[post deaging] what if your hinges all are rusting

[mettaton_rex]

Everything's back to normal.

The hallways are as run-down as ever, the decorations and the music all gone. Mettaton wanders through them, not clear on where he's headed, only knowing he can't bear to keep still. His mind catches up with him, if he tries.

He's himself again. Why doesn't he feel like it?

He made it back to his room last night, after coming to himself again where he'd been stargazing out in the gardens, and after the ensuing bout of hysterical cackling finally wore itself out. At least he's dressed now, ruffled shirt hiding the cracks in his core. More or less - it's buttoned up wrong, letting little glimpses of pink show through. His crown isn't on straight either (the new one, the diamond-studded circlet he found abandoned in a dusty bedroom, not the one he gave up for lost in the library months ago). He's aware of all this. He doesn't plan to fix it.

A door looks familiar. He opens it, and finds himself stepping into the ballroom. There it is, same as ever - grand and empty, tables piled high with confections. Mettaton pauses by one of them, looking up at the massive tiered cake in its centre. And then further up, to a dusty spiderweb hanging from a corner of the ceiling.

"Not so young and beautiful yourself, now, are you?" he hisses, to the room, to the whole awful castle, something hot and vicious boiling up inside him. He raises a leg, braces his foot against the edge of the table. "Nobody wants you any more, darling! Nobody wants to be here! Nobody cares!"

His voice rises to a shout as he kicks, hard, flipping the table over. Cakes and pastries smash against the floor, plates shattering. Mettaton strides into the wreckage, grinding his heel into anything he sees left intact. There's frosting all over his boots. It doesn't matter.

None of it matters now.

Comments

[mettaton_rex]

"What are you wearing?" Not that it's a bad look. He just never thought Papyrus had any interest in science, and it's the first thing his mind focuses on in his confusion.

Followed, belatedly, by "...and I wasn't talking to myself."

[einspine]

"Why, a lab coat and goggles, the essential equipment for any scientific mind!" Well, maybe. He likes to believe that wearing them increases intelligence and appeal by a significant degree, but this is Papyrus. His mind works in funny ways, even with his more educated background and years of scientific pursuit.

Still, his words give Pap a twinge of worry, and the bravado tempers within seconds. "...Well, if it wasn't about you, then who? And why?" It's not like him to be so upset, but there must be a good reason for it!

[mettaton_rex]

Papyrus is many things. Many great things. Loyal, enthusiastic, confident... Mettaton would not have added 'scientifically minded' to that list, though, and in a better mood he'd be asking all the obvious follow-up questions, but this is not that day.

He gives a short, bitter laugh at that question, but it's not quite as harsh as it might have been. Papyrus is one of the few people who could get him to answer with a minimum of hostility.

"Papyrus, darling. You haven't been here long, have you?" He's sure the answer's no. He'd have noticed. The Great Papyrus couldn't stay in the shadows for long.

[einspine]

"...Well, no. I actually just arrived not too long ago!" But despite the momentary pause, he says this with a smile. "And already, I've come to one conclusion... This place is weird!"

Very, very weird. But fascinating! And new. And exhilarating. Doppelgangers, parallel dimensions, so many unique quirks that make it ripe for scientific discovery.

And friend making, of course. Sharing his love of cooking, of puzzles, of... well. That's not important right now, is it?

Any bitterness in Mettaton's laugh must've flown over his head, though. While perceptive at times, he's certainly no Sans.

[mettaton_rex]

That's such a - well, such a Papyrus thing to say that it gets what's very nearly an actual smile out of him, despite everything. See, this is why Papyrus was his favourite. He's always so enthusiastic, so positive, seeing the best in everything - and it's all him. He never needed any... encouragement.

If only everyone was like that.

The almost-smile fades, and he sighs, heavily. "'Weird' is one way of putting it. We're pretty sure the castle has a mind of its own."

[einspine]

"That's what I've heard. It still seems strange, but I'll try to keep an open mind!" Though he pauses, stroking his bony chin. "...Actually, if the castle is alive, that raises some very important questions. Like whether or not it can eat! If it can, then I'll have to prepare something grand. Something enormous! Something... big enough to sustain a giant, living building.

Perhaps we can make it into a housewarming party. If we befriend the castle, think of all the good it could do!"