Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chara had no problem with Mettaton.

Really, they didn't. They may have disagreed with his branding problems, and almost certainly could market his image better than he did, never mind how mildly irritating he was-

But, really, they had no problem with him. His borderline monopoly over half of Monsterkind? Decidedly not their business. They were content to stay in their own lane, separate from whatever Mettaton was doing.

Unfortunately for this contentment, they were dating Frisk. That meant they had to play the part of being a good partner. Planning an actual date? That absolutely fell under the umbrella, and dammit if Chara wasn't going to do it right. Sure, it wouldn't come even close to repaying them for giving Chara another chance at life, but it was a start.

They were slouched over a desk in their room, taking notes on possibly acceptable locations. Nothing too far away, preferrably monster-owned - they were *trying( to fight their misanthropy, but they'd rather not do that while on a date - maybe somewhat higher-end?

Somehow, those three things narrowed the options down to Mettaton's restaurant. And nothing else.

"I hate this," Chara said aloud, because what kind of restaurant needed you to reserve a spot just to make a reservation? "I don't get him. How is this profitable? Are monsters truly that desperate?"

Their inane ramblings about Mettaton's brand were silenced when a yellow flower on the windowsill blinked awake, already scowling at them. Drat, they had woken him up, hadn't they... Ah, well, they could use a second set of eyes.

"You were worrying about this yesterday, too. Are you that absorbed in-" Flowey paused, eyes narrowing, "...Don't answer that, of course you are, you're you."

"I've made some progress," Chara responded, turning in their chair to face him, "Unfortunately, Mettaton's continued dominance on monster entertainment has been a persistent thorn in my side."

This got a genuine cackle out of Flowey.

"You're looking at Mettaton's restaurant? Why?" Flowey asked, and it was a completely valid question that Chara didn't have an answer to.

"Seems like a good date spot. I don't know, I'm just... trying to get this right. For Frisk's sake. I need to take them on at least one normal date, or-"

"You could get Grillby's delivered and they'd still kiss you afterwards!"

Chara paused, their mind briefly hanging on exactly that. Flowey had a point. They, by all accounts, did not have to be going through all this effort. Frisk had told them once that their ideal date would be "something like throwing pinecones at oncoming traffic", which might have been a joke, but would easily still be in character.

(They dutifully ignored the second part. They couldn't think about kissing Frisk right now, there was work to be done, dammit!)

"Besides," Flowey continued, "You know Mettaton. Why not stop being an idiot and just ask him outright?"

Chara just sighed in response.

"I'd really rather not talk to him."

That would be selling out. And Chara was not a sellout, dammit!

"Dr. Alphys. Forgive me for my intrusion, but I was wondering if you knew of Mettaton's whereabouts."

Chara couldn't believe they were talked into this. They supposed desperate times necessitated desperate measures, and it would almost certainly be better for them in the long run, but... at the same time, Mettaton.

They were sitting on a table in Alphys' living room, really hoping that she'd be the first person they saw instead of Undyne, and it seemed like fortune favoured them for once. This would have been awkward to explain otherwise.

(They would've had to change their opening statement, at least.)

"Gah- Chara! You- Sorry, I-I didn't expect to see you here. Did Undyne let you in?" Alphys asked, recoiling at the sight of a child staring at her with a neutral smile the moment she entered her own house, for some reason.

"Something like that," Chara lied.

They went quiet for a long moment before they begrudgingly admitted; "I panicked, and this seemed like the best first place to look. Sorry."

Alphys, to her credit, recovered quickly enough. She only seemed to be judging Chara a little bit. Frankly less than they had initially expected, which they would take as a win!

"He... He should be stopping by at some point today, if you don't mind waiting..?" she said, crossing the length of the room to put away a backpack of some sort. Chara squinted to see the finer details.

Trashy anime pins. They respected it (even if Alphys' taste in anime was horrible, MMKC2 was far better than the original).

"That works. Thank you."

...

It was sort of boring. Chara and Alphys seemed to settle into a mutual agreement of not directly acknowledging each other; they were good enough friends, and they had her to owe for their revival, but apparently that gratitude didn't extend to showing up uninvited. You think you know someone until you break into their home and they aren't immediately okay with it.

They almost wanted to talk to Mettaton now. At least that wouldn't be awkward.

"H-Have you eaten anything yet? We have leftovers in the fridge, if..." Alphys eventually spoke up. Well, it was polite to ask, Chara supposed.

"That... would be nice, yes. Thank you."

They returned to silence until Alphys handed Chara a bowl of reheated noodles, and they raised an eyebrow at the contents.

"I expected instant ramen," they said with an amused smile, "What's the story?"

"Ah- Well, since Undyne and I moved in together, she's been, er, talking a lot about getting me to be... You know, not staying in bed all the time. Problem is..." Alphys trailed off, laughing to herself.

"She's Undyne," Chara finished, taking a sip from the bowl. Hm. Surprisingly decent.

"She's Undyne, yes. One of us had to learn to cook at least a little, since I'd rather not, you know... See the life I built go up in flames. Literally this time. Metaphorically again too, I guess, but- you know how it is."

"God, tell me about it. I'm still waiting for everything to collapse in on itself like some crazy black hole."

"Right?"

Eating ramen and commiserating over each other's respective mental strife was a surprisingly effective way to pass time. It had the added benefit of being notably less awkward, as well. Was this what solidarity felt like? Alphys understood part of what was in their head and provided... shockingly reasonable advice accordingly.

They supposed it wouldn't hurt to ask, then.

"I'm really wasting time here, actually. Not that I'm on a limit or anything, but-" Chara shook their head, sighing. "I came here because I needed to make a reservation at Mettaton's restaurant. I didn't intend to get this invested in idle conversation- not that it hasn't been appreciated-"

They paused, before finally managing to get the words out.

"I think I'm... actually nervous? And I don't know why? Frisk'll probably be completely fine with the idea, but I can't know that for sure. Any..." Another sigh, "Any advice on the whole dating thing?"

"Probably... nothing traditional, no. I guess you were there f-for me and Undyne's first date, huh?" Alphys responded, her voice slow and measured, "You know how that went. I can't believe we convinced Frisk to- to play the role of third wheel. I hope they d-didn't mind too much."

"They were completely fine with it," Chara said, and it was true; Frisk didn't give a damn about having to be there, it was almost admirable. "But if you hadn't bought them dinner, they probably would've had a lot more complaints,"

"...Anyways, point is..." Alphys continued, slowly getting more confident as she kept speaking, "Y-You can get your big reservation, or whatever, but it's fine if the date isn't perfect. You c-can be awkward. Or... completely mess it up, hah... Sometimes that sort of thing is what people like in you. A-And! It's not like it's a complete stranger! You know Frisk, so just... get out there! 'Knock their socks off', or whatever..!"

It was solid advice, really. Chara may be overthinking it a little bit. They don't need to be perfect, they've just gotta... Not mess up too horribly. Still terrifying, but... manageable.

"I will... keep that in mind. Thanks," they replied, smiling slightly.

"It's nothing, really. But, Chara?"

"Hm?"

"Knock next time. You didn't need to break into my house."

Chara laughed, and for once it was genuinely funny.

Alphys and Chara kept talking about whatever came up (a lengthy argument about the ending of a particular visual novel came to mind. It wasn't that existentially horrific. Alphys was wrong.) until the door swung open and Mettaton welcomed himself inside. He had been reaping the benefits of that EX form, evidently. At least someone here was happy.

"Alphys, darling! I needed to drop off some of that merchandise- would take too much space in my house, you know how it is," he began, dropping a cardboard box that really didn't seem like too much space whatsoever onto the table in front of the two of them, "So it's yours now!"

"...Thanks, Mettaton," Alphys replied, already moving to rummage through the box, "A-Actually, do you have a minute? Chara wanted to, uh... talk to you."

Oh god. Of course she wouldn't let them cop out. They shouldn't have brought up the date to begin with.

"I suppose I could make time," Mettaton nodded, already sitting down next to Chara, "So, your majesty, why do you need my help specifically?"

Yup. This is where they died. Again.

"I have a date. Or- I will have a date," Chara said, displeasure hopefully clear in their voice, "And I was wondering if I could get a spot at your restaurant."

Mettaton looked like they just gave him a million dollars. On top of the millions he no doubt already had.

"Well, I can't promise anything, but maybe I could find room for you, darling..." Mettaton leaned onto his hand conspiratorially. Oh no. "If you tell me who the lucky person is."

Chara didn't want to have to spread gossip with a robot just to get a reservation. They should've just dealt with the hellish waiting process. They shouldn't have gotten impatient.

...Actually, this could be good for them. Mettaton liked Frisk, didn't he? But did he like them enough to do Chara a favour for their sake? Maybe it wasn't worth it, then, they-

"It's Frisk," Alphys interjected, clearly smug, before Chara could so much as decide how badly they wanted to die, "They have a date w-with Frisk."

"Alphys, I trusted you," they whispered in response, as Mettaton clapped his hands together.

"Oh, no. I can't give you a reservation, darling," he said, clearly contradicting the advice Alphys had just given them, "You need better than that to impress them. Go get Frisk and get to the restaurant at five. I'll have everything sorted out."

"Weren't you busy?" Chara asked.

"For this? I'm clearing my schedule. Consider it us getting even."

Of course. Of course he would.

Well, they supposed they would have to get to work, then. They bid Alphys and Mettaton a farewell before even getting to ask what they were getting even with Mettaton for, and began the walk across the town to talk to Frisk.

Begrudgingly.

"So, just so you know, we have a date- and before you ask, Mettaton," Chara hurriedly explained, leaning against the front door of the Skeleton Residence. (They refused to call it the Bone House. No amount of prodding from Sans or Frisk would convince them.) "It's at five. He wouldn't take no for an answer. I'm sorry."

Thankfully, Frisk seemed to understand that they very much did not have a say in Mettaton's plan. Additionally, they seemed far more amused about it than Chara was.

"You didn't need to go through the trouble, Chara," they replied, "I mean, I guess I can be dragged away for your sake. But you should've told me first!"

"I didn't know we had a date today until fifteen minutes ago. Mettaton decided that too. I was trying to plan something more secretive, but now I only have two hours. So I figured that honesty would be a better approach this time."

"Coming from you?" Frisk teased, reaching down to flick Chara's forehead. (When did they get taller than them?) "Who're you, and what'd you do with my partner?"

Chara scoffed. God forbid they try to be polite. Even if it was completely charming and hopelessly endearing and any of those other sappy adjectives that they could choose to dub this. They refused to be made a fool of.

...Even if they had spent the better half of today being made a fool out of.

Frisk didn't need to know that, though. And yet, they probably already did.

"I was replaced by a demon, yes. This is me trying to kidnap and kill you, because we both know that would work," Chara said dryly, hand coming up to idly fidget with the locket around their neck, "Is it working?"

"Mm. Maybe!" Frisk shrugged, "Do you... have any other details, other than Mettaton and five o'clock?"

"No. Why would I. Just... I dunno, look nice-" Chara cut themselves off, raising their free hand to explain, "Not that you don't already, but you know Mettaton has high standards like that, and I really don't want to derail anything by-"

"Chara! Chara, it's fine," Frisk laughed as they pat Chara's shoulder in an effort to shut them up, "I get what you mean. I'll try. No promises."

"Don't think about it too hard. If anyone's getting aggressively ribbed later, it'll be me. Mettaton wouldn't cause you any trouble."

"He doesn't hate you, you know."

"He inconveniences me at every turn."

"That's how he is."

Chara sighed. Yes, realistically Frisk was right, and their hostility had been mostly unfounded based on a petty dislike that had started with a "WOULD YOU SMOOCH A GHOST?" joke. No, they weren't going to let it go, because dammit hating Mettaton was one of their joys in life. He didn't even care enough to take a few steps back sometimes, like Papyrus could.

Or maybe he did, and they never saw it. That'd require spending more time with him.

"Possibly. I will at least do you the favour of holding my tongue," they finally relented.

"Is that the best I'm getting?" Frisk asked, still clearly amused by Chara's annoyance.

"Yes. And I'm willing to rescind that at any time."

"Hah! Good enough, I guess. See you later, then?"

Chara nodded. They didn't particularly want this conversation to end; bantering with Frisk was always comfortable. But they had work to do. They had to make themselves look presentable, at least.

"See you at five, yes."

Stupidly, they took Frisk's hand in theirs and pressed their lips to the back of it in the world's worst approximation of a kiss, before scampering off the way they came before they could get a response.

Chara was at least self-aware enough to note that they weren't an expert at the whole "dating" thing. And now they had about two hours to figure it out.

Great.

Alphys' statement of "you're allowed to be awkward" suddenly seemed far, far scarier.

Later that afternoon, Chara took off their sweater, leaving on the white dress shirt underneath, and ran a comb through their hair for maybe five minutes. That was all the work they bothered to do before deeming themselves passable for the evening.

(That was a lie. They spent embarassingly long trying to get their hair to stay flat. They couldn't leave looking like a mess.)

Breaking away from Asgore was tough. They could tell he had all but prepared a long speech about how they were growing up.

One that they appreciated, yes, but really didn't have the time for.

With one last hug that forced them to spend another minute fixing their hair, they set off towards Mettaton's restaurant.

The walk wasn't... unpleasant. The air was colder than Chara would like, sure, but the New New Home district of Ebott stayed remarkably warm. They'd had it explained to them once- something involving magical heating of the roads that was only occasionally a fire hazard.

"It didn't combat the windchill, but it is cozy," they mused aloud, a habit that they still weren't able to kick, "So maybe that's enough."

"Enough for who?" someone asked, and Chara nearly jumped out of their skin before turning around to meet-

"Ah. Greetings, Frisk," they answered in a voice that did not mask their shock, "Never do that again."

They looked the exact same as always, save for the blue hoodie they were wearing and the messenger bag slung over their arm. Hm.

"Sorry, sorry!" Frisk replied, falling into step next to them, "You were stuck in your head, and I couldn't resist the urge to mess with you!"

"You- Why are you like this?"

Frisk laughed, but didn't answer. The silence that followed made Chara worry, just for a moment, that they had somehow ruined this interaction.

But Frisk grabbed onto their arm, all but dragging Chara into a faster walking speed, and they decided that they were probably okay. For now, at least. They were sure they could still mess it up somehow, and if they didn't Mettaton almost certainly would. So much could go wrong, and...

No. That was for their future self to worry about. They were going to focus on something less anxiety-inducing, like how warm Frisk's hand felt on their arm, or the way that they grinned at Chara as they stumbled to keep pace, or how they had clearly just stolen one of Sans' hoodies and tried to call it a "nice outfit".

They looked great, and that kind of pissed Chara off. Curse their beating heart.

"So. What's the story with the outfit?" they eventually asked, "You're not wearing that to a high end establishment, are you?"

"I'm sure Mettaton would forgive me," Frisk answered, tone light and amused, before clarifying with a: "Nah, I'll be changing into something nicer when we get there."

"...Why?"

"Mm. Would you believe me if I said it was because I wanted to surprise you?"

Chara... probably would, actually. It would be in line with Frisk's behaviour, always trying to keep them on their toes for no real reason, always leaving them guessing over the most mundane things.

Not that they minded, of course. They enjoyed cracking their partner's habits.

...Yet, at the same time, it would be nice if they could both let their guards down even a modicum once they got to the resort. They would just have to wait and see, they supposed.

"If you insist," they finally responded.

It took a while for the two of them to get situated once they entered the new resort. Mettaton was there, apparently to personally show his favourite human to the best part of the restaurant in a flurry of movement, loud and bombastic and everything Chara really kind of hated. On top of that, he asked far too many questions that thankfully Frisk was able to brush off better than they would.

Point being, once they were seated at the table- Frisk having quickly left to change outfits- they were almost ready to call it a night. They had spoken to far too many people today and the creeping exhaustion had begun accordingly.

They sighed. Nothing to be done about it now.

The view was nice, at least. Mettaton had shown them to a fairly secluded table next to a window, and they could see the sun setting over most the city. That was probably why it was the best part of the restaurant, really.

Swirling their drink (an odorless clear liquid known by most common folk as "water") in one hand, Chara sat and waited for Frisk to return, however long that would ta-

They let out a rather indignant yell as Frisk snuck up on them and rest their head atop of theirs.

"Stop scaring me, for the love of-" Chara protested, cutting themselves off as they took in the sight before them. Frisk had put on a dark grey vest over a white dress shirt (similar to the one Chara was wearing- had they been robbing them of their clothes this whole time?), with a skirt of a similar colour.

Holy shit.

"Yeah- so the real reason I didn't have this on is that walking in skirts kind of sucks," Frisk explained, already sitting down opposite Chara, "But this was the nicest thing I owned, so... you're gonna have to deal with it!"

"That's-" Chara paused, trying to force their brain out of its apparent stupor and only mostly failing, "You look... nice."

They really should've come up with a better compliment, they immediately realised. They went back to staring out of the window, their face feeling several degrees warmer than it did a few seconds ago.

And, like... yeah. It was probably fine. They had given any number of awkward compliments, and Frisk never seemed to care, but what if this time was somehow different, or-

"You-" Frisk said through laughter, resting their head on their elbow and cutting off Chara's thoughts entirely, "-are still the biggest dork I've ever met."

And they gave Chara that stupidly genuine smile that they almost never gave anyone, and they had to sip at their glass of water to stop themselves from saying anything else stupid - "hey I know this is like our first date but do you want to get married or something" came to mind, but they quickly forced that one down.

...Unfortunately, it did not stop them from giving Frisk a stupidly adoring smile in return.

They settled into more casual conversation afterwards, a lengthy back-and-forth of light jabs or detailing some stupid thing Flowey or Sans had done. Chara found themselves enjoying it far more than their anxiety had convinced them they would, frankly. They were laughing, responding to witty banter like they hadn't been lost in panic five minutes prior.

Their part of the restaurant stayed almost completely empty, even at the point of their date when they were almost ready to leave and Frisk had left to change back into something more casual. Almost to the point where Chara had become concerned; whatever Mettaton was doing seemed astonishingly normal, beyond him stopping by a few minutes ago to assure them that everything was on the house, just this once.

It was going well. Everything was normal.

Too normal.

(If they pretended to ignore the Mettaton-shaped everything. Seriously, did he think they'd forget where they were? People paid money for this?

...They were planning to spend money for this?)

"For the record," Chara said agitatedly almost the second Frisk came back, "I still don't like him. Mettaton, I mean. We're doing something less high-brow next time."

"Ohoho, next time?" Frisk replied, nudging their side with an amused lilt in their voice that Chara recognized all too well, "Are you already planning to take me out again? What if I hated this?"

"Well, I mean- I like to be prepared for anything," and then, because they had to make sure, "You... didn't hate this, though, right..?"

Frisk laughed, taking their hand and dragging them towards the exit of the resort.

"No, I guess I didn't."

It was already dark when Chara and Frisk made their way through the city streets back towards the Skeleton Residence, trademark.

No, they didn't have to walk their partner home. But dammit, if chivalry taught them anything, it was to be somewhat courteous.

(...They knew absolutely nothing else about chivalry. They were worried they'd hate the very concept if they looked any further into it.)

At the very least, judging by how Frisk idly swung their joined hands as they walked, they didn't mind Chara's presence. They would take that as a sign that they weren't unwelcome.

...

Actually? They clearly weren't unwelcome. Chara could at least try to make themselves believe that. They felt awkward a lot tonight, sure, but Frisk always seemingly laughed it off like it was no big deal, just calling them a dork or something similar. Maybe Alphys had been right about that. It wasn't the end of the world if they weren't perfect.

Just this once, at least. They weren't going to overcome all of their inner demons from one good date. Even if that might've been nice.

"Well, this is my stop," Frisk spoke up suddenly, poking Chara to jostle them to attention, "Guess you should get going, huh?"

"I suppose so. I'd rather not deal with the nightlife," Chara answered.

"It's... late evening."

"Exactly."

Frisk paused for a moment. They let go of Chara's hand in favour of grabbing onto their shoulder, turning them to face them more properly- and wow, that really put into perspective how close they were.

"I... enjoyed this. Thanks for putting in the effort," Frisk gave them that same stupid smile, and Chara's sense of reason slipped for just a moment.

Before their looming sense of dread could stop them, Chara hooked one of their hands in Frisk's hood and pulled them down slightly, meeting them halfway in what they assumed a kiss was supposed to be like.

It was... comforting, almost. Having Frisk close to them like this, they meant. It was enough for them to relax against them, simply taking a moment to feel, even if it wasn't perfect by any means; Chara was fairly certain that they had slammed their heads together on accident. But it was still... nice.

...And then their sense of logic kicked in, and they pulled away faster than the speed of goddamn light, because they shouldn't have done that- things were going well, they didn't have to blow it like that, even if they really wanted to-

"Chara. Breathe. You're fine," Frisk said with a smile, and ah, Chara had been rambling out loud, hadn't they, "Honestly, if you weren't going to, I would've."

"Still, I-" they cut themselves off with a shake of their head, because maybe that was at face value, "Alright. Thank you, partner. Have an enjoyable rest of your night."

Frisk nodded and, to Chara's great surprise, leaned down to peck their lips again.

"See you tomorrow," they said, turning to enter the Skeleton Residence and leaving Chara standing there like a fool with their hand pressed to their mouth.

...

"See you tomorrow," Chara finally replied, to no one in particular.