Don't cross the river if you can't swim the tide

[mettatonvevo]

Who: Mettaton, some closed starters, and YOU!
Where: All around the mansion
When: Throughout the event
Rating: PG-13 unless something happens, upon which this will be changed
Summary: Mettaton is in the no-air-no-problem club, buuut those RESETs are giving him a bit of a run for his money. All well! There’s places to go and things to do, and he’s not gonna let a little water and time shenanigans stop him. …yeah…
The Story:

A.

[It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s…. what the hell is that. A rectangular submarine??? If you’re attempting to swim through the halls, have your door open to stare at the water, or if there is a window in your room to the hallway, you’ll catch sight of this robot in a different form propelling himself through the water. Maybe he’s carrying food in a water-tight container. Maybe he’s transporting someone’s pets or other things that need to be moved. Maybe he’s coming to “save” you! (Save being the operative word, depending on if you actually want to see him… and if he’ll be helpful or not.)

Either way, he’s here now. Or passing by. Wanna say hi?]

B.

Swimming through the mansion can be a bit tiring. Especially with the magic reinforcement that is partially behind his water-proofing, is draining his charge pretty quickly. So here he is, chilling out in some random empty room. Don’t worry, he doesn’t breathe; no air is being lost. Maybe he stumbled into your room or maybe you’re stumbling into whatever room he is relaxing in. Either way, here is a dripping wet robot at your disposal. ;)

C.

[Listen. A lot can happen in 5 minutes, right? I bet even MORE can happen if you repeat the same 5 minutes over and over and over and over and over….

Our lovely robot is stuck in a rather persistent RESET that is determined to make Mettaton repeat the last 5 minutes of his life. Why not keep him company and/or get trapped in it yourself! The world is your resetting oyster now that the water has leaked out of the mansion.]

D.
Wild card! Got an idea for your character and Mettaton? Throw it up here and we can go, ha, wild!

((ooc: while one of these prompts is specific for the resets, any prompt can have them involved if you want! Either indicate it in your subject or put it in your description and we can play around with it!))

Comments

[mettatonvevo]

[Bucky's words hit and they hit hard. Is that really what it seemed like? That because he didn't get what he wanted, he dropped him? No. There was so much more to this, so much more that he just didn't understand and didn't seem to want to understand.

Mettaton hurt him. They shouldn't be friends anymore. And yet here he was, trying to give him another chance.]

If I did choose, I chose what I thought was best for the both of us. I don't want to hurt you again, Bucky. If we're distant, I won't be able to.

[Because, inevitably, this will happen again. Mettaton can't be selfish and cling to this friendship because eventually he'll abandon him again because that's what he does. That's how he loves.

His resolve is cracking. Bucky is right. If he loved this friendship as much as he says he does, shouldn't he fight for it? Shouldn't he push for it? He wants to look at the mirror again. He knows that by now if his mirror is watching he'll have said something but... he doesn't want to see it. He knows what he'll say. He knows what he'll remind him with and Mettaton isn't strong enough to carry on with what he should do.]

...we did deserve better, didn't we?

[Mettaton finally looks to Bucky fully rather than focusing around him and sees him on his knees and that's it. He can't do this. He can't fight this anymore. He gets up from his place by the bed and walks over to Bucky, dropping to his own knees and throwing his arms around him. He hugs him tight, half of him hoping that he overstepped his bounds so Bucky will push him away and do the work for him.]

I'm sorry, Bucky. I want to fix us too.

[readytocomply]

How can us not being together be what's best?

[Not when they're so good as friends. Bucky shakes his head, because he did his fair share of hurting during all of this. He's not innocent, never was and never will be, but he knows that if they both try, they can make this right. If they both want it, they can be friends again. It won't be easy, but they can do it.]

We still do.

[His voice is soft, low and pleading. They've made a lot of mistakes, dug themselves down into a hole that for a while even Bucky thought they'd never climb out of, but they're still here. He still wants Mettaton in his life. Around him, near him. To talk to and spend time with. Bucky makes a sound when Mettaton throws his arms around him, his own sliding up to curl around his waist.]

We'll figure this out, promise. [He holds him a little closer and then, because he feels guilty with hugging the robot when he knows that Mettaton will need time to move on, gently moves back. Bucky leans against the wall, urging Mettaton to sit on the ground across from him, their legs brushing up against one another's.] We should start out with me being a better friend.

[Bucky sighs, cause he's not sure this is going to go well either, but friends stick with each other through thick and thin. They give you the hard stuff. His eyes flick to the mirror.]

Why do you keep looking at that?

[mettatonvevo]

[It feels so, so good to be in Bucky's arms again, on multiple levels. It'd be silly to deny that part of him still wishes for the intimacy of before and his magic and electricity flutter as Bucky wraps his arms around him, but he missed this on a platonic level too. He's missed affection and physical touch and to receive this from someone he loves is a much-welcomed balm.

There's the smallest twinge of hurt when Bucky gently moves back, but Mettaton accepts it. To be friends again is to establish some boundaries and it will take some getting used to. He sits across from the human just as he indicates, trying to relax more into the casual contact.]

I suppose there's nothing wrong with trying to figure it out, at least.

[It does... feel wrong on some level. He shouldn't be giving into this but he has now. There's no turning back. Even though his mirror will be angry with him, it's too late to change his mind. He can't hurt Bucky like that again, not almost immediately after saying he wants to fix things.

Mettaton watches Bucky's eyes glance to where he had thought he had hidden the mirror out of his sight and he feels a spike of anxiety. He shouldn't have been so obvious... he'll reveal them both if he keeps this up! Despite his anxious thoughts, his face betrays nothing. Instead he quirks a curious eyebrow at the question.]

Aren't you worried about seeing any mirror writing? They're supposed to be always watching.

[The best lies are those mixed with truth.]

[readytocomply]

That's why you cover them up.

[Bucky's brows furrow, narrowed in on Mettaton rather than the mirror. He wonders if Mettaton's being honest with him. He likes to think he would be, but the Mirrors are known to be different than their real life counterparts. Maybe Mettaton's is using him, is cruel or abusive. Bucky immediately hates the idea of that and can't shake it.]

They are watching but you don't let them see you. [He might as well explain himself.] Most of them are manipulative. Mine is selfish and would use someone for his own gain. He's unkind and harsh, but he's smooth and charming.

Might be that yours is the same way, too.

[He tips his head, eyes meeting Mettaton's.]

You been talking to him?

[mettatonvevo]

[Mettaton holds Bucky's eyes for a moment but blinks, casually looking to where their knees meet. It's hard to look at him like this.]

Oh of course. I know about mirrors. I've met several while here, and those meetings haven't been pleasant.

[He looks back up at Bucky at the mention of Bucky's mirror.]

You've talked about him before. You saw him through the mirrors all those months ago, yes? What made you talk to him?

[Mettaton, admittedly, had just been curious. He hadn't been in Wonderland long at all when the mirrors had switched, giving a view into the world beyond the looking glass. They had talked and it had been relatively okay until he had brought up Napstablook. That's when he had really known about Mirror Mettaton's... nature.]

No. I haven't been talking to him.

[It's a quick and easy lie. There's only a slight twinge of guilt inside him when he says it. He won't give him up. He won't.]

[readytocomply]

Told him to keep his distance.

[Bucky had hated his own mirror as much as Steve's, the moment he'd seen them. The way they interacted, as if they couldn't stand one another. Both of their personalities so different than what he knew to be true.]

Made sure he knew that I was serious. [No one that looked and sounded like him was going to hurt anyone he cared about, no one else either if he could help it.] I don't think he really cared, but I did it. Now I keep the mirrors covered.

[His head tips and his body shifts. Was Mettaton lying? Bucky wasn't stupid. He'd looked at the mirror multiple times. That meant he was aware of his presence. Actively aware. It felt like a lie and Bucky had to swallow it down so it wouldn't ruin the tentative beginnings they just back.]

Alright.

[He sighs.]

Why you lookin' at it then?

[mettatonvevo]

[Mettaton nods in understanding.]

You wanted to make sure your mirror wasn't up to any funny business. That makes sense.

[That was a hell of a lot better reason than Mettaton's initial one for talking to his mirror. He notices Bucky's shift and buries the renewed twinge it causes. It's fine. They've only just started talking again. There's no need to let this sort of thing get between them for now. But if it does, well. Mettaton won't stop it this time.]

Because other mirrors have been trying to speak to me lately. I didn't have time to break this one or cover it before you came in and then it felt too awkward to suddenly stand up and break something.

[Once again, truth mixed in with a lie. The awkwardness is true. The fact that other mirrors have been talking to him is true. The lie is that they weren't being helpful. Both Alphys and Zacharie's mirrors had reached out to him in some way or form and Alphys's mirror, at least, had been worried about him on some level.

It's funny how mirrors seem to care more about him than the Reals do.]