Silence.
That was what you were treated with from Mettaton the rest of the time at Norman's show. He spoke to others as needed and kept up the air of jovial politeness. But to you, he said not a word or made aa sound. Which made his actions all the more jarring. Even you made sounds of either acknowledgment or the like by clapping your hands, snapping your fingers, or clicking your tongue. It continued on afterwards as you both got into the limo and made your way back to the resort.
Not a word the entire trip.
Because of this, it made the fact that almost everyone seemed supportive of your relationship meaningless. This should be a happy occasion. You should be sitting there ecstatic that the human audience (and by default most of the population) were happy for you two. But instead it felt like a hollow victory. Hadn't Mettaton wanted to discuss it at some point? He was good at keeping you in the background but it was going to be found out eventually. So why was he acting this way?
You continued to mull his angered actions over with the heavy silence between you both making it feel as though you were going to suffocate. This was a much worse feeling. At least if he was speaking, you could tell by his tone of voice how angry he was and he would be talking so you would also know why he felt this way. This silence was the complete opposite. You didn't know what was going on in his head and that just made your thoughts spiral more and more in speculation. Any attempt on your end for conversation was for the most part ignored. He would glance your way showing he did in fact see you trying to speak but chose not to say anything back. Though the fact that he gave your attempts any kind of acknowledgment was a good thing. If he really wanted to ignore you then he wouldn't look at all.
Soon the limo was pulling into the parking lot of the resort and you took a silent elevator ride up to the penthouse. Along the way, you had gotten heartfelt congratulations from several of the staff and you had graciously smiled at them in return. No one seemed to notice what was going on with the robot idol because of the way he hid it. Damn him and his acting skills.
The moment you were on his floor, you headed into the penthouse, plopped down on the couch and waited. Fortunately for you, that wait wasn't too long. Mettaton closed the door a lot harder than he normally would and headed to stand in front of you on the opposite side of the coffee table.
"y/n... do you have any idea of what you have just done?" His tone was dead serious and you could sense the impending argument about to take fold. No wonder he had waited until you two were truly alone. There was no way he would want to do something like this in public for all to see. Warily, you shook your head at him and waited for the robot monster to fill you in on the vital information that you seem to be missing. Mettaton's eye twitched before letting out an aggravated sigh. "Okay. Tell me what YOU thought you just did."
You squirmed under his intense gaze. This was the first time you were on the receiving end of his true anger and it wasn't pleasant in the slightest. "I announced our relationship on national TV?" your hands signed to the ghost robot monster while ending in a shrug. "It was either that or dance around the truth and have Norman try to pry it out or have him add his own speculations which could have made things worse. I'm sorry, I should have discussed it with you first but I thought you would be happy that I was willing to announce it at all"
Mettaton froze as his eyes read the last part and he brought a hand up to rub his temple. "I am. That isn't what I'm angry about, gorgeous. And yes, you should have discussed it with me first."
He said a pet name. HE SAID A PET NAME. Maybe you could manage to salvage this after all and at least he wasn't mad that you were ready to announce your relationship to the world. Then what was the issue? What set him off? "Then.... what has your circuits sparking?" you signed to Mettaton in an attempt to get him to calm down even more.
Your attempt may have begun to work but it seems that you asked the correct question to get the conversation back on track. His irritation flared as he almost practically yelled. "YOU MADE YOURSELF A TARGET!" You blinked but didn't need to ask for further information because Mettaton continued right on. "The investigation is over and the trial is set. All eyes are on us whether we like it or not because this involves both species on a huge scale. Meaning both humans who are supportive of monsters and those who would rather shove us back under the mountain in anyway possible were watching that live broadcast and what do you do? You announce our relationship to the world! Now if you were a monster or if I was a human it wouldn't really mean that much more than some juicy gossip since we would be a same species couple but neither of us are those things."
"Humans are just now coming to terms with themselves such as trans, bi, gay, lesbian, and much MUCH more. Noted this is an era were your species is being more open minded and accepting, there are still things that are considered taboo. It is one thing to tolerate us monsters, work with us, even be friends but being in a relationship with one is considered wrong by lots of humans." The anger that he held in his gaze seemed to dissipate the more he spoke and was replaced with sadness at the same time. One that ran deeper if the darkness in his eyes were anything to go by. "We aren't the only human/monster relationship. By far. But we are most definitely the one that is the most unofficially well known until now. The others either keep quiet about it or don't bring it up because of the stigma that it brings. That's for a normal human and a normal monster who live normal daily lives. Now imagine the repercussions that might bring on two who are essentially known world wide."
He waited as your mind processed his worried yet kind of angry rant. It was true, you didn't know that there were other human/monster relationships but you knew there had to be some out there. It would be impossible for them not to exist with how diverse both the human and monster populations are. Yet... he was right. Monsters were making a lot of ground for social justices everyday but there was still a lot to be gained. One of the subjects that seemed to be almost never spoken of by both parties is inter-species dating. But even with that, you were glad that you announced it when you did.
Yes, it did put a huge target on your back for basically becoming the human figurehead for monster/human relationships but it would have been possibly worse if it had been brought up during the trial. Any testimony you had could be disputed as biased and would have been a huge twist that could turn the trial for the worse. Now that it was out in the open, the anti-monster group's lawyers couldn't use this gem against you and you knew that they would have if you had given them the chance. Your testimony would still be considered "biased" but who's wouldn't in this case anyway? Because you announced it now instead of having Koppel rat you out (He would be the one that would do it. You just knew.), the shock value was no longer there. By the time the trial starts, your relationship will be known and pretty much old news. It was still relevant but without the shock value it wouldn't be as much of a hit.
Though Mettaton wasn't wrong either. He had his right to be mad. You not only put yourself in danger but him. Yet, you didn't think he was worried about himself at the moment. If anything the humans would be more mad at your for "turning" on your own species. Still, you weren't in the wrong but at the same time neither was he. "This was going to happen eventually. People had already been speculating for a long time about us. I just confirmed it. It isn't like we are doing anything illegal." You signed to him in rebuttal. Not backing down like he probably thought you would.
"Correct. We are not but there is a time and place to announce something like that in showbiz and that wasn't the time nor the place." He was quick to come back and he crossed his arms for good measure.
"Oh really? So you are saying it would be better if it had been brought up in court where almost the entire world will probably be watching? Pending on how the defense attorney brings up our relationship, it could destroy our testimonies and we could lose the case because the jury could be biased against our relationship. Now that it's out there... they already know! It won't be a surprise and if used against us, won't carry nearly as much weight as it would if it was found out there." You were no longer sitting on the couch but on your feet with your eyes locked on his. You knew you had been right in announcing it. There was no way that you were going to give in when you knew that you were right.
"The trial is WEEKS away, Songbird. A lot can happen in that period of time! A lot of very very bad things and you just put yourself at the top of almost every monster hater's wanted list!" Mettaton stated with his voice raising a couple octaves. "It was bad enough that they knew you were on stage and was going to testify against them. Now that they know you are dating one, they may do more than just try to convince you not to take the stand! They could very seriously hurt you."
Your eyebrow twitched in agitation. "The same could be said for you!" your hands were beginning to fly with the sign language as you got more and more emotionally wound up. "I'm not the only target here. They are going to try and come after you as well!"
"To a point. I am the main focus of this trial. If I suddenly go missing or decide to call it off there are going to be questions and the truth would be found out rather quickly. You, on the other hand, are lesser known and as such... disposable... to those who want to try and free their same minded allies. You basically gave yourself a possible death sentence!" Without really thinking about it, you rolled your eyes at that last part. You've already had a death sentence applied to you since birth. What was new with that? "SONGBIRD!"
Silently, you growled to yourself. This was escalating quickly and if things continued as they were... someone was going to say something that they would regret. Neither of you was in the wrong. You both were right. It was the truth but it was an unfortunate one because you both were being stubborn and not backing down. Taking a deep breath to calm yourself down. Even if it was a small bit. You took out your phone and began texting the one person that you knew that you could turn too. "Who are you textin-"
"sup... looks like things are getting a little heated in here. congrats on the announcement by the way. watched it with alphys's class."
You whirled around towards the front door to find one of your favorite skeletons. To be honest, you weren't expecting him to show up so quickly. Though judging by the fact he was wearing his lab coat you must have accidentally disturbed him while he was working with Alphys. "You could say that... and thanks." your hands signed to the skeleton as you made your way over to the new addition to the conversation.
"Why did you call Sans here?" Mettaton spoke through gritted teeth that you chose to ignore.
"Because we are both being a couple of hot heads and we need a chance to step away and cool off before one of us says something that will make this whole situation a lot worse." He wanted to argue. You wanted to argue. But in the end what you both needed to do was back off for a bit. That way you could come back and discuss like normal, rational, people. Right now, you just wanted to fight for the emotional satisfaction. "I don't want to make things worse."
This seemed to take the spark out of the robot's wiring. He leaned back against the wall with his face withdrawn and let out a heavy sigh. "You're right, sweetheart. But if you aren't staying with Sans or one of the others, I want Hoppity nearby. Understand? Wherever you are won't be nearly as fortified as this place." He gave in and you almost didn't want to leave him because of that alone. You both weren't in the best mindset though so a temporary break from each others presence was for the best. This was all coming eventually and you knew it. Ever since the concert you haven't been away from Mettaton's side for more than a couple hours. Even the closest people fight under those conditions eventually.
Still, what he said was reasonable. Especially with the points he brought up earlier. So you nodded your head to him in agreement before turning to Sans looking worn out. You didn't even need to say anything to your skeleton best friend. His arms wrapped around your midsection and in a blink you were no longer in Mettaton's penthouse. The familiar smell of burnt spaghetti filled your nose as you realized that Sans had taken you to his house rather than the lab like you expected him to do. "SANS? WAS THAT THE SOUND OF YOU POPPING INTO THE LIVING ROOM?"
"yep. just dropping in with a friend." he removed his arms and gave you an apologetic smile as you heard Papyrus scream in playful frustration from the kitchen. "sorry, i can't hang around but i'm sure paps can cheer you up if you want it."
"You've already done more than enough. Thanks." you gave him an attempt at an encouraging smile and received a pat on the head in return. He popped out of existence just as his brother stormed into the room to give his brother his two cents only to find you standing there alone. "Hi, Paps. Having fun-" You were cut off mid signing as the tall skeleton whisked you off your feet and into a gentle but endearing hug.
"I WATCHED NORMAN'S SHOW THIS MORNING SINCE METTATON'S WAS NOT AIRING AT THE SAME TIME FOR SOME REASON AND I SAW YOUR ANNOUNCEMENT! I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU, HUMAN!" He spun you around and you couldn't help the silent giggles that escaped. Papyrus always had a way of getting a happy bubbly reaction out of people. It was a gift and a talent.
"Yeah, punk! That took a lot of guts to say that on TV!" Your spinning was halted by a pair of strong blue arms that trapped both you and Papyrus in a bone crushing hug. The air escaped your lungs for a brief moment before the strong fish woman released you. "I'm surprised to see you here though. I know for a fact Metts has been wanting to tell the media about this for awhile. Shouldn't you be out celebrating?"
You went limp in the skeleton monster's arms at her words. Normally, that would probably be the case because he would be ecstatic that you were the one to initiate it. Instead, the opposite is what happened. You got into an argument. One that you felt the need that you both needed a break from each other's presence for awhile. It has been a long time since you weren't nearby so tonight was going to be an adjustment.
Now that you were away from the Mettabae and no longer on Norman's show, you felt the energy that you had leave your body as all of the emotional drain was allowed to take it's toll on your tired mind. Letting your eyes drift closed, you didn't catch the worried looks that Papyrus and Undyne shared just above your head. "HAVE YOU NOT BEEN SLEEPING WELL, HUMAN?" You just shook you head with your eyes still closed. Though you didn't have the heart to tell him that you haven't been able to properly sleep for months. The only people who knew about that were Toriel, Mettaton, and BP. Sans might know too. He hasn't said anything if he noticed though.
"NORMALLY, I AM AGAINST NAPS BUT IT LOOKS LIKE YOU COULD REALLY USE ONE! WHY DON'T YOU REST FOR A LITTLE BIT AND AFTER YOU CAN TRY THE DELICIOUS CULINARY CREATION THAT UNDYNE AND I ARE MAKING!" His voice was hushed but still loud. You were so exhausted that it didn't bother you in the least. The skeleton was moving while carrying you and you could only assume that he was taking your almost sleeping form to his room. The feeling of your body being laid on something soft that didn't have hard bones underneath it was your reward. "I WONDER IF YOU WILL CRUISE WHILE YOU SNOOZE AS WELL?"
Oh, if only that could happen. Anything was better than the same endless nightmare. You would prefer a dreamless sleep to the kind of sleep you have been having. Papyrus draped his comforter over you before leaving the room. Leaving you truly alone for the first time in a very long while. Pulling up your phone, you checked your messages out of habit. Your heart sinking at the lack of usual ones from Mettaton. You sighed and slid the phone to rest next to your pillow. Closing your eyes, you prayed that it was at least dreamless.