Savrou IC Inbox

[pleasereset]

"Hello, this is Asriel! Leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can!"

IC Inbox for texting, video, voice, and action!

Comments

[mttbrandlegs]

Of course he wasn't sorry for it, none of them will ever be--

[Mettaton pauses, because he can tell that Asriel is trying to heal him, and...well, there's very little to heal. Everything's external damage that'll take more than magic to fix. Still, it does help in a small way.

But Mettaton won't let the boy use his magic in vain. He too begins to try and heal Asriel, and whether it's age, determination to do so, experience, or something else, his magic is stronger. He makes it stronger.]

You were hurt worse. Please, don't expend your energy on my account, sweetheart. I'll be alright. You need to focus on yourself.

And you know what? I know that you are sorry, Asriel. That means you have a heart and SOUL in you. With good. Bad people like the ones who owned us are incapable of feeling. I feel sorry for them.

[A little white lie, but it's for the best that he keep his murderous thoughts to himself. He's done enough harm...]

cw gore

[pleasereset]

[He wishes that were easier to believe. Honestly, he's not sorry that his owner died. Just... he can't get that image out of his head anymore. The way his owner's lifeless eyes stared right through him, even though his head was dangling by just a few strings. His hands sliced off and laying beside him. It wasn't the kind of satisfaction he wanted.

It's not like he's never killed anyone before. This... shouldn't bother him as much as it does. Why does it bother him as much as it does? It's over, isn't it?

(It didn't feel like it was over. It didn't erase muzzles, collars, and dark cells. It never would.)

Asriel stops trying to use healing magic when Mettaton tells him to, and the healing he receives in return helps soothe some of his pain. Warm healing magic to help close painful, open wounds.]

... I wanted him to regret it.

[But he didn't. He never would now. Asriel would never really stop being an "escaped slave".]

I was so scared though... I really thought I was going to lose all of you.

[mttbrandlegs]

[Mettaton's grip around Asriel tightens. He's struggling himself...it's hard to do this when he's still utterly shaken from his own experiences. It's not as if he wanted to be captured and forced to kill again.

Honestly...he wanted someone to tell him it was alright even if it wasn't. To hold him while he fell apart and began to cry about his situation and scream how unfair it was.

But he can't. He's the adult. He can't be weak. He can't give in.

And the more that he thinks that, the number he starts to feel. The more that feeling begins to take over, the less effective his magic becomes, so he just cuts it off after a few seconds.

He can't let Asriel see him hurt.]

I'm sorry. I'm sorry...I shouldn't have done this. I should have forced Chara away from this but I didn't push hard enough.

[He'd tried to push them before. Even when he didn't, they shredded him to bits. He was tired of it, so the effort he expended to push this idea from them was minimal. It's his fault.

His fault.

Mettaton can't stop himself from shaking.]

[pleasereset]

[As weak and hurt as he is, he still notices when the arms holding him tight start trembling.

Asriel knew it was impossible for them to just brush this off and ignore this, not when it's defined their lives. And Mettaton apologizes and Asriel just, reaches out bandaged-covered arms to hug him too.]

's not your fault. Not you or Chara's. I'm just... I'm so glad we got to come home.

It's not gonna happen anymore, Mettaton. I'm not gonna let anyone try to take you away again.

I promise.

[mttbrandlegs]

[Mettaton smiles softly.

His arms cease to tremble, not because he feels assuaged by what Asriel says, but because he has to stop. No more weakness. No more pity from this poor child.

Be a man for once in your life, you useless robot.]

Thank you. I...truly appreciate you.

[True.]

I believe you.

[False.]

I know you won't let it happen anymore.

[False.]

5/24

[mttbrandlegs]

Asriel

[Tell me you're here.

Speak.

Say something.

Help me. God, please help me.]

what is today?

[pleasereset]

[Asriel feels so helpless. They'd all be so much happier, so much happier if he just never came back after turning to dust in a sad, lonely garden.

Mettaton's words barely reach him, but...]

I love you, Mettaton.

[Because even if he'll never be strong enough to protect him, he at least as to know.]

[pleasereset]

[Asriel's reply is thankfully quick. He's got plenty of time to text while he's healing.]

it's the 24th

why? is something going on?

[mttbrandlegs]

no

i just wanted to know.

[He just wanted to see the message go through.]

[mttbrandlegs]

I love you too, Asriel.

[That...was the god-honest truth. He loves this small goat like they're family. At this point, they are family, are't they?]

But...

[He reluctantly parts from the young boss monster.]

I think you might feel better if you're home. Your siblings must be concerned...I should not have spurred you to walk over here.

[pleasereset]

...

Can I sleep here for a little bit?

[His injuries may not be as bad now, but he's exhausted himself from being on that planet.

And... maybe he wants a little more reassurance that his family isn't going to vanish.]

[mttbrandlegs]

[Mettaton hesitates. It's a long, bated moment where he considers the question posed...but that would never have affected the answer. Never.]

Of course you can. Let me find you some proper bed things, shall I?

[And he smiles. He smiles as if everything is fine, even if it's not. This is just another sleepover, right?]

[pleasereset]

[Yeah that sounds suspicious.]

want me to come over? i don't look as scary this time

[He's still hurt but he's pretty sure he can make the trip without almost passing out.]

[mttbrandlegs]

you shouldn't

[Suspicious? What??]

[pleasereset]

[Asriel forces a weak smile back and nods, but... it really doesn't feel right, does it?

His fault. He can't ever forget. He made his family suffer, and he has to do whatever he needs to do to fix it.

He wishes he knew how to fix it.

By the time Mettaton goes looking for bedding and comes back, Asriel's already drifted off into a dreamless sleep on his couch.]

[pleasereset]

why shouldn't i

mettaton what's going on

and this is where shit gets weird.

[mttbrandlegs]

write a message on the wall to your friend, and it is within sight of them when they wake up. they'll see it.

but they won't.

because they're never coming back.

interesting story, isn't it?

you could write anything on that wall.

hoo boy

[pleasereset]

[... Yeah okay, Asriel's getting up. It's kind of a struggle, but he's putting on something that isn't pajamas.]

Who left?

[mttbrandlegs]

not you.

i am very glad it wasn't you. imagine the things i would say if you left Asriel. just imagine.

[There's something distant...and absent about the way Mettaton's speaking. It's some kind of shallow acceptance. But it conveys over text very poorly.]

[pleasereset]

keep talking to me mettaton, ok?

[Asriel is stumbling out the door, and though he's still really worn down, it's a little easier to make the journey to Mettaton's house this time. He doesn't knock when he reaches the door, he just opens it and walks inside.]

Mettaton, are you in here?

[mttbrandlegs]

[Mettaton doesn't keep talking. He doesn't want to talk anymore, and when Asriel enters his home unbidden, he doesn't even move to rise from his couch, where he is slumped with one leg drawn up, leveling his TAB upwards so that he could reach the holographic keyboard. The last message he had partially written is displayed in reverse, but it's easy enough to read once Asriel happens upon him.]

why are you doing this?

[He glances at Asriel with a mild smile on his face.]

I told you that you shouldn't.

[He sounds...disconnected. Not electronically, which surely he was. No.

He personally doesn't sound as if everything's working as intended...in his head.]

[pleasereset]

[Seeing Mettaton like this is... eerie. He didn't just sound disconnected, he sounded almost... brainwashed or something weird like that. Asriel approaches him carefully.]

Mettaton, what's wrong? Please tell me.

[mttbrandlegs]

I wasn't here.

I don't even know when he left, you know that? Because I wasn't here. I was in the Runoff and I should have been here but instead I got to hurt so many people. I nearly killed you, and that is why all of this is happening.

[Mettaton leans his head on his raised knee, wrapping one arm around it while the other reaches up to toy with the sharp, twisted edges of the gash on his neck. It doesn't hurt. Even if it did, the pain of everything else was much worse.

He felt sick, but that was well-deserved as well.]

I wonder what someone would see if they performed a *CHECK on me. How horrifying! What a terrible monster!!

[pleasereset]

Mettaton, you don't deserve to lose someone just because you went to the Outpost. You couldn't have known...

[Asriel's hesitant, but he climbs up where Mettaton is seated. There's nothing he can say to help him. God, what could he even say? Inconvenient timing or not, it would be easy to interpret losing someone as some kind of punishment for being on the Outpost.

He reaches up a hand, carefully, to place on top of Mettaton's. Hoping it'll get him to stop picking at his neck.]

[mttbrandlegs]

[Mettaton gently pushes Asriel's hand away from his. It could be interpreted as him swatting Asriel away from him out of anger, but for the words that follow.]

It's sharp. Don't cut yourself. Please...

[For a moment, he sounds like himself. But then he switches back to that hollow tone. He's at least got the good conscience not to smile anymore.]

I got close enough to get hurt. I need to stop making that mistake...haha...hnnn...

[Mettaton averts his gaze, and that sick feeling welling within him threatens to overtake. He hates it. He's not human anymore...why does he feel this extremely human physical feeling which had been the most horrible part of his one-week experience?

...Maybe it's not human. Maybe it just felt human at the time.]

I'm tired, Asriel. I'm so tired.