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sometime after the awful convos and them finding a place

[mttbrandlegs]

[There's a lot of work to be done in this little shack...but truthfully, Mettaton's happy for the distraction. After what had happened in that group dream, he needed space from humans again. This kind of lent a bit of a distraction.

He's in the middle of testing the resilience of the walls when he finally makes a sardonic little quip to the only other person around; Asriel.]

It's going to be such a joy once we fix this place up. People might actually want to visit.

[Just listen to that excitement. It's so real. Oh wait...]

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[Asriel has been oddly quiet lately. Maybe even a little moreso after their recent group dream storytelling session. Every time he tries to feel like his old self, be the monster he was before he was deemed an unforgivable murderer, he gets a quiet reminder that he's not allowed to start over. That his past will rise up, strike hard, and twist the knife deep in his chest when he least expects it.

And that reminder always seems to pop up whenever he sees Chara and Frisk now.

Asriel is trying to make some bedding for himself. His trench coat is currently acting as some kind of cushioning. He looks up at Mettaton, offering a sympathetic smile.

Yeah, this place does suck.]

... It doesn't even come with a bed.

I miss sleeping in a bed.

[mttbrandlegs]

Oh, don't worry. We'll find a proper bed eventually, the amenities can't really be that terrible!

[Why is he trying to be positive? He really has no idea, given the state of affairs.]

...I'm sorry though, darling. I wish it was different. But it seems that our hardships are not yet over.

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No it's... it'll be okay. I'm sure we'll be able to make a bed... and a roof...

[Yeah, he's not sure how positive he can be either. As rough as Nyoi-Cho was, he never had to worry about going without food or a place to sleep. Whatever he couldn't provide for himself, he could make it with magic.

He lets out a sigh. A bed is probably the least of their worries.]

... So, it seems like we can all see each other in dreams too, huh?

[mttbrandlegs]

It seems so. Dreams...are very strange to me.

[And by "strange," he means uncomfortable. It's basically just going unconscious and being summoned by a rabbit. Or...whatever animal the Storyteller wanted to be. To a guy who didn't sleep, it was extremely jarring, and not a process he wanted to repeat after bad experiences in Nyoi-Cho...]

I would prefer to remain out of anyone else's dreams. There's too much trouble.

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Me too. I've had enough of being stuck in dreams...

[It's not a Nightmare. But it's still uncomfortable, after everything that's happened to them.]

There's no need to dump us all together in one dream. If the Storyteller wants to hear about stories so much, they could just ask.

[mttbrandlegs]

Need or no need, I doubt we will have much of a choice. We are, after all, oft at the discretion of small animals, right?

[The Storyteller. Kyuubey. It's always someone.]

Still...I could have done without the input of...certain humans at the whole sharing.

[Mostly Chara. In fact, really only Chara.]

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Isn't that the way it always is?

[Asriel goes silent for a moment. He only caught Mettaton talking to Chara during their story, saw him asking a question and while Asriel couldn't hear what they said exactly, he remembers Mettaton looking angry.

He never did ask why. Figured it was personal.]

... You mean Chara.

...

Sorry, I mean... I shouldn't use that name.

[mttbrandlegs]

Oh, shouldn't you?

[The icy-cool edge to Mettaton's tone expresses a calm that honestly, he isn't really possessed of. But it makes him sound threatening all the same.

Not against Asriel of course, never Asriel.]

Do they not care for their own identity? How terrible for them.

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I'm not sure if it's not caring... they seem really determined to not let anyone know their or Frisk's real names.

[Should he be telling Mettaton all this? After all, if Chara was able to somehow figure out everything Asriel said to Frisk in the Ruins...

...

No. He doesn't care. Mettaton's his friend and he refuses to stay completely quiet and submissive to his sibling - no, some human - who wants him on a short leash.]

They threatened to tell Sans and Muffet about me... the me that was a flower... if I told anyone about who they really were.

[mttbrandlegs]

...I beg your pardon?

[Blackmail. Haha, humans really were all trash. Well, he'd known that Chara wasn't the perfect human, given the relationship they held with monsters prior to anything else that Mettaton had dealt with. It was in their nature to be difficult, he supposed.

But to blackmail their own sibling? That was truly a new low. Asriel was so attached to them, he always had been. How...how could they treat him that way?!

Because he's a monster, right? Monsters are not to be trusted. In the end, that's all it comes down to, right?

Mettaton doesn't want to believe that...he never wanted to believe it in Nyoi-Cho, but really, it's quite easy to blame someone who thinks and looks different, he supposes. So, naturally...he responds to this new information with anger.]

They don't deserve to hold anything over you, or me!! Just because they made foolish mistakes in their life, and just because they wish to protect a murderer doesn't mean we need to become collateral damage!

[Mettaton's lip curls back, his expression inconsolable]

I will not be manipulated!!

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... They replaced me with Frisk. They don't want anything to do with me anymore. They - they even knew about Flowey, they knew I'm a soulless murderer!

[He deserves it, doesn't he. He failed as a brother. Kept failing them, when they needed him most.]

It's not like I care, I don't care! [Says the 11-year-old who's having a fit. CLEARLY NOT CARING.] I don't care if they tell Sans, Muffet or - or the whole island!

[mttbrandlegs]

[It couldn't be anymore obvious to Mettaton that Asriel cared--a lot. And although part of him wants to tell Asriel he shouldn't be lying, that doing so is stupid in Mettaton's presence, he finds himself instead speaking with more...kindness. Sympathy.

Understanding.]

You aren't wrong if you do care. You're normal for caring, Asriel. And they should not be judging you for something that you are trying to leave behind.

[Leaving Flowey behind was an admirable goal. Mettaton still struggled to forgive Asriel for that, but he was just a kid. A scared kid who lost his ability to feel for so long that he'd do anything just to love.

He'd do anything to feel love, and to be "himself."

Yes, Mettaton understands.]

No one should bring up the past and hold it over you, use it as leverage to shut you up, even though that isn't you anymore. It's not. It's not you.

[It's not me.]

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I messed up so bad with them, Mettaton. They knew, they knew about Flowey, about all the awful things I said about them to Frisk...

[He sniffs, and he feels pathetic for it. But he's so tired of trying to trying to fix things, only to be too unforgivable to even try. He wipes his face, but fresh tears form when Mettaton tells him what he needs to hear.

It's not you anymore.]

I don't know what to do. Every time I try to make myself better, it gets messed up. And if everyone finds out it'll be like Nyoi-Cho, it- it'll be like the villagers all over again-!

[mttbrandlegs]

No it won't.

[Mettaton says it resolutely, moving away from the wall to approach Asriel, glancing at him with a hard expression. He's not mat at the kid. But he is trying to prove a point.]

I won't let anything get nearly as bad as it did in Nyoi-Cho. No one will ever treat us like that again, and if they do, I swear I'll make them regret it. Especially those that we know. Those we trust...

[Chara shouldn't have betrayed Asriel. Mettaton's not going to forget it, and he almost regrets that he didn't call them out during their last conversation now that he knows how they've treated their own brother...!!]

Asriel you...didn't mess this up. They are the ones who have ruined it...and to think that I thought things would be any different...hah.

Humans are not to be trusted.

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[Asriel wipes his eyes, but it just causes fresh tears to form when he looks up at Mettaton. He... he trusts Mettaton. Because who else can he trust in a place like this? Maybe if Pokey were here, he'd have some words to calm the both of them down. Ease some of their nerves.

But they really just have each other, don't they?]

Yeah...

... they can't be trusted.

[Asriel nods in agreement. He wanted to think it was different. There's nice humans here, but... there were nice humans in Nyoi-Cho too. And then they showed their true colors.]

What did Chara say to you, anyway?

[mttbrandlegs]

["What did Chara say to you?"

Mettaton's jaw sets, so taut that if he could feel the pressure, it'd be excruciating. Chara...didn't really say anything direct. They hadn't openly spoken about who he was before this point. But the fact that they knew who he was, and had deemed it amusing to tease him with the information was the most galling.

It had taken every bit of his strength not to strike them down. Dream or not, others had been there, and Mettaton did not appreciate being reminded of an existence he had left behind--not to abandon his cousin, but to abandon that which he didn't wish to be anymore.]

They knew about me. About who I used to be, and...they decided they would tell a story. No names were used. For all that is known, it was all fictional.

[But what the others thought was never important. What Chara new was important, and the fact that they could use that information against him made his circuits feel as if they were on the edge of shorting, as if his very own anger could cause him actual, physical pain.]

They have no right. Even less so if what you say is true, and that they would openly speak of your past if theirs is revealed!! That is not fair trade, it's extortion!!

[And if Chara thinks they can extort him...then they don't know how very little Mettaton has to lose at this point, or how very short a fuse he has. Children are no more likely to receive mercy than any other sinners. Not from him.]