Chapter Text
It was a Wednesday night around six or so, a slow evening for the local library where you work. Between six and nine in the evening were usually the slowest, probably because it was around dinner time, as well as the fact that no one in that part of the city really went to the library at eight p.m. on a Wednesday night. You sat at the checkout desk, that doubled as a help desk, glancing around the room to make sure everything was alright. And it was. A few patrons were scattered about, monsters and humans alike, reading books, and browsing on the few computers. Even a couple monster and human children were playing in the small kid’s area. You smiled softly to yourself, thinking about how much has changed since the barrier was severed a short few years ago. Monsters had made their way, slowly into the overground and you couldn’t be happier about how smooth the transition was. Well, how smooth it was for your city anyway.
The library was a fair size, consisting of what was basically one big room, but it had several different areas, separated only by waist high room dividers. You stood up from the desk and pulled out a bell from one of the desk’s drawers, placing it on the desk with a small sign that read ‘Ring bell for help’. Since the library was just one big room, the bell could be heard from anywhere. You made sure that all of today’s returns were on a small cart off to the side, then proceeded to make your way to the kids area to put the few books back in their rightful place. As you placed one back in its spot, you felt a tug at the bottom of your shirt.
A small bunny monster handed you a piece of paper. “Can you put this on the wall for me?” they asked.
You looked down at the paper, on it, was a scribbly drawing of the bunny monster, holding hands with their human friend. You glanced up from the paper to see the bunny child hugging their human friend, with their ears.
“We’re gonna be best friends forever.” The human child giggled quietly, nuzzling noses with the bunny.
Smiling, you put the drawing up with about ten or so other drawings of monster and human children on a cork board in the kids area. “Well then, I hope the two of you have a happy forever.” You replied as you patted each of their heads.
The two monsters giggled as they went back to coloring, and you pushed the cart to another area of the library.
After about 15 or so minutes, you heard a small ding from the front desk. You left the cart where it was and made your way down the tall aisle of books you were in, but not before you heard the bell ding at least 10 more times. As you exited the the aisle, you heard almost the entire library shush the tall figure standing at the desk, who turned on their heel and loudly apologized.
“Oh my darlings, please forgive me for that rude interruption, carry on to your reading and what not.”
A few people gasped in awe and rushed over to the person, and you were confused for a moment, not sure what was going on as you made your way to the desk. The voice sounded very familiar to you, but you couldn’t quite place it. Once you got to the desk, it hit you like a brick, it was Mettaton, like, THE Mettaton, the very robot who took the overground by storm once the barrier was shattered. You remembered on his show a couple days ago, he mentioned he was going to be getting a complete makeover, so you assumed this was it. Unfortunately, you had missed last night’s episode due to having to stay late at the library, so he must have unveiled it then.
Once the small group of people left, he turned on his heel to face you, smiling sweetly, “Good evening, hun, I’m here to pick up some books for my dear friend, Dr. Alphys.” he said in a low voice.
You nodded. Ah yes, Alphys. She was a frequent to the library, taking out a handful of physics and other science type books, as well as up to hundreds of different types of manga. This week, it was one single molecular physics book, and 16 volumes of Fruity Baskets. You went over to the bookshelf where all of the books on hold were kept and took two trips to bring the books over. You glanced up at the tall robot peering down at you, he must have been a foot, if not more, taller than you. His eyelashes, of the eye his hair wasn’t covering, fluttered. “U-Um…” You stammer. “D-Do you have a library card, o-or maybe an ID?” You ask.
You actually weren’t supposed to check out books to the person who didn’t initially put them on hold, but you knew that Mettaton was very close with Alphys. Every once in awhile she would take Mettaton with her to the library, but he was always on his phone or talking to her, he never actually paid you any attention. So, this wasn’t actually the first time you’ve seen him in person, but it was the first time he’d ever actually talked directly to you.
Mettaton held out a library card to you, holding it between his index and middle finger. “Right here, darling.”
You meekly took the card, feeling a bit of heat rising to your cheeks. You scanned it and began to scan the books into the system, glancing up at him every couple of moments. This new form of Mettaton, you had to admit, was very attractive, and you were never the best at small talk, so you let the awkward silence take the reigns.That is, until Mettaton decided to speak.
“What’s wrong, honey? Cat got your tongue?” He asked.
“O-Oh …” your speech faltering “W-Well I’m just used to seeing you look more like a … uh … calculator?”
Upon your response, Mettaton erupts into laughter, immediately being shushed by the patrons of the library, again. “Sorry, sorry!” He apologized to the room. He turned back to you, tucked his long bangs that covered his right eye behind his ear, and leaned down, putting his elbows on the the desk and resting his chin on his hands. “Well, you’re not wrong, darling, but I just loooove this body, and getting to show it off makes me feel so good. And besides, we wouldn’t want Alphys’ good work to go to waste, now would we?” He finished with a wink.
A wave of heat flooded your cheeks, your face was probably a deep shade of crimson. “R-R-Right.” You stammered, then proceeded to break eye contact and look down, scanning the rest of the books.
You heard a soft, sweet giggle and glanced up, Mettaton was smirking. “Oh, sweetie, there is absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about, unless, you want me to make you embarrassed about something.”
If it was even possible for your face to get any hotter, someone could have been tanning underneath you, and contracted second degree burns. As quickly as you could, you finished scanning all the books, printed the slip with the return dates, and pushed the two stacks toward him. “N-No no t-that’s okay enjoy your books have a nice day.” You replied quickly, not taking a pause in between words, as your eyes stayed glued to the desk.
Mettaton stood up straight, his hair fell back into his face, and he erupted with laughter once more. For the third time in less than 15 minutes, he was shushed. He apologized again to the room, looked back in your direction and asked, “May have the library card back, please?”
“O-Oh my gosh, I-I’m so sorry.” you stuttered, handed back the card, and finally looked back up to him.
He took it from you, and your fingers brushed with his. “It’s alright, don’t be so flustered, darling.”
“W-Would you like a bag? To um, carry all of these books?"
“That would be just lovely, my sweet. I wasn’t anticipating Alphys taking out so many books, then again, she is a bit unpredictable at times.” He replied with a chuckle.
You opened up a different drawer in the desk, above the one you took the bell from, and took out two plastic bags, then placed the two stacks of books into their own bags. “There, all set.”
“Thank you so much for all your help, sweetie.” The robot replied with a broad smile, “Well, it’s been a pleasure, but I must be off, I have a show in…” He glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall behind you “... less than an hour. I hope you’ll be tuning in.” he finished, with what might have been a wink but you weren’t able to tell due to the hair covering half his face. For all you know he could have just been blinking.
Not sure how to reply, you were just able to nod, but he was already on his way toward the door, holding both bags in a single hand, he waved goodbye over his shoulder with the other, not turning back. “Toodaloo.”
Waiting a moment after he left, you took a deep breath and fanned your face with a hand. Wowie, was that an interaction. You shook your head quickly and tried to remember what you were even doing before Mettaton showed up. Once you figured it out, you made your way back to the bookshelf you were returning books to, and tried to forget about that whole interaction, because if you thought about it anymore, you weren’t sure if you’d be able to concentrate for the rest of the night.
~~~
You returned home later that evening at about a quarter to ten. Part of you wished that you could have left earlier to watch Mettaton’s show at his request, but you shook your head. Why? Why did you keep thinking about him? Just because he wasn’t a rectangle anymore? Were you suddenly attracted to this new body of his? No, no, of course not. You had to be honest with yourself, you were actually attracted to the flamboyant robot before your first meeting. Yeah, the calculator. You watched the premiere his show when you first heard about him, curious about a robot from the underground, and you actually thought it was pretty good. His flamboyant personality got you, you were amused by it, but what really got you, the thing that made you like him the most, was his voice. Never able to understand why, you were always more attracted to voices than you were to physical appearances. Mettaton's voice was like a song whenever you heard it, even if he was saying the most minute things.
Realizing you were literally just standing in the middle of your small studio apartment, thinking about Mettaton, you groaned. You made your way over to your small kitchen, and turned the TV on as you passed. Reaching the kitchen, you opened the fridge and pulled out a container of leftover takeout from the night before, but that was when a voice left the speakers of your television, “Good evening, ladies, gentlemen, and every beautiful configuration in between!” Caught off guard, you dropped the container onto the floor and rushed to the TV to turn it off, you couldn’t stand this anymore, the universe was taunting you, and you wished you could punch it in the face. You made your way back over to the container you dropped on the floor, it was still closed, the food still inside. You sighed in relief, decided to eat your leftovers quickly, and just head to bed early.