The woman on the television laid down on her stomach. Her soothing voice filled the quiet room. "And now, we're going to shift into the bow. Now get down on your belly."

Mettaton took a deep breath as he shifted onto his stomach. His bright pink half shirt rumpled underneath him as he shifted. He didn't need to listen to the woman on the exercise video. He'd done the pose a thousand times. As a star, he had to stay limber for dance routines. Flipping over, he shifted into the camel. His back took on his wait and he let out a deep breath. Yoga was nice first thing in the morning. It made him more flexible

Mettaton took a deep breath as he shifted onto his stomach. His bright pink half shirt rumpled underneath him as he shifted letting his body move naturally to follow the woman on the screen. He'd gotten the video as a Christmas present last year from Alphys and he was happy to say it helped a lot. As a star, he had to stay limber for dance routines. The last thing he needed was pulling the machine equivalent of a 'hammy' (that being his whole leg seizing up/falling up). He'd self destruct if he let something so embarrassing happen in front of all of his fans. Shifting into ustrasana, he took several deep breaths. The fans in his chest hummed as he concentrated on his breathing.

A small jingle in the kitchen caught his attention and he leaned further back. Someone was coming through his back door. If it was a burglar, they were in for a surprise. They should have robbed the elderly woman down the street and not picked the house of a killer robot. Pausing his video, Mettaton stood stretching his arms out in front of him. Now he was limber enough to kick some ass if need be. Peaking into the kitchen, he rolled his eyes. Frisk was sitting at his dining room table drinking hot chocolate they'd raided from the cabinets.

Mettaton waved a hand and they looked up. "Hey there, you little bandit." He signed. Frisk didn't answer. They were too busy playing with one of the gingerbread basket behind the seats. Mettaton pouted. "Frisk, that was supposed to be a surprise for the next time you came over."

Frisk looked over to Mettaton's grumpy face. Scooting out their chair, they ran across the room. Mettaton smiled as tiny arms wrapped around his wide hips. He picked them up and kissed Frisk's cheek. "Hello darling." Frisk smiled and Mettaton gave them a squeeze. He was careful with his strength. Humans were fragile and little humans were even more delicate.

"Can we make the houses?" Frisk signed.

Mettaton pressed his lips. He'd been saving it for later in the week but who could say no to that face? He signed back a quick "Okay." and Frisk grinned.

Opening the first basket, Mettaton pulled out a handful of frosting bags. He paused. "Wait," he signed, getting Frisk's attention. "You didn't walk here alone, did you?" Frisk didn't answer. They both knew they hadn't. Hell would freeze over before Toriel let them do something dangerous like that. Mettaton raised an eyebrow. "Who's watching you?" he signed.

On cue, he heard a scream from the front yard. He gave Frisk a disapproving look and scooped them into his arms. Stopping at the window, he settled Frisk against his hip and peeled the blinds looking out.

Papyrus was in the middle of the road running around in circles. A smaller skeleton was standing on the side walk, his hands in his pockets.

"Who's that?" Mettaton asked.

Frisk quickly signed back the name "Sans." Mettaton remembered the name and turned back to the street to listen to Papyrus scream in the middle of the road.

"WE LOST THE HUMAN, SANS. I LOOKED AWAY FOR FIVE SECONDS AND THEY'RE GONE."

Sans shrugged looking into a bush. "I'm sure they're fine. We'll find the kid. They're around here somewhere. Probably hiding in a tree giggling at us."

Papyrus screamed at the people walking around on the street. "HAS ANYONE SEEN MY HUMAN? THEY HAVE BEAUTIFUL BROWN HAIR AND BROWN EYES. THEY'RE WEARING A STRIPED SHIRT."

Sans sighed. Cupping his hands, he shouted. "Frisk? Where are you? Tori's going to kill me if I lose you. I'll tell you a knock knock joke if you come out."

"WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO? THE HUMAN IS LOST. THEY'RE PROBABLY HUNGRY AND AFRAID. IT'S ALL OUR FAULT" Papyrus ran down the street searching through every bush and climbed every tree.

Mettaton looked down at Frisk cuddled into his side and chewing on a chocolate bar they'd pilfered form the gingerbread baskets. "Hungry and afraid." He scoffed to himself. He walked outside and Sans looked over. "Are you looking for this rugrat?" Mettaton said. Frisk stuck their tongue out at him and he stuck his tongue out back.

Sans relaxed. "Pap, they're over here. A robot has them."

Papyrus stopped running snapping his head over ot look at them. "METTATON?" He ran over to them wagging his finger at Frisk. "YOU SAVED THEM. YOU'RE AMAZING. LITTLE HUMAN, IF I'VE TOLD YOU ONCE, I'VE TOLD YOU A THOUSAND TIMES. DON'T RUN OFF. TORI WILL USE MY BONES FOR BROTH IF I LOSE YOU."

Frisk continued chewing on their chocolate bar. "Can we make the houses now?" they asked.

Sans raised an eyebrow. "Houses?"

Mettaton nodded taking Frisk. "We make gingerbread houses every year. I went a little overboard on the supplies this year. You're welcome to join us if you like. Unless you have other plans for today."

Frisk bounced up and down in Mettaton's arms. "Can we?" they sighed. "Can we please?" They reached for Papyrus's hand pulling him toward them. Mettaton's heart skipped a beat as Papyrus came closer.

Frisk held their hand out to Sans and he grinned at them. "I guess we're making houses now." He said.

Mettaton opened the front door and let them in. Sans looked around the room. "Nice place. It looks like Father Christmas threw up in here."

Mettaton took that as a compliment. The skelebros followed him into the other room where he placed Frisk on the table. Emptying out the rest of the baskets, he quickly filled the piping bags. He handed the first one to Frisk. "Go ahead, i've got a few spare baskets if you need more."

Frisk moved like lightning grabbing gingerbread, gumdrops, and piping bags. The grownups moved slower picking pieces and building up wall for their houses. Mettaton hummed a happy tune as he worked. He'd never had this many people in his house outside of his parties. It was nice just having fun instead of stressing of hosting. Minutes passed with giggles and jokes as they made their houses and destroyed Mettaton's dining room.

Sans gave up after his house caved in for the third time. "Guess that's the way the cookie crumbs."

Mettaton and Frisk giggled. Papyrus made a face. "IT'S GINGERBREAD."

"Same difference," Sans said. He looked over to Frisk's house. "Nice use of frosting, kid." Frisk's house was coated in frosting. It was suprising that the thing was still standing.

Papyrus added a small chimney to his house and a tiny garage in the back. He scribbled on a red car in the garage and added a few marshmellows and candy pieces here and there. Looking over, he gapped at Mettaton's house. It was a large castle with little white windows. "WOW, YOUR HOUSE IS AMAZING."

Mettaton smiled at the praise. "Thank you. Yours is nice too." Frisk scooted over to look closer. They clapped and Mettaton gave a mock bow. "Thank you, thank you, I'm here all week."

Frisk held out a piping bag. "Needs more frosting." They signed.

Mettaton scooted the castle closer to them. "You decorate it. You're so much better at it than I am." He signed. Frisk grinned attacking the back of the house with frosting.

Papyrus scooted the extra candy decorations closer to them. "THANK YOU FOR LETTING US JOIN." He said. Sans nodded a thank you as he fell asleep in his dining chair.

Frisk held out their hands to get their attention. "Finished." They signed before turning to show a christmas tree frosted onto the back. Mettaton grinned. "Very pretty, Darling. You did a wonderful job." Frisk grinned looking around for something else to decorate. Papyrus handed over his house and Frisk went to decorating.

Mettaton smiled at the two of them. A warm feeling spread over his chest. The fans in his frame started up again and he quickly silenced them. Was this what it felt like to have a family? People around you who wanted to actually be around you? He'd been created by Alphys and left the minute he could. Don't get him wrong, Alphys was a nice monster and he loved her as much as you could love another person but he'd never been very close to her. Most of his days he spent inside or on tour. Even his fans didn't know how he was outside of television and movies. He liked to keep himself hidden away for the most part yet here he was, fire crackling in the other room, dining room a mess, and four happy people crowded around his table enjoying each other's company. The warm feel persisted and he let it for a while. It was nice to feel wanted.

His reverie ended as his eyes settled onto Papyrus's face. A red glob of frosting was smeared onto his jawbone. "You've got something on your jaw, love." he said. He said brushing a finger along Papyrus's jawbone. He ignored the fuzzy feeling he got as he brushed his finger against Papyrus's face. The way their souls reacted to each other sent a bubbly feeling through him. Without thinking, he liked the frosting off of his finger.

Papyrus stared down at him, orange dusting his cheekbones. "THANK YOU METTATON." he said looking away.

A giggle came from across the table. Mettaton looked over to find Frisk laughing at him. Even Sans had woke up just in time to chuckle. He nudged Frisk who giggled harder. A soft chime came from Sans's pocket and he pulled out his phone. "Tori wants Frisk home for dinner." He looked over to them sitting on the table. "You ready to go kid."

Frisk quickly finished the back of the house and nodded. Lifting them carefully, Sans picked Frisk up.

Mettaton kissed Frisk's cheek. "I'll see you later sweetheart." He said. Frisk waved goodbye as Sans carried them out.

Mettaton sighed falling into his seat. He'd have a hell of a time cleaning his dining room. He heard the water running behind him and leaned back to look. Papyrus was carrying a sponge from the kitchen. He cleaned off the caked on frosting from the dining table. Mettaton intervened. "You don't have to clean. You're a guest."

"IT'S NO PROBLEM. FRISK AND SANS ALWAYS LEAVE A MESS. MY STICKY NOTES BARELY WORK ANYMORE. I'M HAPPY TO HELP."

As much as Mettaton didn't want his guest cleaning, he didn't think he'd be able to stop him so he joined in instead. Picking up the table cloth to go into the laundry, the two passed the time telling each other about their daily lives. Mettaton told him about his daily tours and Papyrus told him about his culinary learnings with his supposed best friend Undyne. He snorted. If Undyne could cook then he was Oprah and Oprah wished she had his legs. But he didn't say anything as he listened to Papyrus tell him at least fifteen recipes for spaghetti.

Before long (and much too soon for Mettaton's liking), the room was spotless again. Mettaton smiled at Papyrus as they stood in the dining room. "Thank you for your help. You're very sweet." Mettaton kissed Papyrus's cheek. He froze after pulling away from the skeleton's cheekbone. Was he crazy? He needed to stop being so unconsciously forward.

Papyrus held his cheek. "YOU'RE WELCOME. YOU'RE VERY NICE TOO." The two were quiet for a long second. "I THINK I SHOULD BE GOING HOME NOW." At the door, Papyrus stopped. He stopped at the door shifting form foot to foot.

"Papyrus, what's wr-"

Papyrus cut him off as he kissed his cheek. "THANK YOU AGAIN FOR HAVING US. YOU'RE VERY NICE. I LIKE YOU." He darted out the door. Poking his head back in one last time, he smiled. "ALSO, I SAW YOU ADDED MORE DECORATIONS. MINE WILL BE UP TOMORROW." He ran away cackling 'nyeh, nyeh, nyeh.' the entire time.

Mettaton swallowed the blush on his face as he closed the door. Leaning against it, he smiled. The warm feeling in his chest was persistant. He just might be falling for a certain energetic skeleton.