Chapter Text
"Akemi-chan!" exclaimed the cat-eared girl, tears streaking down her face. "I am so sorry, I never meant to drag you into all of this! I kissed you because I love you! If I had known that true love didn't negate the mind-control powers, then--"
"It's okay, Mew Mew," breathed Akemi, who was lying on the floor bruised and bloodied after having suffered a beatdown from the villain. "I love you too. And I would gladly endure mind control if it meant I got to be around you."
Mettaton sipped at his tea indifferently. Barf. He had seen this episode of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie at least... what? It had to be nearing twenty times now, right? He had reluctantly agreed to watch it with Alphys so he could better understand why his cousin had chosen a life-size Mew Mew doll as the host for her soul. But seriously, why did his dear doctor friend and his beloved cousin have to indulge in such terrible anime?
He would never tell a soul in public, but since the monsters were released from the Underground, he had managed to find some really good anime at Alphys' behest (thank Crunchyroll for that). And somehow, he became a bit of a... fan... of anime? No, "fan" was too strong a word. More like enjoyer. Yeah, that was a more fitting word. As much as he liked dark classics like Death Note and Black Butler, he tended to gravitate toward the campier animes, like JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. No surprise at all, considering how campy and theatrical he himself was. But this... this was trash in every sense of the word. The romance, as much as he adored LGBT themes, felt too forced and stilted. The villain was completely one-dimensional, apparently having no motive than wanting to rid the world of love. And the animation mistakes... god! You could make a full season of side-episodes from all the animation mistakes alone! He could forgive Alphys' sight problems for her not noticing them, but him having enhanced robotic eyes, they were all too obvious to him; he could swear he saw Mew Mew's dress turn orange instead of pink for a split-second at one point. And to make matters worse, this was an English dub. Mettaton wasn't too deep in the anime fandom, but after exposing himself to it, he found himself agreeing with the popular opinion that watching anime in Japanese with English subtitles was vastly superior to watching the English dub. Needless to say, he trusted Alphys' judgment on a lot of things, but anime was most certainly not one of them.
He sighed. It would be cruel of him to walk out on it now; after all, he did make a promise to his cousin that he would watch.
And this time... he'd keep that promise.
He gulped. Curse that little intrusive thought. He'd patched things up with Napstablook. They forgave him. Granted, they did mutually agree to spend some time apart for a bit to give that wound a little time to heal. It was already a stab in the gut when Mettaton returned to Napstablook after having left them behind to pursue stardom, so he could only imagine how it would have been if he tried to stay in their life every waking moment following that. But still, he felt like his cousin's forgiveness was completely unearned. Like he had done nothing to deserve it. What kind of person leaves their family without saying a word?
This person, evidently, he ruefully thought to himself. That's who.
"Mettaton?"
Mettaton blinked. "Huh?"
Alphys was staring at him expectantly. "The anime? Hello?" she said. "You said you'd watch it with us. You've been staring out into space. I had to press the pause button so I could wait for you to come back to reality."
Undyne sat right beside her, expression contorted into one of sheer annoyance, sharp yellowed teeth on full display and visible pupil diminished to a black speck. "Ya wanna watch or not, metal punk?" she near-yelled.
Oh. Right. The trash anime. He had been lost in thought so long he hadn't even realized Alphys had paused it.
"Are you okay?" Alphys asked. "You look a little distressed."
"Just press play," he sighed.
Later that day, Mettaton rummaged around in his dresser for his diary. Since monsters had gone free from the Underground, he learned that despite being as filthy rich as he was, he would eventually land himself in poverty from his frivolous spending habits. So he reluctantly decided to do the "normal thing" and record all his entries in a single diary.
The normal thing. Ha. What a concept. Normally he would pride himself on being ANYTHING but normal.
He opened the jeweled lock on the book and opened it to the middle, pausing to sniff the pages. Mmm. That new book scent. Never gets old. Even a performer like him with such a hectic lifestyle could just stop and enjoy the little things for once.
That, unsurprisingly, was one of the many things that some close to him found it hard to believe. And truthfully, sometimes he did too.
He uncapped his glittery gel pen and began to write.
My dear, sweet diary,
Today I watched Mew Mew Kissy Cutie for the umpteenth time with Dr. Alphys and her fishy girlfriend, and after all this time I still fail to see why exactly she loves this anime. I mean, there was a reason it was thrown in the Waterfall garbage dump. You can't even find it on Crunchyroll, that's how bad it is! Now, I could have easily said no to the anime-viewing, but the truth is, I wasn't watching it for Alphys. My cousin Mews chose a life-size doll for her host body and I want to respect her and her decision.
After all, I can't honestly say becoming a robot was my first choice for corporeality, but it ended up being better than I expected, especially since my form is just so stunningly beautiful.
And if Mews feels the same about her new form, then I'll respect her and be with her every step of the way. And that's a promise I'm keeping.
Harsh memories rendering him unable to write any more, Mettaton closed his diary and locked it shut before hiding it in his dresser again. He recapped his pen and placed it back in its pencil cup before standing up and admiring his reflection in the mirror.
God, he was just so beautiful, wasn't he? This must be how Mews felt when she first acquired her body. And if Napstablook ever decided to become corporeal, he hoped they would feel the same way.
That brief feeling of confidence disappeared as soon as he stepped away from the mirror and sat down on the ground. He eventually switched to a supine position, allowing the world around him to be washed over by darkness and stars as he sifted through the conflicted thoughts in his head.
Lying on the floor feeling like garbage was a family tradition, after all.