Alphys woke up in the morning still snuggled up in the corner of the couch downstairs. For a moment she had no idea where she was, but she relaxed as she realized she must have fallen asleep last night while watching anime with her friends. This particular series was just so gripping, she hadn't been able to tear herself away to go home last night!

Undyne was stirring next to her on the floor. "Morning, Alphys," she mumbled groggily, sitting up and yawning.

"Morning, Undyne. Um, I guess we all fell asleep still watching anime."

"Well, who can blame us? This series is the best we've watched in forever!"

Undyne started rambling about giant robots and flowery swordswomen, and Alphys was tempted to join in until she looked around and noticed that two of her friends were missing. Sans was still knocked out on the couch, snoring loudly, but Mettaton and Papyrus were nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, I wonder where Mettaton and Papyrus are," Alphys interrupted.

"Oh, I'm sure they're just upstairs in Papyrus' room or something," Undyne said dismissively, but then froze. "Wait, you don't think they…"

"H-huh? Oh my God, Undyne! Of course not! Why would you even think that?" Alphys giggled at Undyne's suggestion, covering her mouth with her hand to muffle the sound.

But Undyne stared back at her seriously. "What? It's not that far-fetched. You saw how they were staring at each other the entire time during dinner! And then afterwards they ran straight off to Papyrus' room. I think there's something going on there."

Alphys thought it over. "Mettaton is always flirting with people, though," she said uncertainly. "But he did seem pretty annoyed when Sans poked fun at him for wearing Papyrus' scarf. Maybe you're on to something. I guess I'll ask Mettaton later… though I'm sure he won't be happy with me for bringing it up."

Undyne grinned mischievously. "And I'll ask Papyrus about it. We gotta know what's going on! They would make such a cute couple."

"Yeah, yeah." Alphys stood up from the couch and stretched as she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. It must be Papyrus. "Just don't get ahead of yourself. We don't even know for sure if there is anything happening."

Mettaton woke up to the sound of shuffling near his makeshift bed. "Mmmf, five more minutes," he grumbled, turning over and curling up even more snugly.

Papyrus looked down at the star and couldn't help chuckling. The robot looked adorable, tangled up in the blankets with his black hair mussed up, mascara slightly smudged and a serene expression on his face.

"Um, Mettaton? It's Papyrus," the skeleton said awkwardly in an attempt to wake Mettaton up.

Mettaton's eyes flew open and he jolted up into a seated position, one hand flying to his face to make sure the right side of it was still covered by his bangs.

"Oh my goodness! Papyrus darling, I'm so sorry, I should have gotten up sooner and fixed my hair and makeup, I must look simply terrible, this is so embarrassing…"

Papyrus knelt next to Mettaton and grabbed his hand without thinking, causing the robot to quit his rambling and stare at Papyrus in shock.

"Don't be silly," Papyrus said firmly. "You always look fabulous, no matter what! But it's actually pretty late in the morning now, so I thought I should probably wake you up so you could go home. Alphys and Undyne are downstairs eating a late breakfast."

Mettaton was still mortified. "Well, I'm sorry I didn't get up earlier! I'm not much of a morning person, all of my shows being at night and all." He suddenly remembered that he was still holding the skeleton's hand and hurriedly snatched his hand back.

Ugh. Why was he so jumpy? He was generally a touchy-feely kind of person and normally had no problem flirting with monsters. Mettaton decided he needed to start preparing for his next round of performances as soon as he got home, so he could get back on his game.

"It's no problem at all!" Papyrus assured the robot. He stood and offered his hand again to Mettaton to help him up.

"Thank you, darling," Mettaton smiled, accepting the offer. "What's for breakfast?"

"Why, spaghetti, of course!"

"Ugh!" Mettaton huffed and stood up from his desk in frustration. He was trying to finalize the script for tomorrow's show, but he was having trouble focusing. He decided to go downstairs for a snack and to talk to Alphys for a bit.

"Allllphyyyys," Mettaton called as he swung himself down the escalator to the first floor of the lab, where Alphys was typing away at her computer. "Alphys! I can't focus on my script!"

Mettaton sighed dramatically as he propped himself up on Alphys' desk, scattering some of the papers littered on it.

Alphys rolled her eyes. "And what do you want me to do about it?" she asked, annoyed. Mettaton had a habit of doing this kind of thing, complaining for no real reason.

"I mean, nothing, I guess," Mettaton sulked. "I'm just feeling restless is all." He crossed his arms. "But I need to be focusing on my shows! My fans deserve the very best, after all."

Alphys was tempted to tell him to just go back up to his room and finish the freaking script and that would solve the problem. But then she remembered what Undyne had said yesterday morning when they woke up in Sans' and Papyrus' house.

"Um, Mettaton, do you have any idea why you might be feeling so restless?" she asked carefully.

"Well, it's probably because I took two whole days off from work! On your recommendation, might I add. I shouldn't have taken such a long break. My fans need me and my shows need to be absolutely perfect!"

Mettaton started pacing, running a hand through his gorgeous hair and looking frazzled. "I don't know why I'm feeling so weird. Normally all I want to do is work on my upcoming performances. This is so frustrating!"

"Hey Mettaton? Do you think this has anything to do with Papyrus?"

The robot stopped in his tracks and stared blankly at Alphys. "Papyrus? What about him?"

Alphys sighed internally. For such a dramatic and overly confident guy, Mettaton really didn't seem to have a good handle on his own emotions.

"Well, I noticed that you two were getting along really well the other day at dinner, and then you guys kind of just ran off to his room all night and…"

Mettaton's face flushed pink as he realized what Alphys was saying. "Oh my God Alphys! You… why… how…" he spluttered, unable to string a sentence together.

"So there is something going on," Alphys smiled. This was adorable. It was so kawaii! She had to agree with Undyne: They would make a super cute couple and they did seem good for each other.

"No there's not!" protested Mettaton. "I don't know what you're talking about! Honestly Alphys, I appreciate you looking out for me, but I don't need your help making friends or anything of the sort! I'm a celebrity, a star. Everyone would jump at the chance to get to meet me! But I don't have time for that nonsense. Now, I have work to do!"

The robot turned on his heel and began marching back towards the escalator until Alphys' next words stopped him.

"So then, does that mean you're going to cancel your hangout with Papyrus tomorrow? He's probably going to be pretty upset about that. I think he was really looking forward to showing you some of his puzzles. He looks up to you a lot, you know."

Mettaton stood there, still facing away from the lizard. "Well, no, I mean yes, I'll still do that. I mean, it's rude to cancel! But… I don't…" Mettaton spun around again, his face still burning. "Alphys, I'm very busy, you know! I don't have time to sit and chat idly with you! I don't know how you've distracted me for so long, but I need to get back to my script."

And with that, Mettaton disappeared up the escalator.

Alphys shook her head in exasperation and turned back to her computer.

"Phew," Papyrus gasped, flinging himself onto the ground after a long and hard training session. "I almost had you there, Undyne!"

That wasn't exactly true, but Undyne decided to humor him. He did put his best effort in, after all, and even if he couldn't match her, there was no denying he was tough.

"You've come a long way, Papyrus!" Undyne grinned. One of these days you're going to beat me!"

Papyrus beamed with pride and wiped the sweat from his forehead as Undyne set down her spear and sat beside him, crossing her legs and dipping her hand into the stream next to them. As usual, they were training in Waterfall.

Looking up at Papyrus, Undyne noticed he seemed preoccupied by something. "What's up, Paps? Everything okay?"

The skeleton met her gaze and smiled sadly. "Oh, was it that obvious? I've just been thinking about some things. I mean, I am very great, but… there's no way he's interested in me. I'm pretty sure he only agreed to try my puzzles because he felt bad for me. Nyeh! As if anyone should feel bad for me! I am the Great Papyrus! Future member of the Royal Guard!"

As hard as Papyrus was trying to cheer himself up, Undyne could see that he was still feeling down. "Who's 'he?' Mettaton?"

"W-what? I didn't say…" Papyrus buried his head in his gloved hands in embarrassment. "I mean, yes, you're right. How did you know?" His words were muffled.

Undyne snorted. "Dude, it's obvious. The way you were staring at each other all lovey-dovey at dinner a couple of days ago? And you two literally disappeared right after dinner and we didn't see you guys again until just before we left the next day. To be honest, I was wondering if something happened—"

"Undyne!" Papyrus' cheeks had colored a dark red. "Of course not! Nothing happened… wait. You really think he likes me?" He looked slightly more hopeful.

"Yeah!" Undyne responded. "I mean, I can't say for sure, but me and Alphys both thought there had to be something going on. Go for it, dude! I mean, he is kind of a pansy and pretty annoying sometimes, but you seem like a good fit for each other."

Papyrus broke out into a wide smile but did his best to compose himself. "Wowie, thanks, Undyne! I guess I'll just have to see what happens when I show him my puzzles tomorrow!"

Papyrus jumped up and started jogging home towards Snowdin. Undyne decided to head back home herself until she remembered Mettaton's meltdown. That… episode… had happened just a few days ago. She had no idea what caused it, but whatever it was, it couldn't be an isolated incident.

Undyne's smile faded. What was Papyrus getting himself into?