As mentioned before, Mad Dummy was never much of a people person. But, at the moment, he was willing to do anything and everything to get his mind off of what he was feeling.
So, of course, almost everyone in Grillby's found it very out-of-place as soon as the dummy set foot inside without a word. He silently hopped up to the counter and took a seat, slamming his head down and gritting his teeth.
Some people around him discreetly scrambled to different seats. Although not many had seen Mad Dummy, they've heard enough from certain rumors and even Mettaton himself. Knives, missiles, and a short temper didn't necessarily equal a happy person.
"..." Grillby raised a brow and stepped over to Mad Dummy. "..." He blinked, but cleared his throat and lowly asked, "...What'll it be?"
"Ugh...just get me some soda. Any kind will do." Mad Dummy grouched, not lifting his head.
The quiet bartender nodded in compliance and turned around, grabbing the soda out of a cooler. He set in front of Mad Dummy, who pushed a couple gold coins his way.
"Thanks," the dummy mumbled, still not looking at anyone.
"hey, Grillbz...put it on my tab, will ya?" a voice came from next to him. Mad Dummy looked up and saw Sans, who gave him a friendly wink.
Grillby narrowed his eyes at Sans, but nodded and went back to his business.
Mad Dummy grudgingly took back his coins. "You shouldn't have even bothered," he hissed, flopping his head back on the counter.
"i know. i just felt you needed it." Sans took a seat next to him, much to Mad Dummy's displeasure. "so. what's got you down in the dumps?" He grinned.
Mad Dummy seethed in his chair. "I don't live at the garbage dump anymore, you bonehead."
Sans innocently shrugged. "welp. it was worth a shot." He took a ketchup bottle, but after the frightening glare he received from Grillby, he slowly set it back. "i'll just have a burger, Grillbz." He turned to face Mad Dummy. "so, what's up? for someone who calls himself the 'Mad' Dummy, you seem less...mad than usual. you seem more sad."
"Just beat it!" the dummy threatened, whipping his head towards the skeleton.
"heh. i would, but i didn't order eggs," Sans chuckled, and a few other people that were near him snickered. Mad Dummy glowered at the counter. He would've pulled out his knife, but he wasn't in the mood to make a scene. Also, the last thing he wanted was to be on the wrong side of the media, which Mettaton constantly warned him about. "Go away."
"come on, bud; just let it out. i'm a great listener. well—despite my lack of ears, anyway," Sans smirked.
"It's none of your business!" Mad Dummy groaned, just wishing everyone would get off his case.
Sans shrugged it off as Grillby brought him his burger. "alright, alright. then i'll just pretend i didn't happen to run into Muffet on the way here."
Mad Dummy flinched and nearly spilled his soda. Sans's grin grew even wider as Mad Dummy slowly and eerily turned his head to face him, a deranged look in his eyes. "Don't you DARE start on that. DON'T. YOU. DARE."
Sans raised his hands in surrender. "hey, lighten up; i was just grabbin' something for my bro, and i noticed she seemed to be acting different. when i asked what was up, she mentioned some dummy. and now, i just so happened to run into you here. small world, eh?" He laughed.
"Go on. Keep laughing. I dare you!" Mad Dummy spat, a deadly glint in his features as he wielded a death grip on his knife.
"i'm not laughing to make fun of you," Sans remarked, raising a brow. "whatever you did, she seemed really happy."
Mad Dummy turned red, facing his soda again. He was almost tempted to ask what she told him, but he forcefully shook those thoughts out of his head. "I don't care," he grumbled, sipping his soda.
"doesn't look like it, from that complexion."
THWAP!
Mad Dummy thrust his knife into the middle of the counter, and the whole bar grew dead silent. He was sick of everyone laughing at him, and he was just one snicker away from going on another rampage whether the media liked it or not.
Sans's grin seemed to lessen a bit, but returned as he waved it off in an attempt to ease the tension. Some people turned away and resumed talking, but others were still pretty quiet.
"listen...i think you and i both know you prefer not to attract unwanted attention. so, i'll tell you what—" Sans finished his burger (while Mad Dummy was still trying to figure out how he did so) and stood up, "why don't we just take a walk? maybe talk it out?" When seeing the dummy roll his eyes and turn away, Sans chuckled. "hey, you'd be surprised how much it helps to tell other people what's up..." His laughter died down a little as he remembered explaining to Toriel about "resets" recently, but he shook it off. "believe me."
Mad Dummy narrowed his eyes at him as he resumed sipping his soda, not responding at first. All he wanted to do was stay and mope around, but something told him that Sans wasn't joking around this time. Conflicted emotions spread across his face before he hopped down angrily. "Fine. Fine! FINE! WHATEVER!" He grouched, shoving the barstool back. He stormed out the door with a dirty look, but actually felt a bit relieved to be away from all those people.
Sans followed him out and held an arm out in front of him. "shall we walk? ...or in your case, hop?" He grinned. Mad Dummy gave him the evil eye, but hopped ahead anyway. "so, care to fill me in?"
Mad Dummy snorted. "I don't see why I have to pour out my problems to you like you're my therapist. I only came out here because it's better than staying in there!"
"come on," Sans urged. "you know me—i'm too lazy to spread rumors. also, by the looks of that knife, i don't think i want to."
Mad Dummy immediately glanced down and put his knife away, not wanting anyone else to see it. "You're wasting your time," he muttered.
"look at me—do you really think i'm one to worry about wasting time? it's one of the things i do best," Sans told him with a laugh.
Mad Dummy, knowing that he obviously couldn't get rid of Sans, gave up. "Alright—you wanna know what's wrong!? I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE! THAT'S WHAT'S WRONG!" he hollered in exasperation.
Sans raised a brow at this new response. "can't take what?"
"Ever since I left that bakery, I've been developing these…'feelings'…" Mad Dummy shuddered in disgust. "AGH! And I hate it HATE IT HATE IT!"
"what…kind of feelings?" Sans couldn't suppress a grin.
"I DON'T KNOW!" the dummy screamed at him. "All I know is that everyone keeps making fun of me for it! And the worst part is that I CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT HER!"
Sans whipped his head towards him. "...her?"
"IT! I CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT IT! THESE FEELINGS!" Mad Dummy was redder than ever, and he looked extremely frantic.
Sans nodded slyly. "alright...so...'these feelings'...are they happy? ...sad? ...downright atrocious?"
Mad Dummy was strangely quiet, much to the skeleton's surprise. "I...I don't know what to think of them..."
"whaddaya mean you don't—"
"I MEAN I DON'T KNOW!" Mad Dummy interrupted, banging his head against a lamp post. People were starting to stare, but he could care less. "I JUST WANT THEM TO STOP!"
"hey, buddy...calm down. sometimes trying to ignore certain feelings will only make you even more miserable," Sans told him.
"OH, AS IF I'M NOT ALREADY MISERABLE ENOUGH!" Mad Dummy exploded. His body flung apart and scattered in different directions. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW IT FEELS TO BE TREATED LIKE A CHILD ALL THE TIME!? 'Oh, please don't kill anyone, Maddy!' 'Try being a little sensitive, Maddy!' 'If you weren't my cousin, I'd knock you senseless, Maddy!' 'For the last time, DON'T STAB ANYONE, MADDY, OR ELSE I'LL TAKE AWAY YOUR KNIFE!' Gosh—and people wonder why I'm so MAD all the time! NOBODY TRUSTS ME!"
"have you ever considered...er...not threatening to stab people?" Sans suggested.
"I don't need to manage my anger—I just need everyone else to manage NOT TO TICK ME OFF!" Mad Dummy barked.
"okay, Mad..." Sans snickered as he shook his head, "as much as i'd love to stand here and talk about your interesting morals, let's just bring up the elephant in the room—what is it about Muffet that stands out to you?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that she never treated me like a freakin' criminal!? I mean, yeah, she threw a sign at my head, but then she APOLOGIZED for it! She didn't kick me out, threaten me, call the police—she actually treated me with decency! THAT'S JUST...something...I rarely receive..." He lowered his voice, staring at the ground. Suddenly, it occurred to him that Sans managed to mention his obvious feelings towards Muffet without receiving a completely unceremonious response. "Wait WAIT WAIT—"
"hey, don't worry about it. i won't tell anyone," Sans assured him. "too lazy to gossip, remember?"
Mad Dummy griped to himself, hanging his head. "I swear to gosh, if you so much as hint this to anyone—"
"my lips are sealed. well, they would be if i had lips, anyway." Mad Dummy was about ready to blow up again, but Sans quickly raised his hands in reassurance. "okay, okay...nobody'll hear a peep from me about it. got it?" He grinned.
"That's better." Regret consumed Mad Dummy's mind, but he knew he couldn't take back what he said. "I'm...going home," he grouched, turning around. "Thanks for listening, I guess. I feel a little better." He didn't want to admit it, but he really did feel better.
"no problem, bud. give me a shout if you ever need someone to talk to." Sans waved.
Mad Dummy nodded rather stiffly and started hopping back to Undyne's house.