton laughed. Alphys bit her lip.
"But she's a cool...uh...fish lady. I like her."
The robot smiled, reminiscing something.
"Yes, the two of us didn't exactly see eye to eye either at first. She has that effect with a lot of people, frankly." he murmured. "Met her at her house once, with Alphys. She had this...beautiful grand piano. And she was not a fan of my seductive performance on said piano."
"M-Mettaton, he really doesn't need to hear about-" She stopped with a slight cringe.
Mettaton smirked. "Well. To cut things short. I don't play piano." He winked.
Alphys facepalmed.
A brief interlude of robotic chuckles.
"So, when are you going to show him your anime collection?"
"Eh-?!"
"I know you're dying to."
"Y-you don't know-"
"I can read you like a book, darling."
She looked up at Frisk, an insecure air about her. "Eh... Did you want to...maybe...watch some…anime?"
Her collection was a magnificent compilation of colorful DVDs that took up the entirety of one of her bookshelves. She shuffled through the boxes excitedly, rambling about different plot types as she went. Though, the two fellows would fail to notice the careful consideration she applied to each possibility.
The search for an episode arc; one that was funny, not too lewd or weird. Episodes that were interesting without spoiling anything important from those prior. And most crucially, something that would cause minimal judgement to her if faced with an adverse reaction.
It was something only her fellow anime fans might understand.
As she was working on this, Mettaton was sitting legs crossed on the sofa with Frisk, showing him his favorite highlight moments from his own shows. Frisk acted more interested than he actually was.
He heard a robotic sigh next to him.
"Alphys, you've been at it for half an hour, please just pick something. Dear, you act like this is the biggest decision you've ever made!"
"But it is!" she exclaimed, fanning four DVDs in each hand. "The decision I make tonight will shape Frisk's first impression of anime, forever. I can not just pick one, Mettaton!"
"Hey, I'm just being nice here, I really don't give a shit what you watch." the human stated indifferently.
Her arms fell. "Oh." She finally held up a single box. "Th-this one's probably ok then!"
Mettaton peeked at it as she brought it over.
"Oh? I thought for sure you'd go for that Mew Mew one."
"Shush!" she huffed as she put it in. "He'll probably like this more."
As it began to play, she grabbed the remote and took a spot between the two of them.
This particular show seemed to feature a cast of mostly women, with strange names and attire, who wielded magic weapons and were on some quest that apparently spanned several DVD seasons.
The language was foreign to him; English subtitles being the only thing to give him detailed indication of what was going on. He wasn't a fan of reading that fast while also trying to pay attention to what was happening onscreen. So they lost him at that.
He just watched the animation.
It interested him for obvious reasons. The one collective reason any average, straight leaning young fellow would be interested in watching scantily clad woman battle each other.
Though the boy began to doze off during a lengthy, less exciting scene. He zoned in and out. He heard the sound and voices in the background; and at some point a quiet side conversation between Mettaton and Alphys. His brain wasn't comprehending the words spoken. It did however, register that Alphys sounded flustered again. But what else was new?
Frisk sat up again some time later, passively watching the show until the credits began to roll.
He looked over at Alphys.
"...Where's Mettaton?"
"Oh- He...left. Heh." She pressed her hands together as she spoke. "B-beauty sleep and all that..."
Frisk glanced at the little clock on the DVD player. "Wow, he wasn't kidding when he said six hours."
"D-did you like it though?"
He nodded. "It was pretty cool."
"I…have some other stuff I can show you. If you want. M-maybe get a late night snack too."
"Yeah, ok."
He got up after her and followed downstairs.
She then proceeded to cook them up some instant noodles, rambling on about the origins of noodles the entire time.
They made their way to her desk, dinner in hand. She sat down and opened up a game on the computer.
Mew Mew Kissy Cutie Dating Sim.
She smiled nervously up at Frisk. It was always so hard to gauge that guy's reactions to her stuff.
"S-so, um…the premise of this game is…" She rubbed the back of her neck. "H-honestly there isn't much premise. You just sorta run around and like…date girls…"
"Not opposed to that premise."
"H-heh! Well then…" She opened up the menu, selecting the first save slot. There was an obscenely large amount of points in her score sections. "You start off at this menu, a-and this is the map, so you can choose where you want to go. This is how you see who's available, and you get options for what you want to say to them."
"So this is based off the show?"
"Yeah, i-it's a side game, so like, it doesn't actually spoil anything from the anime."
She had a choice of 3 girls to take on a beach date. Heart points were shown below waist up portraits of each one. There was a smirking muscular one on the far left. The score under her was about ten times higher than either of the other two. A clear favorite. She selected that one.
Alphys showed him the basic mechanics of the game; a tutorial that lasted about ten minutes, before she went back to the main menu to let him start a game of his own.
"S-so you can take the third save slot right here." Her claw lightly tapped the screen as she moved from the chair."
Frisk started a game, stifling a snort of laughter at the sparkly, dramatically girly intro.
This game, to him, was more amusing than anything. A lot of funny overreactions. He'd click a blatantly wrong thing to say, and the anime girl would get all flustered and start stammering in another language. He wound up constantly clicking answers that were way too forward, just because he had to know what would come of such ridiculousness.
Needless to say, he ended with some very low scores and purposely failed dates before Alphys finally stepped in.
"Um, I know it's fun to play through all the options, b-but if you...appeal to her romantic side...you might get a...s-surprise."
He raised a brow at her, but tried it on the next one. There were never more than three dialogue options, and the direction they'd lead were usually very easy to differentiate.
Frisk hummed to himself as he clicked through to another end scene.
"Hm. Oh. Oh."
Text popped up that read 'Nami_Photo_1 Unlocked!' under a detailed, scandalous drawing of the girl he'd just romanced.
"Oh- Wow- Well that's something-"
She snickered as his click speed rapidly increased.
He had a collection to complete.
"A-are you trying to get all of them, Frisk?" she asked with a laugh.
"Yes."
"Heh, that's…th-that's practically impossible to do in one sitting…"
He seemed to ignore her; eagerly going about his mission. Still, Alphys had no problem just watching, making jokes and little comments throughout. It was fun for her, to see his reactions each time he unlocked a new picture.
It only took about an hour before every spot in his gallery was filled with delightfully lewd artwork.
"…Well I'll be damned."
He eyed her smugly. "Well, that was fun."
"Mm. To be fair though, you didn't exactly read most of it…"
He shrugged. "I'm a visual man."
"Want me to show you the...secret endings...?"
His eyes lit up. Awkward pervy smiles were exchanged. Thirty more minutes of their lives went into playing that game.
Alphys was clicking through her gallery, explaining some of the characters' backstories and personality traits as she went.
"Hey, the one on here." Frisk pointed to the muscular girl; a warrior in training, Alphys had mentioned. "Uh...Kal..."
"Kaline?"
"Yeah." He smirked. "She reminds you of someone, doesn't she?"
Alphys perked up. "Well..." She looked away, tugging her collar slightly from her heating neck. "Y-yeah. Heh." Her eyes met his again. "It's...really obvious, isn't it?"
"It is."
"Ha..."
He leaned back in the chair. "Why don't you tell her?"
Her expression turned glum. It took a moment for her to answer.
"...It's...complicated."
"How so...?"
"...Heh." A slight laugh. "It's...it's actually just really s-stupid... I mean..." She twiddled her fingers. "It's just me... I'm...I'm a c-...n-not er...brave...enough...to ever, ever do something like that..."
The frown that suddenly overtook her caught him by surprise.
"A-and I know what you're going to say-! 'Oh, you just have to go for it, Alphys! How will you know if you don't try? Throw caution to the wind! Be confident! Courageous! Take a chance!' W-well that's-! That's..." Her expression softened. "Th-that's a lot easier said than done..."
Frisk chuckled. "Or...you can just wait for her to come to you."
"Exactly!" Her shout was accompanied by a massive gesture towards Frisk. She covered her mouth immediately after. "I-I mean, that's...very wishful thinking... Hah...great thoughts, nonetheless..."
A short silence.
"Say, uh...while we're on this topic..."
Alphys stared at the floor, fiddling with her hands again.
"H-hey, Frisk, can I ask you something...p-personal...?"
Frisk shrugged. "Sure."
"Ha- um, I- Oh God this is so embarrassing..." she mumbled nervously. After a few seconds of uncertainty she continued. "Frisk, h-have you ever...erm...m-made love to anyone?" she finished quickly, hiding her face.
Frisk froze.
'Well that's out of the blue…'
"Uh...y-yeah." he answered hesitantly. "Once."
"O-oh my." Her voice was only slightly above a whisper. "W-was it- did it...f-feel good?"
Frisk was silent.
"I-I'm sorry, that was wrong of me to pry, you don't have to answer if you don't want to-" she broke out in a ramble.
"No, it felt...great..." he lied with a fake smile.
Alphys glanced off, a bashful, dreamy expression on her face. "I can only imagine..." she mused. "Being like th-that...with someone you care...so much about... To feel so connected to another person... I-it's really special, isn't it?"
"Yeah...special..." he murmured, looking away.
At this point she was too lost in her girlish fantasies to notice his odd behavior. She started rambling again. About something. He heard a few references to Mew Mew Kissy Cutie. He was only half-listening by now.
A strange part of him envied her.
Envied the fact that she could be so enthused over being with someone else, in any sense of the word.
That she can have this pretty little fantasy; romantic, sexual, yet still innocent at its essence...
To love someone so deeply...and have them feel the same.
It was a concept almost foreign to him, his perception of it muddied even further after his time with Chara, yet still some inherent part of him desired it.
Eventually Alphys turned back to the game she had abandoned.
"Ah, well, I think that's about enough of this for one night." She saved her file and shut down the computer. "I'm gonna head to bed.
He just blinked at her.
"O-oh! Right! You need a place to sleep t-too! Of course!" She laughed weirdly. "U-um!" She turned in her chair and shuffled through a couple of desk drawers.
She pulled out a small silver key with a golden Mettaton keychain attached to it.
"You can stay in this room. A-at the hotel up there. It's the one at the very end of the hall. You can't miss it."
"Huh. I thought they didn't have room keys."
"Mettaton keeps a room key. F-for himself. When he wants to stay in his own hotel…"
She dropped it in his hand.
"D-don't lose it." Her voice lowered to a whisper. "It's the only one."
"Alright. Guess I'll…see you tomorrow then?"
The girl nodded as he made his way to the exit.
"Goodnight, Frisk."
"Goodnight."
With that, he left the lab and took the elevator back to the hotel.
He was settled in his room in no time. Though for some reason, unlike Alphys, he wasn't exactly tired.
The room was very luxurious. Soft gold tiling on the floor. King sized bed with red covers; a single pillow in the center making it appear even bigger. The lamps on either side were decorated with gold highlights and emitted a warm glow.
The bed was amazingly comfortable.
He got situated in the very center and closed his eyes as his mind passively reminisced the events that had played out throughout the day. And plenty had, however, after a general overview of these memories, his focus tended to fall more heavily on Mettaton and anime; and the suggestive undertones to these things gradually transferred his mind to a sexual state.
Anime chicks.
Sexy poses.
Cleverly hidden cleavage.
Legs.
Tits.
Skin.
Soft milky skin.
Contact.
Kissing.
Sex-
A flashback halted him for only a moment before it began to morph to his liking. He immediately stopped himself.
'What...'
Did he just... He refused to acknowledge it.
That he just fantasized, even for a moment, about him.
About doing something, granted it was fuzzy... But there was no denying it was Chara.
…
…
Well…
…
He wasn't exactly bad looking.
…
It would make sense that-
He frowned.
'Why am I thinking about this? What the hell?'
…
Thoughts crept sneakily into the back of his mind. Just a moment's gap of weakness and his body abandoned its will to fight this.
His heart was pounding as he let his hand trail casually down his thigh to his groin. Very slowly, he started rubbing himself through his pants.
He froze.
'What the hell am I doing? This...there is nothing right about this…'
He threw his head back against the pillow with a conflicted grunt.
He was a male.
A young male with urges.
He needed this.
Doesn't matter so much the fantasy, at this point he just needed the release.
[[[[[Masturbation scene omitted to keep this postable.]]]]]
Chara did this... He wasn't even here... Yet his voice alone was enough to make him have one of the most intense orgasms of his life…
His body trembled slightly, the realization of what he just did clearly disturbing him.
'"Well then...I'll just leave you to yourself."'
He sat there frozen.
He couldn't believe he just did that.
He just...masturbated...to him...
Frisk stared down at his dirtied hand, breathing shakily.
He needed a tissue. No. He needed a shower.
Frisk slid off the bed with a long sigh before heading off to the bathroom. He turned on the sink and began feverishly scrubbing the sin from his hands. When finished, he turned on the shower and started undressing himself.
Despite feeling heavenly not five minutes ago, his current lack of arousal caused his entire being to feel numb. Numb and just...disgusting.
He glanced briefly at his reflection in the mirror, before snapping his head away. He could hardly stand to look at himself right now.
He stepped into the shower, hoping the warm water washing over him would alleviate this terrible feeling. Not a minute in, his weight fell against the shower wall.
Chara's words echoed in the back of his mind, taunting him even as he was not present.
'Come now, Frisk. There's no denying it. You fantasized about fucking around with me and got aroused. Be a man and own up to it.'
There was a heavy weight in his chest. His eyes seemed to be locked open.
He did that willingly. Desperately...
In those few intense minutes he managed to shatter multitudes of ideas and self-concepts he'd felt so sure about.
His emotional consciousness seemed non-present as he slid down onto that shower floor.
The blanket of water that shot down on him eventually chilled.
He didn't notice.
His mind was empty.
There was no conflict; no back and forth between two polarized halves of himself; no blaming, guilting, or rationalizing.
There were no thoughts.
Just cold, straight, realization.