Mettaton's Visit
"Oh my god we're going to be late! Sans hurry up! We CANNOT be late! Sans!"
Frisk was watching Papyrus run back and forth through the living room.
*Calm down,* they signed.
"No! I will not calm down!" Papyrus yelled. "Sans promised me to help pick Mettaton up from the air-port and he knows how important it is to be on time!"
Frisk grinned.
"Do not look at me like that," Papyrus said. "I will have you know that the Great Papyrus is always punctual and should not be suspected of any ulterior motives whatsoever!"
"Who has ulterior motives?" Toriel asked, emerging from the kitchen with two packed lunches.
"No one!" Papyrus cried.
Frisk snickered.
"Don't tease Papyrus, Frisk," Toriel winked and she handed Papyrus one of the lunches. "There you go, a meatball sub with marinara sauce."
"Thank you, To– oh sure, now you show up," Papyrus glared at Sans who had come out of nowhere.
"And for you," Toriel smiled. "Ketchup sandwiches, white bread, no crust."
"Aw, you spoil me Tori," Sans grinned, taking the bag.
"Can we go now?" Papyrus grunted.
"Sure, bro," Sans replied and he winked at Frisk and Toriel.
"All this winking is entirely unnecessary!" Papyrus exclaimed, irritably pacing out the front door.
"I'll text when we're heading back," Sans called over his shoulder and he closed the door behind him.
"You looking forward to seeing Mettaton, my love?" Toriel asked.
*A lot!* Frisk signed.
"I'd love to get to know him better," Toriel smiled. "And this visit is just the thing."
"When are Alphys and Undyne coming?" Frisk asked eagerly.
"Not till tonight dear," Toriel said. "But we've got lots of things to do and when we're done we can do some crafts!"
…
"There we go," Toriel said. "Now we have Frisk, Alphys, Asgore, Undyne, and me."
Frisk and Toriel were filling in a birthday calendar to hang in the living room. The dining room table was littered with coloured pens and glitter. The crafting creations of the afternoon were displayed proudly at the end of the table. There was a small amount of glitter in Toriel's fur and there a considerable amount of glitter on Frisk's face.
Toriel tapped the calendar thoughtfully.
"Frisk my dear, have you ever heard Sans and Papyrus mention their birthdays?" she asked.
Frisk shook their head.
"Hm…" she pondered. "Do you think they have a birthday?"
Frisk rubbed their nose and thought about it.
"Not everybody has a birthday of course," Toriel mused. "Ghosts for instance…"
"Or Mettaton," Frisk said.
"Right!" Toriel said.
Frisk looked at the calendar.
"What if they don't have a birthday and we ask them and it makes them sad…" they said, looking anxiously up at Toriel.
"It's a little silly to celebrate a birthday anyway," Toriel said. "You only get born once, but when you celebrate a birthday you're really celebrating someone's entire life."
"Like mother's day," Frisk said.
"Exactly," Toriel nodded and then she suddenly smiled.
"What if we stop calling it a birthday and instead call your birthday Frisk-day!"
"And Sans-day! And Papyrus-day!" Frisk cheered.
"Yes!" Toriel said excitedly.
She took the calendar and added the word 'day' after every name they had written down. Frisk grabbed it and looked at it proudly. Frisk-day sounded a lot cooler than birthday.
At that moment they heard the car pull into the driveway.
"That must be the boys," Toriel said.
"We have returned!" Papyrus called out. "And were victorious in our quest!"
"Hello, darlings!" Mettaton exclaimed, striking a pose in the doorway.
"Hello, Mettaton," Toriel smiled. "Welcome to our surface home!"
"Tori, darling, you look divine," Mettaton said, kissing her cheeks. "The sun's doing you good, isn't it?"
He crouched down to hug Frisk.
"Look at you, little cutie," he said. "What have you got there?"
"A calendar!" Frisk grinned and showed him. "What do you want to be Mettaton-day? Frisk-day is on my birthday."
"Sweetheart, every day is Mettaton-day!"
He took the calendar and smiled.
"But I think if I had to pick one…..30th of June."
"Go ahead," Toriel said, handing him a pen.
Mettaton wrote down "METTATON-DAY" in great, curly letters.
"Cute idea," Sans said, hanging the car keys back on their hook.
"A day dedicated to me, Papyrus?" Papyrus said, staring at the calendar that Frisk held up for him. "And it can be any day I like?"
Frist nodded happily, putting the calendar in his hand.
"Well! This calls for serious deliberation!" Papyrus said. "What day is most me?"
"Is April 1st taken yet?" Sans grinned. "I'll take that one."
"Of course," Toriel laughed.
Sans wrote down his name while Papyrus was still thinking.
"Am I more of a January or a March?" he mused aloud.
Mettaton put down his phone.
"Alphys will be here soon," he said. "Did you guys know Undyne has been hired as a swimming instructor?"
"Really?" Toriel said, turning back on her way to the kitchen. "That's wonderful!"
"Mettaton was just telling us about his new show," Sans said.
"It's going to be great!" Mettaton grinned. "The television humans say that me being a robot is some sort of loophole or whatever. I don't really understand what they meant, but it made them really excited and they have put together the most gorgeous wardrobe for me."
"Frisk, what day do you think would be most me?" Papyrus asked.
"First of September," Frisk said confidently.
"Interesting choice!" Papyrus answered. "But why?"
"Cause it's the first day of autumn," Frisk said. "And spaghetti is an autumn food."
"Brilliant!" Papyrus exclaimed. "First of September it is!"
"We'll have a lot of celebrating to do," Toriel smiled, taking the calendar.
"Welp, I'll be in the basement," Sans said. "Call me when Alphys and Undyne get here."
"Sans…" Toriel said quietly, going after him. "Please no experiments just before dinner, last time you blew out the fuse box."
"Don't worry, Tori," Sans grinned. "I'm just going to have a nap. I just spent several hours in a car with Papyrus and Mettaton."
"Okay," Toriel giggled. "I'll send Frisk down to fetch you when it's time for dinner."
"You're the best Tori."
Sans disappeared to the basement and Papyrus and Mettaton admired Frisk's creations from that afternoon.
"Glitter looks good on you," Mettaton said, chucking Frisk under the chin. "But then again, who does glitter not look good on?"
"It certainly looks good on you, Mettaton," Papyrus said.
"Thank you, darling," Mettaton smiled widely.
"Mom! Can we play on the Wii before dinner?" Frisk called out.
"Of course, darling," Toriel called back from the kitchen.
"I know! We'll play just dance!" Frisk laughed and they ran to the tv.
"You don't want to play a dancing game against me, sweetheart," Mettaton chuckled. "You may as well give up now."
"Papyrus will beat you!" Frisk grinned. "He's the coolest dancer."
"Well," Papyrus said modestly. "I do have some moves."
"Oh really?" Mettaton smiled dazzlingly. "Well bring it on!"
It was a good thing Alphys and Undyne arrived before things could get too heated. When Toriel came from the kitchen to answer the doorbell, Frisk was hiding under the living room table, shaking with laughter and Mettaton was trying to pry the Wii remote loose from between Papyrus' ribs. Nobody knew how it got there and Toriel banned Just Dance until further notice.