Chapter 42 – Christmas

Since moving in with Devon, Mettaton's life had felt like a honeymoon. They were together almost all the time now—not just at work, but at home, too. They shared a bed, cooked together, watched television together. Mettaton hardly drove his own car anymore, as Devon insisted on ferrying him everywhere. In fact, Devon was doing a lot of things for Mettaton these days, aside from dropping him off at work—getting up early in the morning to make breakfast, buying cute outfits in exactly Mettaton's size, chasing off paparazzi whenever they happened to be lurking about, and getting chores done around the house when Mettaton mentioned he needed to do something, before he could get to it.

Devon had taken to calling Mettaton his "little prince," and indeed, Mettaton was starting to feel like royalty. He never would have said it out loud, but in many ways, he preferred living with Devon over living with Alphys and Napstablook. Those two weren't the cleanest people, and during those days without a job, Mettaton had often found himself doing Alphys's laundry, and taking care of all the dishes, and buying groceries. He had been grateful at first for having things to do, but it really did get annoying and repetitive after a while.

Devon seemed quite happy to do things for Mettaton, though Mettaton wouldn't let him do everything. Chores were yet another thing they had started doing together.

They were together so often that when Devon began going out to see his own friends again, or Mettaton went by himself to family dinners, Mettaton started feeling restless without him—anxious, even. After all, the surface world was a dangerous place; the news told him that daily. He had to stop himself from calling every hour when they were apart. As it was, he texted Devon almost constantly when it wasn't rude to be looking at his phone and worried every time until he got a reply.

He kind of hated himself for it—after all, he'd gotten annoyed with Devon when he'd been doing that a while back—but Devon didn't seem to mind. In fact, he rather enjoyed the attention, if his cheerful replies were anything to go by.

When the Christmas season came around, they began to discuss what they would do for the holiday. Mettaton was torn.

He'd gotten a text from Papyrus toward the beginning of December, asking him if he planned to stay with Devon or visit with Frisk and the family for Christmas. It was nearly December 20th, and Mettaton still hadn't given him an answer.

Devon had told Mettaton he would really like for the both of them to visit his family in southern New Zealand, but Papyrus had really sounded like he wanted Mettaton to be there with his own family. And in truth, Mettaton knew he would feel very guilty for declining Papyrus, because he hadn't spent Christmas with the family last year—he had, of course, been busy working. But the thought of being away from Devon made something tighten in his chest.

Mettaton had suggested Devon come with him to see Frisk and the others instead, but Devon had said he hardly got to be with his family as it was. So that wasn't an option.

He finally made a decision when Frisk Facetimed him with Toriel's phone, begging him to come over for Christmas. Remembering how disappointed Undyne had said Frisk had been when he hadn't been home to celebrate the monsters' freedom, Mettaton didn't have it in his heart to do that to them again.

Devon seemed rather upset at Mettaton's decision at first, but he got over it quickly enough. On December 21st, he left to go to his family, and Mettaton went back to the apartment to stay with Alphys and Napstablook again, too afraid to stay by himself at Devon's house.

He was relieved to find that the two of them had been picking up after themselves more often in his absence. They seemed to have bonded somewhat as well, as Napstablook had new anime posters on their bedroom wall, and Alphys had several of Napstablook's CDs lying about in her room and in the CD player in her lab.

Now that both of them were begging him to sit and watch things with them, Mettaton had resigned himself to anime nights. Honestly, though, he was finding that some of these shows weren't as bad as the one Alphys had first shown him. There was one about a girl with long blonde pigtails who turned into a "sailor soldier," that one was actually rather cute. Another one, about a boy with psychic powers, was a bit weird at times, but had some amazing animation and action scenes. The most recent one Alphys had shown him was about a bunch of animals living in a humanlike society, where the main protagonist worked at a dead-end job as an accountant for some company.

Overall, anime was turning out to be much more diverse in genre than he expected. At one point, he'd thought to himself that he should look up more of it.

Anime nights tended to be long, long enough that they'd often find themselves waking up on the couch in the mornings. And indeed, that was where Mettaton found himself on Christmas morning. He glanced about; Alphys was on the opposite end of the couch from him, curled up in a snoring ball. Napstablook snoozed in the armchair across from them.

It took Mettaton a minute to remember that it was Christmas. It really didn't feel different from any other day to him. He'd never celebrated Giftmas in the Underground, and he hadn't done anything for Christmas last year, so did that make this one his first one? Shouldn't it feel more special? Well, maybe it would when they went over to Toriel's later.

In the meantime, there wasn't any reason he couldn't make the day a little special now. He'd bought cinnamon rolls the last time he was at the store, and Christmas seemed like the perfect time to make them. Wanting to surprise his roommates, he quietly got up from the couch and went over to the kitchen to retrieve the rolls from the refrigerator. He popped the cans open as unobtrusively as he could and placed the rolls on a tray as the oven warmed up. When it was ready, he placed the rolls inside and sat in a kitchen chair to wait.

It wasn't long before the smell of cinnamon filled the kitchen, and not long after that, Alphys came in, yawning and rubbing her eyes. "Whatcha doing?" she asked, clearly still half asleep.

"Well, I was trying to surprise you and Blooky, but you've spoiled that now." Mettaton half-smiled. "Since it's Christmas, I thought I'd make something yummy for breakfast."

"It's—? Oh, yeah. I-It is, isn't it. Well, merry Christmas." Alphys climbed into a chair and slumped over the table. "What time did we fall asleep?"

"You? Around four in the morning. Blooky? A little after midnight. Me? I don't remember exactly, but I think the sun was coming up before I did."

"Ugh. How are you still the morning person? It's not even nine and you look like you got a full night's sleep," Alphys grumbled.

"I've never needed much sleep," Mettaton said, right as the time on the oven beeped. "Now, remind me, what time were we supposed to be at Toriel's?" he asked as he pulled the rolls out and checked the bottoms. Lightly browned, not burned in the slightest—perfect.

"We're supposed to have the big dinner around three, so any time before that, I guess," replied Alphys as she watched Mettaton spread the icing over the rolls. "Do you want me to get Napstablook?"

"If you would, please."

Napstablook must have been difficult to wake, as it was a few minutes before Alphys returned, the ghost floating behind her. Mettaton had just finished stabbing a few of the rolls for Napstablook and had a seemingly empty plate placed at the table. He slid it over to them.

"Thank you…" they mumbled.

The breakfast was quiet, other than a comment from Alphys about how good the rolls tasted. When they were finished, Alphys did the dishes and then suggested they go on over to Toriel's, if Mettaton would call ahead first. He did so, and with the okay from Toriel, they were on their way over within the hour.

Frisk threw open the door upon their arrival, nodding their approval at the red ribbon tied around her head, and her green turtleneck. They squinted at the cousins' lack of holiday wear, then ushered them inside, signing something about how that would be remedied later. Mettaton had no idea what that meant.

Nobody else was there yet—Toriel said the skeleton brothers would have been here already, except Sans hadn't been feeling well this morning, so they were going to wait and see if he was better later.

So everyone who was there spent the morning playing board games and, eventually, watching a Christmas movie. It was about a little boy who was accidentally left alone by himself at home during the holidays, and who came up with an intricate plan when two burglars tried to break into his house. It was overall very funny, though Mettaton had to cringe at some painful bits.

Undyne arrived right at the end of it, complaining loudly that "this is one of my FAVORITES, how could you not call me up?!"

Asgore came in right after her, dressed as Santa Claus and hauling a great bag full of gifts over his shoulder. He had begun taking the gifts out and placing them under the Christmas tree in the living room when Mettaton threw his arms around his neck from behind. "Oh! Mettaton, howdy! How nice to see you. I wasn't sure if you were coming this year."

"I couldn't let Frisk down. Or Papyrus, for that matter. Devon's off visiting his family, so it's just me," Mettaton said happily, though a tinge of worry entered his mind upon remembering how far away Devon was.

"Well, we're quite happy to have you, my boy. Frisk was very excited about the gifts they're giving everyone this year. I do recall them saying they hoped you would come in particular." Asgore placed the last gift under the tree and sat back, looking back at Mettaton. "You know, last Christmas was the first holiday I'd spent with a family in a hundred years. It only makes me happier to see that family grow bigger this year."

With tears in his eyes, Mettaton hugged him again. He couldn't imagine how lonely those hundred years must have been.

Of course, right at that tender moment, the front door slammed loudly, and in walked Maddy.

"What are you doing here?" Mettaton demanded without thinking.

"I was invited?" Maddy raised an eyebrow.

"I was under the impression that she is part of the family now?" Toriel said from the kitchen, where she was checking the temperature of the Christmas ham. "As I believed Shyren also was. She is coming too, along with her sister."

Oh, well, there was a nice thought! Mettaton hadn't seen Shyra—that was, Lemon Bread—in a good while.

After giving Asgore a pat on the shoulder, Mettaton wandered into the kitchen, taking in all the smells of the food and the candles. "Where's QC?" he asked when he realized the purple rabbit was nowhere in sight.

"She is spending Christmas with her sister. Most of it, anyway. She said she would try to come by tonight if she has time," Toriel replied.

QC usually helped Toriel with the cooking. "Do you need any help?" he asked.

Toriel smiled. "Oh, you are a dear. There are some mashed potatoes on the stove, would you give them a stir for me?"

Mettaton did so, his mouth watering at the scent of garlic. He couldn't help but think that he should revive his cooking show and have Toriel guest-star on it sometime; she could certainly teach him a thing or two.

As he helped with the other food, other guests arrived—namely Shyren and Lemon Bread, and a little later Grillby. Papyrus and Sans were still nowhere to be found. Mettaton was starting to get worried—normally Papyrus would be there before anyone else.

However, it wasn't long before the skeleton brothers finally did arrive, the last ones to do so. Papyrus gave his express apologies to Toriel as Sans headed straight for the living room. Neither of them had said a word to each other, and Mettaton noticed that Sans was looking rather ragged. Papyrus wasn't looking too hot, either. He wondered what was going on.

Papyrus did appear to brighten up when he saw Mettaton. "Hello, Mettaton! Merry Christmas! Are you helping with the food? Can I do anything?"

"Well, I—" Mettaton cut himself off as Toriel gestured no frantically behind Papyrus. "Um, I don't think so? I just got done checking things myself. I was going to go back to the others, care to join me?"

Papyrus followed him into the living room and took a seat on the couch, all the way on the other side of the room from where Sans was.

Mettaton couldn't help but ask, "Is something the matter with you two?"

Papyrus glanced about the room; everyone else seemed preoccupied. His voice so low that Mettaton could barely hear over the hubbub, he said, "Nothing new, really. It's just… been a really long time since we had a good talk, and… this is the first time I've seen Sans out of his room in about a week."

"Oh, my… has he been eating?" Mettaton asked.

"If he is, he must be nicking food when I can't see him. Not that I would stop him, but… we're not very keen on each other right now." Papyrus played with his fingers.

"Is it about him lying to you?" Mettaton felt half-sympathetic; the other half of him wondered what on earth Sans lied about that would be driving the brothers this far apart.

"Yes. But if you don't mind, I want today to be a happy day! Let's just focus on the festivities, shall we?" Papyrus smiled.

"Oh, of course."

At that moment, Frisk pulled Papyrus up from his seat and dragged him over to the gifts, where they were trying to sort out what belonged to who.

Mettaton heard a loud cough from Asgore, just a little ways from him. "Golly, I could use some water!" he laughed.

"I'll get it for you." Mettaton stood before Asgore could get up and went to the kitchen.

He was searching for a glass when he heard movement in the next room over—the library. Peeking his head around the corner, he saw Sans and Toriel sitting on the couch there. They did not see him.

"I don't know how much longer I can take this, Tori. He hasn't said more than two words to me at one time since I tried to take him to therapy. I never thought Pap was the type of guy to hold a grudge, but damn…" Sans was saying.

"I am very sorry, Sans. I would not have expected it from him, either. But… perhaps it should not be surprising. After all… some people with Papyrus's condition can be… a bit immature. But I cannot see him acting this way forever. I know he still loves you, Sans. And I believe that with enough time, he will come to his sense and apologize," Toriel said, rubbing his shoulders.

Mettaton quickly skipped back from the doorway and went back to searching for a glass. He felt upset in multiple ways—he felt bad for eavesdropping, but he also didn't like what he had heard. He honestly wouldn't have expected Papyrus to hold grudges, either, but—therapy? Sans had lied about therapy? Obviously he couldn't make a judgment until he knew the whole story, but that sounded serious. And why should Papyrus have to apologize for being angry? Especially when he made it sound like Sans hadn't apologized for his side of things.

He finally retrieved a glass of water for Asgore and sat where he had before. Papyrus was also sitting there again by this point. "Are you alright, Mettaton? You look upset," he said.

Mettaton truly didn't know what to do. Eavesdropping was rude, but didn't Papyrus deserve to know what people were saying about him? But wouldn't that also make him upset?

But Papyrus was looking at him expectantly, and Mettaton just couldn't hide it. "Can we talk outside?"

The two went out to the back deck and leaned over the railing, looking into the swimming pool. "So, what's on your mind?" Papyrus asked.

"I'm afraid you'll be upset if I tell you," Mettaton admitted.

To his surprise, instead of answering, Papyrus's face darkened, and his eyes narrowed.

"It's not because I think you can't handle it—anyone would be upset to hear this. I just—you said you wanted today to be happy…" Mettaton explained.

"Well, I'm going to have to rescind that statement now. What's going on?"

"Well… I heard Sans and Toriel talking," began Mettaton, rubbing his fingers together.

Papyrus rolled his eyes. "Of course. When aren't they talking?" He sighed. "What were they saying about me this time?"

"I—well…" Mettaton carefully told Papyrus what he had heard.

Papyrus did not react verbally at first, but Mettaton noticed his fingers tightening on the rail, the grinding of his jaw.

"I'm sorry, Papy. I—I don't know what else to say."

Papyrus's eyes closed, and Mettaton wondered if he was going to start crying. But then he lifted his head, and his dark sockets opened again.

"Thank you for telling me, Mettaton," he said. "I think… you're the only one who doesn't keep things from me."

"You aren't… upset?"

"Oh, I'm—" Papyrus let out a mirthless laugh. "Upset is one word for it. But it's to be expected. And, you know… maybe Toriel is right. Maybe I should apologize… I shouldn't treat Sans like this."

"Papyrus… maybe going so long without talking to him, maybe that's a bit much, but you shouldn't have to apologize for being angry. I still don't know exactly what happened with you two, but he lied. And he doesn't seem to see the issue with that, as far as I can tell. You have the right to be angry."

"Maybe, but… I never wanted to hurt him." Papyrus's voice wavered. "Toriel's right. I do still love him."

"Well… I won't tell you what to do, but… don't discount your own feelings, alright?" Mettaton urged him gently.

Papyrus looked over at him; Mettaton could see tears just brimming in his sockets. "Okay."

The back door opened, and Frisk frantically signed at the two of them.

"Oh, Papy, it's time for dinner."

Papyrus wiped at his face and stood straight. "Of course. Thank you for talking with me, Mettaton."

"Of course, darling."

Mettaton was anxious, but fortunately, neither Sans nor Toriel appeared to think anything was amiss about him and Papyrus being alone outside. He took a seat at the table next to Napstablook, his eyes on Papyrus. The tall skeleton sat next to his brother, who seemed surprised, and then utterly incredulous as Papyrus gave him a tentative smile.

Maybe something good had come of Mettaton's eavesdropping after all. Maybe the brothers would start to reconcile after this. He certainly hoped so.

The dinner was, unsurprisingly, very delicious, consisting of the typical Christmas dinner fare such as ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and various vegetables, and apple pie for dessert. The family had many laughs as Frisk told stories of their past Christmases, and a few tears as Asgore told them about some of the Giftmases he had spent with a monster called Rudy before the man had passed away.

After dinner, it was time for gifts.

Frisk insisted on passing everything out to everyone, then ordered them all to open their gifts from Frisk first. With a few laughs, they did so, and then found to their delight that Frisk had hand-knit (with some help from Toriel) a unique sweater or scarf for each individual. Papyrus's was orange with some dancing skeletons. Mettaton's was pink with a bright yellow star. Undyne's was green with a goldfish. Alphys's was yellow with an anime girl on it—if Mettaton remembered correctly, the same girl with the blonde pigtails from the anime they'd been watching recently.

Everyone else's had their own special symbol on it—Flowey and Shyren had received scarves, with "friendliness pellets" and musical notes respectively, since they couldn't wear sweaters.

After that, everyone else opened their own gifts. From Papyrus, everyone received a silver bone. Everyone thanked him and moved on to the next gift—aside from Mettaton, who was genuinely fascinated and asked where Papyrus had obtained such lovely things, and said that it would go on his nightstand back at Devon's house. Papyrus seemed honestly touched by that.

Everyone else received things that were appropriate for them—Asgore got many types of exotic tea, Frisk and Flowey got toys and video games, Mettaton got new makeup, nail polish, and clothes—and Papyrus got new action figures.

Everyone seemed to believe he was being sincere with his thanks, but Mettaton heard a note of bitter disappointment in every word. He wondered what Papyrus had asked for and not received this year.

"Have you opened mine yet?" he asked him.

Papyrus blinked and searched through the wrapping paper. "I don't believe I have…" he said, looking about him for a last gift. "Oh! Here…" A long, flat box waited behind him. He tore it open and was not confronted with an action figure, but a box of chocolates.

"They're gourmet, from Ecuador!" Mettaton explained proudly. "I thought you might like something tasty. I didn't know what you liked, so I got all milk chocolate, but if you like dark or white, or anything else, just let me know!"

A bright smile broke across Papyrus's face. "Thank you, Mettaton!" he exclaimed. "I'm going to eat these very slowly, so they last until next year!"

When the gifts were all opened, Toriel and Asgore took to cleaning up all the wrapping paper, and then they all fell to talking while the kids played with their toys. QC stopped by around seven o'clock, and after another hour, they all began to disband for the night.

Mettaton, Alphys, and Napstablook were getting ready to leave when Papyrus sidled up to Mettaton and whispered, "Thank you again, Mettaton. Your gift was my favorite."

"Again? I'm starting to think you're just flattering me," Mettaton joked.

"No, really. You're—well, I really liked it." Papyrus smiled. Then he turned away. "Well, let's get going, Sans. Come on, I'll carry you to the car."

Mettaton once again enjoyed the look of incredulity on Sans' face as Papyrus picked him up.

He was deep in thought as he drove himself and his roommates home. This first Christmas of his had been kind of a mixed bag. He had really enjoyed spending time with the family, and he had loved seeing Papyrus's genuine surprise at receiving his gift—but, that disappointment at receiving almost nothing but action figures was still fresh in his mind, and overhearing that conversation and telling Papyrus what they had said… the tears in Papyrus's eyes… it was almost like it was awakening something in Mettaton. He felt almost angry. Papyrus clearly didn't like the way he was being treated. But at the same time, Mettaton didn't know if he should intervene. After all, it was likely Sans and Toriel would just tell him to mind his own business; Toriel was much older than any of them, and Sans had known Papyrus the longest, so obviously they would know better how to handle him.

He didn't know what to do.

Well, surely things would straighten themselves out, right? Besides, Papyrus was an adult, and he could probably handle it. Probably.

When they got home, Mettaton fired off a text to Devon and got ready to watch anime with Alphys and Napstablook again. In a few minutes, he received a text back from Devon, saying that he would be home tomorrow.

Mettaton felt much better after that. He felt he'd spent enough time away from Devon for a while.

But late that night, long after Alphys and Napstablook had fallen asleep, Mettaton was still up, watching that blonde magical girl do her thing, and wondering all the while if he was doing right by Papyrus.

oooooooooo

another new chapter! yes it's Christmas-themed, yes I know it's almost March, I just have a very specific timeline of events and this is where this happens to fall.

lots of pop culture references, couldn't help myself. don't really care if that dates the fic because this is all for fun anyway!

now that we've gotten here, I think I'm going to focus on other things for a while, but we'll be back to Walls soon enough.

please comment if you can! I love every one of my readers and appreciate all your lovely thoughts.

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