"That's the l-last one for now."

Alphys inspects the syringe darkened by the liquid inside. She taps it carefully with her claw before injecting it into the last empty vial. She swirls the liquid around, taking note of the viscosity. The vial slides into the place on the stand along with its cousins containing a variety of other fluids of different colors.

Aofil massages their arm. It's gone a bit numb from all the vials Alphys has extracted, but their curse will be busy healing the wounds. Especially the small square of missing fur that's no longer on their arm, but on a petri dish next to a microscope. A lonesome red and square taken from a forest of white. The wound stings, but Aofil can manage it. They've been through worse.

They've done worse.

A series of beeps gives them an escape from the memories wanting to rush back, and they lift their head from their arm to Alphys programming a small machine with the vials inserted into it. She closes the lid over them, and the vials start spinning.

A small and careful smile grows for just a moment on Alphys, but when she turns and sees Aofil holding their arm, the smile fades away. She scoots the chair across the basement with her tail. From inside a cupboard she retrieves a roll of paper towels and a bottle of clear liquid. She pushes her way back to Aofil while pouring some of the liquid on a sheet of paper.

"Your arm?" she asks carefully while holding out her hand. Aofil places it inside her hand, "I'm just gonna disinfect it," she explains before lightly tapping the wound with the drenched paper. It burns, must be alcohol. Nothing too bad, but it summons a small grunt from Aofil. Alphys stops, but Aofil urges her to continue. She can feel Aofil's arm tense with every careful touch.

"D-do you want some gauze?" Alphys offers after throwing the bloodied paper into a nearby trashcan shaped like an anime cat.

Aofil blows on the wound to dry it and the alcohol, "It'll heal on its own before the day is over."

"I-I was just thinking to protect from infection," Alphys looks over to the machine with the vials. It's not done quite yet, "If it becomes infected and y-you have to visit a human doctor."

She has a good point, "Do you have some?"

She nods and pushes her way back to the metallic cabinet. She avoids looking at the top shelf, and picks up a package of gauze from a middle shelf. The door closes quickly behind her as she rolls back to Aofil.

"Do you w-want me to roll it over the fur?" she asks, unsure if she should really use the word, "To hide it if you want to take off your jacket?"

"Might need another roll if it is to be completely covered," Aofil notices, "I don't want a single strand peeking through."

"U-understandable."

Alphys fetches another roll of gauze, still avoiding the top shelf. With both rolls at the ready, she starts wrapping Aofil's arm.

"How come you know this, Alphys? About human medicine."

"I," Alphys pauses her wrapping for a second to gather her words, "I w-wanted to l-learn to help h-humans instead of..."

The gauze is tensed incredibly tightly as Alphys clenches her teeth. Aofil weathers the pain, for her sake.

"It's m-more of a hobby though," Alphys explains while returning to her careful wrapping, "S-something to keep my mind occupied. U-Undyne let's me practice scrapes and s-such on her. She says that if she can get healing as a human, she'll get closer to being as strong as one."

With a final tug Alphys tightens the fabric, and tucks the loose end into the neatly package. Like a second layer of skin its wrapped nice and smooth around Aofil's arm. They flex underneath it, but it doesn't flinch. Tight as a walnut corset.

And even better, no fur sticking through. It's probably gonna itch like hell if it gets sweaty, but Aofil can handle itching. Alphys hands them their jacket from a nearby chair, and Aofil slides the leather above the gauze as they put it on.

"Thanks, Alphys."

She nods, "You're welcome. D-do let me know if you're feeling anything from it."

Aofil pinches off some loose strands of fabric from the gauze sticking out from underneath the jacket, "Why? Should I be feeling something?"

"I-I've done a bit of enhancing to t-the gauze. Some of my magic. U-Undyne complained about it slipping of-ff, s-so I made it more, um, sticky. Y-you seem to be able to hold her spears, so this shouldn't b-be a problem. I h-have some normal gauze just in case, s-so if you're feel-ling anything, let me know and I'll switch."

Aofil isn't feeling anything different from their arm, but they nod, "Got it."

Like Alphys said, just in case.

The vial machine starts beeping, and Alphys cocks her head at the sound. She shakes away a thought, and lifts the lid. With a careful and steady hand she tilts a vial around. The fluid inside has separated, and is sloshing around in different layers. Like a liquid flag of gray and black.

With a quizzical claw she taps the different layers through the glass, and writes down a couple of notes, "Consistent with previous samples," she mumbles. After a couple of taps with her pen against her mouth she narrows her eyes in thought, "Fusion included both? Need to check the tissue."

Aofil sits still and quiet while rolling their thumbs. Alphys seems to be pretty focused at the samples taken, so they shouldn't disturb her. She is doing it for them, after all, so it would be doubly rude to disrupt her.

What else can they do then? Leave? She seems to be busy enough to not try and hurt herself. Leaving her alone would be a bit inconvenient if she needs more samples though. Undyne might've been able to accept Aofil going back down once, but twice would certainly raise suspicion. Good thing the tomato sauce almost caught fire. Gave Aofil a good reason to leave Undyne alone to her cussing and cooking. It doesn't smell like anything special down in the basement, like burnt tomatoes for instance, so it seems like Undyne managed to save the sauce.

Maybe refill the water? Aofil glances over to the can. Almost full. Alphys only needed one glass before calming down, so maybe sending Aofil to get some was an excuse to get them out of the basement?

For what reason though? To calm down? To scream into the large pillow shaped like a Mikkarama? It certainly looks like it's been recently squeezed hard and tossed across the room. It's still slowly regaining its shape.

So no water to refill. How about her snacks? She's pretty liberal with how many she picks up, but the package was unopened when Aofil fetched it, so probably not.

Tasted pretty good though. Sweet, with a hint of nutmeg. It was magic food, no doubt about it, but with Alphys cutting a piece off their arm Aofil is pretty sure it will be busy mending the wound and not spread to their head.

"A-Aofil?"

Aofil realizes that they've been staring at Alphys for the past minute or so, "Oh," they blink back control of their eyes, "yes?"

"Y-you can go up and b-be with Undyne if you want. It'll b-be a while before I'm done with this," Alphys says with a small wave of a vial with Aofil's blood.

"You sure?" Aofil asks, just to be sure themselves.

Alphys nods carefully, "I prefer to be working alone. If y-you don't mind."

"It's fine," Aofil stands up from their chair, "Call for me if you need something more."

Alphys smiles in relief, "Thank you. I will."

"Nothing you can figure out now?"

Alphys searches her head, "Nothing right now, no. Oh," she halts Aofil in their step, "if y-your still around after y-your wound is healed, I'd l-like another sample. If that's alright w-with you. To study h-how it h-heals."

Aofil taps their arm, feeling their wound protest as it's touched, "Sure!"

"Alright..."

Aofil does Alphys a favor and breaks eye contact willingly. They walk up the stairs with Alphys' mumbling following them up. Nothing they can deduce from it, but something about it sounds just off to their ears.

Could just be that Aofil barely understand anything of what she's saying.

Let's go with that.

"Perfection," whispers Undyne in a sinister tone as she closes the lid on the saucepan. Out of the corner of her eye she catches Aofil closing the basement door. Her grin grows, also being sinister and plotting.

"Smells like you saved the sauce, Undyne," Aofil comments after sampling the smells around them, "How long until it's done?"

"About a work out session or so," Undyne flashes her teeth, "Gotta get yourself an appetite, you know?"

"Don't know how much I can manage with an empty stomach though, so maybe another time?"

As if Undyne would accept that excuse. Accept any excuse. Besides head injuries, that is. She stabs an apple in a fruit bowl on the kitchen table with a slim spear and flicks the apple to Aofil, "There's your food, for now!"

Aofil catches it with one hand, raising a pair of cocky eyebrows. Undyne crosses her arms while her spear fades away, "You just gonna look at it or eat it?"

Aofil takes a small nibble off the apple, "Gonna take me a while to get through it!"

"Ha!" Undyne scoffs. She lowers the temperature on both the oven and stove, "There! Take all the time you want!" she snickers, "Not to distract you from your eating or anything..."

Aofil halts a bite, "Too late!" but they take one shortly after, just to be nice.

"I saw you talking with MK before he took off. What were you talking about?"

"His driving," Aofil answers after swallowing, "Why do you wonder?"

Undyne scratches the sides of her throat, "The kid uses his magic to steer, right? Applies an aura to the steering wheel to control it? At least that's what I gathered from him."

Aofil nods, "And his tail to shift gear," and takes another bite of the apple. It's really damn sweet. Hopefully not magic, "I did spot some teeth marks on the steering wheel though."

"It takes effort to use magic," Undyne conjures a spear that she balances on her finger, "gotta work on your magic endurance just like your stamina. Soul and body, both just as important. Body for these," Undyne flexes her arms, "and soul for these!" and summons two violently crackling spears that she clashes together with a thunderous fizzle.

"Impressive, I think. Can't do magic myself so my frame of reference might be a bit off."

Undyne flexes again, "With guns like these you know I'm packing top grade ammo, human!"

Aofil shrugs nonchalantly and takes another bite, "If you say so," they can't hold their face though, and a smile reveals their ruse.

Undyne catches it, "Ha!" and smiles herself, "Finish your damn apple, punk."

Aofil cleans off a piece of apple peel stuck between their teeth, "Why did you wonder about MK?"

"Thought you asked him about the ban card. How to get more stamps."

Aofil pats their pockets until they find the one they placed the card in. They fish it up and turn it around in their hand, "Shit's absurd, gotta say."

"If you had seen the prices that Mettacan has you'd know why I even agreed to it to begin with," Undyne waves her own card, "Just a few more until I can finally get my hands on that garlic bread I've heard so much about!"

The image of Undyne's stunned face and the thought of what would probably happen after she is served the appetizer is convincing and humorous enough for Aofil not to burst her bubble. Not enough damage that can be done if it pops here in her own home.

At Mettaton's restaurant though? Oh man. Could also be enough for a second stamp, so technically Aofil's doing Undyne a favor by not saying anything.

With Aofil's last bite of the apple Undyne holds out her hand towards Aofil, "It's another time now, human. So you better get ready," with a twist of her wrist Undyne forms a spear in her hand. The weight of it pushes her arm down, but she holds it up. With her hand shaking she gives it to Aofil, who needs to use both of their arms to be able to carry it.

Undyne forms one for herself, "Curls march! Go! Sweat ahoy! Ngah!"

Undyne counts out loud while curling her spear. Every increasing number makes her smile grow wider, "Aofil!" she yells for as they stand still with the spear nestled clumsily in their arms, "Let's go!"

"I'm not working out in these clothes, Undyne. Just look at me."

With an annoyed sigh she dismisses her spears and turns the corner with her shoulders low, "Can't work out in these clothes!" she repeats with a very low effort impersonation of Aofil, "Mettaton would be mad at me for ruining his perfect and fantastic creations!"

"It's not because of that," Aofil corrects.

Undyne returns her head around the corner, "Then why not?"

"You don't workout in dress pants and leather jacket, Undyne."

She blows a raspberry and returns out of sight, "I'll find you something then, you big baby! And after that, I'll finally get to exercise with you, Aofil!"

A couple of minutes pass before Undyne returns with a pile of clothing that she throws to Aofil. A very interesting color scheme of pink and yellow is present throughout all.

"Bathroom's down the hall. I'll set up some weights and benches out back while you change."

"Right, see you out there."

Undyne flashes a smile and heads out the patio door. From a small shed she retrieves various weights and gym equipment. Aofil watches her set up a bench press before deciding that maybe they should do what they were asked to and go change clothes.

To their surprise the bathroom contains a toilet. From what the trucker said Aofil thought it would be rare for monster houses to have one. The Dreemurrs would have one for Frisk, of course, but here? Maybe Frisk is exercising with Undyne. Maybe Asriel is too? Would make sense, judging by how he looks.

As Aofil changes their shirt their head conjures up another reason. Maybe it's just natural for Asriel? Asgore's pretty huge, and Toriel isn't exactly slim compared to humans. Does Asriel need to work out? Aofil should ask Undyne.

The sweat shirt doesn't cover up the bandage on Aofil's arm, but they should be able to explain it away easily. It hasn't loosened the slightest inch, but if it starts coming off Aofil will abandon the work out immediately.

The shorts are very short, and barely covers half of Aofil's thighs. Luckily it's only Undyne that will see Aofil wearing these, so it shouldn't be a problem.

"Oh my," flusters Mettaton as Aofil leaves the bathroom.

Nevermind then.

"You could've let me know earlier and I would've made your piece of my collection more vibrant if you so wished, darling," he peeks over Aofil's shoulder to the pile inside the bathroom. Thrown in a haphazard pile is the jacket and dress pants. With a smile that's a mix between confusion and bubbling anger Mettaton hands Aofil their old clothes, "I took the liberty of washing these."

Aofil nods, "Thank you, Mettaton," ignoring the seething look from him.

"I couldn't help but notice that you're not wearing the ones I gave you," he extends a finger that travels over Aofil's shoulder and lands on the pile inside the bathroom, "and that they're laying on the floor."

"You can take them back if you want. I don't really have a use for them."

Mettaton's lips twist in thought, and with a now confident smirk he removes his finger from the pile, "No, actually, my dear human. I will not. See it as a gift from me. I do wish that you will treat them as such from now on."

"Um, sure?"

"It is what Muffet would want, don't you agree?"

That smile of his indicate he has something planned, "I don't really see how she fits into this," Aofil answers.

Mettaton puts his ahnd up to his mouth to quell a chuckle, "I couldn't have chosen better words myself, Aofil love."

Definitely something planned. He would probably deny it if Aofil asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Mettaton pats Aofil carefully on their head, "Undyne has rubbed of on you too much, Aofil. Why this suspicion of yours truly and magnificent?"

Aofil's not really surprised by that.

"Would you look at the time!" Mettaton suddenly realizes, but a bit too much for it to seem natural, "I have to hurry, human dearie. Do send my regards to Undyne and Alphee sweet."

"Will do."

"Oh!" Mettaton opens up a small hatch on his chest. Inside is Aofil's pill bottle. He retrieves it and puts it gently on Aofil's clothes, "Almost forgot. Anyways, toodles! Don't forget to buy M!"

Aofil hides the bottle inside their own pair of pants and places their clothes on the toilet lid in the bathroom. Not like Undyne or Alphys are gonna use it anyway. Mettaton knowing about their pills is a huge problem though. His smirk about Muffet is grounds for worry as well.

Alphys needs to find something.

Bridges to cross for later though. Right now Undyne is probably tapping their foot waiting for Aofil to arrive. Shouldn't keep her waiting too long.

"No!"

Her shout is loud, and that's with windows and walls between Aofil and Undyne.

"Fine! Go fetch a bench then! Jeez!"

That quick? Who is she talking to?

Just outside the patio door stands Undyne with her hands on her hips looking towards the shed at the end of her back yard. She hears Aofil close the door, and turns her head around, "You look ridiculous!" she chuckles.

"You gave me these," Aofil reminds.

"They look great on me, of course, but on you?" Undyne stifles a chortle, "Wow!"

Aofil sighs, "Well, it's not like I'm gonna work out in front of a crowd or anything, and if you were to spread rumors around I would deny them."

"Ha!" Undyne laughs loudly, "No one would believe that Aofil of all people would dress up this ridiculous."

Aofil nods, "Exactly."

"And especially not from me, right?"

Aofil nods again, "Double exactly."

Undyne's lips curl into a menacing grin, "But what about?"

"FOUND ONE, UNDYNE!"

Undyne throws a thumb over her shoulder, "Him?"