Several mirrors lined the walls of the room. Each of them holding a reverse image of yourself. You even counted the floor as a mirror because it was so shiny that you could see your reflection in it. A violin case was propped up against the bench next to your legs. It wasn't yours and you weren't sure why it was here. Currently, you sat on a bench that was near the back wall wearing clothes that you could 'work up a sweat in' as Mettaton had stated in his text that you had received this morning. Said robot was now standing before you with a proud smile on his face. There was a pink sweatband on each of his wrists with an even bigger one on his head. An elegant MTT embroidered onto it.
You were pretty sure that he couldn't actually sweat but you weren't about to rain on his parade. "So...." You began to sign while eyeing Mettaton's bright smile warily. "What are we up to today?"
"Today..." He bowed low towards you, "we DANCE!" Mettaton's bowed body shot up with his hand reaching towards the ceiling. You raised an eyebrow at his over dramatic antics and waited for him to continue. "It has taken me a while but I have finally figured out the choreography for the song that we are to perform together on stage."
"I'm dancing?!" Your eyes went wide and the robot nodded his head in a serious manner.
"Of course, darling~" Mettaton reached down and patted you reassuringly on the head. "I know that you will be playing the violin. I made your movements a lot simpler so you won't trip yourself up or have to think so much about them. That way they won't be a distraction."
The pit of dread that had started to form dissipated a little bit. Playing the violin was something you could easily do sitting or standing. You weren't the worst dancer in the world either but, at the same time, you weren't the best. Other than swaying your hips to the beat, you never really danced WHILE playing the violin. Dancing professionally was hard on its own, not including keeping in time with a musical instrument. You weren't Lindsey Stirling. "Are you sure...?" You were still very skeptical if you could pull it off before the concert that was still a few months away.
Once again, the robot nodded. "Absolutely, beautiful! I know you can do it. Though if something is too hard, we can always change it up. Nothing is set in stone after all. Now today, I was hoping to go through the first block of moves with you." He gestured to the large chart that was on the wall behind you. It was split off in a square grid. Each box had a number in it, corresponding to the day of the week and month. It had your practice times with Mettaton all the way up to the day of the concert. Everything perfectly planned out.
You move to stand up but Mettaton gently pushed your shoulder so that you were sitting back on the bench. "I'm supposed to dance with you...?" you looked up at him confused at his actions.
"I can't have you attempting the moves without seeing them demonstrated first. Oh Kobi~" the robot called out in a much too sweet, singsong, voice.
The door to the dance studio was slammed open with BP standing in the doorway in a tank top and sweatpants. "I'm amazed that you actually remembered my real first name." The orange cat monster glowered at the robot.
"I know all of my employees' names, Darling." Mettaton stated with a nonchalant shrug. You, on the other hand, did not.
"Kobi." You signed to the orange monster whose glower lightened up a bit as he noticed your presence in the room. "Your first name is Kobi?"
"Yes." The cat monster just looked at you with a slightly amused look.
"That is a hell of a lot better than Burgerpants! Why did you tell me your name was Burgerpants?" you were standing up as you signed while the brief moment of shock settled down.
"Because that is what everyone calls me, anyway. It has grown so much that I pretty much consider it my first name now." The cat monster stretched as he spoke. His long tail swaying to an unknown beat behind him. When he notices your slightly annoyed look, he just gives you a shrug. "What? You know it now but I can guarantee you, that if you address me as 'Kobi' to anyone outside this room, they won't have any idea who you are referring too. I have accepted my fate a long time ago."
"That's the spirit!" Mettaton clapped BP on the shoulder heartily. The bright grin still on the robot's face while the glower returned full force on BP's.
The cat headed over to the violin case that was propped on the bench, next to your leg, and pulled out a pretty beat up violin. The finish had scratches... and was that a dent? "Let's just get this fiasco over with."
"Wait, what?" You looked up at the two monsters slightly confused.
"This is a duet, sweetheart." Mettaton said while gesturing to BP. "I needed someone to practice the choreography with, in order to figure it out."
"You had to learn it first...?" Your eyes were on BP and the cat monster begrudgingly nodded.
"Whenever Metta needs something like this, I'm his practice partner. Something about my 'elegant cat reflexes'." BP said while doing air quotes before shouldering the violin as though he was about to play it.
The robot nodded his head. "And I still stand by what I said. You haven't failed me yet. Now! Enough chit chat. Let's demonstrate the whole song from the top!" Mettaton moved to his position while BP moved to his with a rather noticeable groan. You offered the cat monster an encouragingly apologetic smile. Next chance you got, you had to persuade Mettaton to give BP an awesome vacation. The poor guy deserved it for putting up with the robot star's whims like this. Mettaton clapped his hands and the lights dimmed with the music beginning to play.
They moved in practiced... precise... tandem. It was obvious from the moment that they performed the song through the first time that Mettaton and BP had been practicing this dance for quite a while. Their movements were so fluid. It was as though it was natural. Like this is what they normally did and didn't think anything of it.
You watched in transfixed silence. Not wanting to break the magical atmosphere before you. The music faded out with the two monsters in the final pose of the song that they had performed for the second time. Somehow, BP wasn't winded at all. It was obvious why Mettaton wouldn't be.
The lights brightened back into their normal glow and the two monsters straightened into a more relaxed standing position. "So Songbird... what do you think?" Mettaton's voice broke you out of the trance as he eyed you with an expectant look.
"There is no way that I can do that... It's too amazing." You signed with complete certainty.
"Au contraire, my little Songbird. With enough practice, you will be able to do your part just fine." Mettaton motioned and BP moved back to his starting position. "Now I'm going to teach you the first 5 movements of the song with BP demonstrating what your moves are. We'll do the full motion at full speed first, then break it apart step by step."
After about a good half hour of Mettaton breaking down the movements into the smallest steps he could possibly make, you shakily stood up from the bench and moved to the center of the room. He wasn't trying to insult your intelligence. The robot just wanted you to be able to understand as best you could. Mirroring the starting form of BP that he was currently in without the violin. BP had offered but you figured you should attempt the moves without it first. You didn't want to bang up that poor instrument any more than it already was.
However... You were nervous. They made it look easy. WAY to easy. There was no way that you were going to be able to pull this off AND play the violin at the same time. But... you weren't about to give up without trying at least once. The music started to play and you rose from the starting position into the first move and immediately missed the first beat. Which led you into missing the next one and then the next one. In an attempt to save it, you ended the horrid start with an unnecessary twirl and a bow to the two monsters. If you were going to screw up horribly (which you did), might as well make it look awesome.
BP snickered at your ending finesse. "We should include that."
"I do like the attitude you put into that ending portion but I think I will have to politely say no." Mettaton gently shook his head at the two of you but you could see the smile on his face. The robot walked over to where you stood. "That was a pretty good first attempt. Now let's try the movements without the music at half the speed." Nodding your head, you moved into the starting form. "Start!"
You sprung to life and did the first movement at a much slower pace than before. Since you had more time to think about what you were doing, you managed to actually get it in time. Which surprised you a bit. Not even bothering with the other four movements, you looked at Mettaton excitedly. "I did it!"
The extremely proud look that the robot had on his face didn't escape you. "I knew you could. Now! Go ahead and do the other four."
Feeling a surge in confidence, you go through the motions. Only managing to mess up about twice. Once done, you dropped back into the starting form at Mettaton's prompting and started over.
Only this time, it wasn't so good.
Not realizing how close you had gotten to the robot, you slipped on the shiny floor. Catching yourself by thrusting your foot out and accidentally slamming it hard onto Mettaton's pink heeled one. Knowing how much power you had used, you winced before slowly looking up at the robot monster with an apologetic look on your face. "Are you... Are you okay..?" You signed slowly.
Mettaton looked at BP, sharing an amused look that turned into a small fit of laughter. It took the ghost robot a few moments to recover. "Gorgeous..." He held a hand out to you so that you could pull yourself up. "You do remember that my body is made out of metal, right?"
Oh.
Right.
That was a thing.
Slowly rising after taking the robot's hand, you eyed the floor in embarrassment. Sometimes it was easy to forget that Mettaton was a ghost inhabiting an android-like body. When you think of robots, they are rigid, talk in a digital voice pattern with no emotion, and the like. They don't have feelings, emotions, and personalities. They aren't... full of life. Which is something that Mettaton had radiating off of him at all times. You continued to eye the floor as you lightly hit his chest plate with a mock punch. "Sometimes I forget. It happens!"
"Awww... You're right, Mettaton. She is cute when she's embarrassed." BP's slightly gruff voice cut in, in a teasing manner. You looked up to see the cat monster standing directly in front of you with a smirk on his face.
"Shut up, Kobi." You signed while looking him in the eye.
"Ooooo~ she just used your real first name." Mettaton held a hand over his mouth as BP took a few steps back. Fake fear taking over his features.
BP looked to the robot idol then back to you only to go back to the robot. "I know, man! I'm in it deep now."
You rolled your eyes at the two monsters. "Haha. Very funny. You better learn to fear it, Kobi." A mischievous grin spread across your face as you thought of ways to prank the cat monster. For a couple you may need to enlist Sans for help. He could never say no for an opportunity to prank someone.
Your expression must have darkened the more you thought because BP took a few more steps back from actual fear. "Oh, man. I really am in deep."
"That you are." You signed to the cat monster. "Better make it up to me by teaching me these moves."
He quickly takes on a serious expression while bringing a hand up to his forehead to salute you. "Yes, Ma'am." You moved back into the beginning formation and started over from the top. This time Mettaton or BP would pause you when you made an error and fix your stance accordingly.
Repeating the same 5 moves over and over was a bit dull. Not only that but you were constantly being corrected. Yet after about 15 minutes you were keeping on beat with the music without a single mistake. You do it one more time to prove more to yourself that you had managed to actually learn it than to show off. When your foot landed on the final spot, you whirled around on the two monsters with a bright smile beaming on your face. Mettaton clapped. "See? I told you, you could do it, darling~"
BP was nodding his head approvingly. "You are picking it up pretty quick. If you keep this up you could be his practice partner instead of me." He brought his orange paws together as if he was saying a prayer.
You rolled your eyes and playfully elbowed the cat monster in the side. He didn't move out of the way when you knew he easily could have. It wouldn't be the first time he would have dodged out of the way when you were trying to mess with him. "I may be dating Mettaton but I would never get in the way of your bromance."
"BROMANCE?!" BP was looking at you incredulously as Mettaton let out an uncharacteristic snort. The robot was hunched over with tears starting to form in his eyes trying to contain the laughter that wanted to escape. "Oooooooh no. There is no bromance here. Nope. Nada. Noooone. Wait..." The cat monster's ears twitched so one was up and the other was down. "You two are dating?" He crossed his arms so that one orange paw was pointing to you and the other at the robot star.
"Officially, as of three nights ago." Mettaton said once he had recovered a bit from BP's reaction. "Though, technically, it should be months but it isn't dating if only one of the two know about it."
"Eh?" BP looked between the two of you slightly confused.
"Irrelevant now but we are dating though." You signed while shrugging off the cat monster's stare.
"Well, congrats. Though I can say that I saw it coming. Along with anyone else that was paying attention to you two." BP's voice still sounded a little surprise but you could see the 'shipping' look, as Alphys calls it, on his face. "Better look out for the bunny guards. If they get wind of this, they'll never leave you alone."
A warmth spread through your body at his words. Now not only do Alphys and Undyne approve but another one of your friends as well. He was right though. If any of the bunny brothers got a hold of this information the teasing would never end. However, that was then and this is now. You were feeling pretty confident now that you could manage the movements in time with the beat. "Thank you. Now... Kobi. I think I'm ready." Once you finished signing, you gestured to the beaten up violin that had been benched, literally, until you felt that you could use it.
The smirk returned to the cat monster's face at the use of his first name and the serious expression on your features. "Are you sure, Songbird?" BP said with his arms crossed in a serious manner equal to your expression. "This is a big step up. Can you handle the responsibility?"
Your eyebrows narrowed playfully at the challenge. "I've got this." You held out your hands at the end as BP moved to grab the violin and headed back over to you.
"Then... I present this instrument to you, milady." In one fluid motion, BP knelt down on one knee while holding the violin aloft like it was some kind of precious artifact.
"And everyone says that I'M overly dramatic." Mettaton's suave voice cut in as you took the violin from BP and positioned it as though you were going to play it. Moving into position, you stuck your tongue at Mettaton and dragged the bow across the strings. A horrible scratching sound emitting from the instrument due to lack of rosin and tuning. It was so bad that you had to suppress a shudder. This poor thing needed a lot of TLC. "If you keep that sticking out, I'm taking it as an offer to bite it." The robot said with a look that meant business.
"T...M...I..." BP called to Mettaton from his position not too far away while a bright blush made its way onto your face. The robot just shrugged at his manager, completely unfazed. You, on the other hand, needed to take a moment to recover from that blatant flirting. "See? Look you broke the human!"
Mettaton rolled his eyes at the cat monster. "I did not."
"Yep. I may have blown a fuse. But you know me. I have a short circuit anyway." Your hands signed after you moved the instrument into a better position so that you could do so. They weren't the best puns you have ever made but they worked for this moment in time. Though Mettaton's point was made and you stopped sticking your tongue at the robot. For now. You definitely needed to enlist Sans to help you get back at him though. The robot idol was going 2-0 on the flirt game you two played. Maybe get BP while you were at it.
The more the merrier, right?
"Really?" Mettaton rubbed his temple at your puns but you weren't done there.
"Hey. You knew I was wired differently when you met me." You were now smirking at the robot as you got a snort out of BP behind you.
"Wow, those are bad." the cat monster had a hand over his mouth in an attempt to hide the smile that was behind it. "Are you seriously making electricity technician puns?"
You arched an eyebrow at BP with the smirk still ever present. "Shocking. Isn't it?"
"Oh for the love of Asgore..." Mettaton groaned out while BP sputtered into laughter at your horrid pun and his boss's reaction. "No! Bad BP! Don't enable her."
"Awww, but I'm all amped up now!" you signed one more pun before moving into the starting position. Mettaton was lightly banging his head into his hand while BP was still recovering. You wait for them to calm down before beginning to practice with the violin. Though you would have to either attempt to get this one into working condition or a spare one so that you could actually start learning to play the song while moving. There was no way that you were going to use the one that Mettaton had gotten you for your birthday until you knew you wouldn't mess up. That was something you would start worrying about once you got the entire choreography down pat.
Things were going much better than you originally anticipated. You were doing so well that you had time to spare and instead of leaving you asked if you could start on the next block of moves early. The three of you worked together for another hour before Mettaton clapped his hands breaking the complete focus that you had been in. "Alright. Let's do it one more time from the top and let's take a brief break. I don't want to go too far with this. You don't need to learn the entire dance in one practice session."
You nodded your head at him and moved into the starting position. Ever since you got the first 5 moves down, your confidence soared. So much so that you were excited to just keep going. Though Mettaton was right. You didn't need to learn the full thing in one go. It was probably best if you didn't. There had already been a couple opportunities where you had jumped the gun and did a later move sooner and vice versa. You did want to keep going but a break did sound nice.
"Ready? Begin!" Mettaton called off to the side with BP standing next to him. The two monsters only intervening when you made a mistake, which you hadn't done for a little bit.
The music began to play and you moved in time to it perfectly. You had begun pretending that you were playing the song so that it might be an easier transition once you get the dance all figured out. Sticking out your heel, you began to do a twirl. The mirror room spinning around you. Your eyes caught the familiar shapes of Mettaton and BP as you spun.
But there was a third shape that wasn't there before.
Your eyes went wide as fear spiked through your body. The paranoia that had been following you for the past few months rearing its ugly head. What was that? Who was that? Had it just been your imagination? Were you seeing things?
It wasn't your imagination. As you went into the second spin that immediately followed the first, the unfamiliar person was now fully inside the room. The only thing you were able to distinguish was the slouched posture.
Koppel.
You silently shrieked. The violin and bow clattered to the floor as you quickly came to a halt. Your heart leaping in your chest as your entire body went into lock down. Why was there not enough oxygen in here? Why is it hard to breathe? Better yet, why is the room getting smaller? You slumped down to the floor onto your knees as you gulped down shallow breaths. Your hands instinctively went to clutch at your heart as you struggled to calm yourself down.
This shouldn't be happening again. At least, not so soon. The test results had come back and you were completely fine. No damage or anything. Yet, here you were. Struggling to calm your heart down as you took small quick breaths. Time seemed to slow as seconds feel like they were years. It takes you a lot longer, than you realize, to notice that you were no longer on the floor but being held against a certain robot idol's chest plate. His arms wrapped firmly but gently around you. A pair of orange hands were stroking through your hair and if you focused a bit you could make out the soothing tones of both Mettaton and BP as they tried to help you as best they could.
There was a third voice that you couldn't quite make out until you lifted your head up a bit. It was one of the bunny security guards. Hoppity, now that you could see his face. He had one of your hands in his as he followed along with what Mettaton and BP were doing. So he was the unfamiliar shape. The bunny monster had probably come to seek Mettaton or BP out for something and that was it. No Koppel. You hadn't seen him since Mettaton had threatened him in that alleyway. He wasn't here. You were safe.
You closed your eyes and focused on their soothing voices. Once your breathing started to regulate, you took the love tuner, which was hanging around your neck, and brought it to your lips. Playing a soft tune that helped you finally calm the erratic beating that was in your chest. You looked up at the three faces of three very worried monsters. Gingerly, you raised your hands and moved so that the three of them could see while giving them a tired smile. "Thanks, guys. I'm fine, now."
"Like, hell, you are." BP said as Mettaton stood up with you in his arms and the other two monsters moved into standing positions was well. "Should we call up, Alphys?"
Attempting to keep your head up as the tiredness that usually followed an attack began to set in, you shook your head. "No. This wasn't as bad as it looked." You weren't 100% sure about that but you didn't want to bother Alphys so soon after having gone through testing just a few days ago.
None of the monsters looked convinced but it was Mettaton who finally broke the silence. "I'll give Alphys a call later. It's not as though her life is in danger right now. But I am calling it a day for you and I don't want to hear you protest."
After what happened, you weren't about to protest anything. Instead, you let your head rest against his chest plate. "Aye, aye, captain." You felt your body shift as Mettaton moved to hold you in a more comfortable position.
"Let's get you in bed." The robot headed out of the dance studio with BP following close behind after he spoke with Hoppity.
It wasn't long until the three of you were in the elevator, at MTT Resort, heading up to the penthouse. You were trying you hardest not to pass out and the silence dragged on until BP broke it. "Soo... What exactly happened?" His rough voice spoke the question that was no doubt on all three of the monster's minds.
You let out a tired sigh before groggily raising your hands to speak. "It's my fault. I'm sorry."
"How is it your-" Mettaton began but you brought a finger to his lips to silence him.
"When I did the twirl, I saw an unfamiliar shape by the door. Immediately, I just... reacted." You paused as you tried to think of the right words to describe why you had acted the way you did. Why your mind had tricked itself into seeing something, or rather someone, that wasn't there.
The robot let out a heavy sigh. "I can't say I'm surprised. Due to the fact you have been acting overly paranoid for months, I think it's safe to say that your mind automatically thought-"
"You thought Hoppity was Koppel?" the cat monster looked at you but with the darkness starting in on your vision it was hard to make out his expression. You nodded your head and you heard BP let out a hiss. "I didn't know that it was this bad."
"It's not your fault, sweetheart. It's an unfortunate habit that you gained from having to deal with him for so long..." You could hear the regret and a slight bit of anger in Mettaton's voice. "We'll just have to work on breaking you out of it is all."
"Though, I can honestly say that he has been 'taken care of'." BP did the air quotes at the end like he had done earlier and you looked at him curiously. Hearing that did make you feel a bit better but at the same time you were worried about what that meant. Before you could ponder to long on it, the elevator dinged and the three of you progressed into the robot idol's home. Mettaton headed straight for his bedroom and gently laid you down on the plush bed. Making sure that your phone was nearby.
"I'm going to be in the other room, gorgeous. You go ahead and rest up. But if you think you are getting out of seeing Alphys you have another thing coming." With that said, Mettaton tucked you in and placed a soft kiss on your forehead. "I'll be checking in on you but if you need anything don't be afraid to text me."
You nodded your head as the two monsters made their way out of the room and gently closed the door. Leaving you to your thoughts. Clutching your phone to your chest, you curled up into a ball under the covers. There was no need for that attack. You had been perfectly safe. There was no way that Mettaton or BP would have let anything bad happen to you. Yet, your imagination got the better of you anyway and the attack happened regardless.
Mettaton was right. This was a learned habit. One you learned so that you could anticipate the stalker's next move before he made it. A habit that you no longer needed. One that you knew you had to break. If you didn't... what were you going to do? Live in fear of an unknown entity for the rest of your life? You shuddered at the thought. Your body feeling as though it were made of bricks. Letting out a tired sigh, you vowed to look up ways to beat this paranoia that has taken over your mind as you finally allowed the room to fade to black.