(no subject)

[pleasereset]

Who: Asriel and Open
When: July 27th-29th
Where: The Medbay
What: Asriel recovers after being rescued
Warnings: Mentions of kidnapping, slavery, and abuse



For everything that's happened to him, the Medbay was peacefully silent. The quiet hum of machines were preferable to shouting, followed by the almost certain threat of being hurt. No cramped cells or animals wildly clawing at the walls in their cells to get to him.

His collar and chains were gone, thick bandages wrapped around his hands, feet, and neck. But even if he looked a little better, it didn't hide the bruises or filthy-looking fur. They'd clean him up later - for now the Medbay doctors were more concerned with his malnourished state. The first real meal he had in a little over a week ended with him apologizing after he snapped his teeth at the person who moved their hand a little too close to his food. He expected to get in some kind of serious trouble for that, but instead they just looked at him like he was some kind of pitiful creature and left him to eat in peace.

And that's what he was - the past week he'd spent being treated like an animal. Being fed garbage and locked in a holding cell meant to transport livestock. It was painful and humiliating, and no matter how much he pleaded or tried to speak to them, it never seemed to make any kind of difference.

It still didn't feel like the nightmare was over, even now. Any loud sounds got Asriel to flinch and curl up, quietly begging for the sound to go away until he thinks it's safe to open his eyes again. He jolts awake from his sleep in terror, expecting the man who bought him to be standing there and ready to take him back. He's cried until he didn't think he had any tears left in him, but there always seemed like there was plenty more.

Nothing felt safe, and there was nowhere he could ever go to feel safe again.

When he hears footsteps, he pulls the blankets closer to himself in a pitiful attempt to hide himself. A small whimper escapes him.

"W-who's there?"

Please don't take me back there, please don't take me back there, please...

Comments

HI I HERD U LIEK MUDKIPS please accept creeper uncle instead

[a_perfect_end]

It seemed like every port of call brought with it new crises. But here and now were not the time nor the place for Clu's usual fixations, his distaste for novel stimuli and intense dislike of change.

He'd kept well clear of anything to do with the hostage situation, but he'd followed the feeds compulsively and waited, tenterhook-sharp, for news of those few crewmembers on the roster he considered his priority.

And the moment they'd cleared Asriel for visitors, he'd have himself one.

Clu is--no stranger to these symptoms, and not without a pang of something suspiciously like regret.

"Hey, it's okay," softly, without advancing on him, moving slowly to show empty palms without raising his arms. "I am Clu. Remember? They're gone. You are safe here."

He doesn't add watch out for the nurses, man, but only because Asriel doesn't strike him as the type to break hearts on purpose.

[pleasereset]

Something about seeing Clu here comforts Asriel. It felt a little strange, since they'd only met once before, but for some reason Asriel felt like he knew him for much longer, like seeing an old friend. Whatever the feeling was, he felt a little safer. He vaguely remembers how Alan told everyone how he was a bad person, but this person here who helped him and cared about him made Asriel wonder if Alan just didn't really understand Clu.

Not in the way Asriel did... he thinks?

At least with someone here, it didn't feel like he was going to be taken away. Even if that frightening thought did linger in the back of his mind.

"Clu, you came to see me?"

Asriel's smile is weak, drained from a week of being hurt and starved.

[a_perfect_end]

"Sure did." His tone is soft, modulated, a little at odds with the brisk nod.

Clu is just here to check on his work. He wants to be sure his code has taken hold, that his newest ally is done cooking. That's what he tells himself.

Feelings are inconvenient, are just junk cycles, the garbage in of personality matrices. Clu's are doing something weird and sharp for the sight of Asriel lying there, smile pulled thin in a way that whispers famine far down in his processes.

"Just glad to see you're okay." He leans, considering, then grins. "I brought you something."

[gainedlove]

Frisk's halted steps are announced by the soft tinkling of their hair, their presence by the red glow of their soul through their uniform. In the darkened room it casts an eerie glow, one that on another day might remind Frisk of vines and bombs and lightning.

But their own hurts aren't worth attention right now. Not when Asriel is curled up so very small on the cot, his fur still a mess and bandages all over him and the so faint smell of dust leaving a nauseous feeling in Frisk's throat. They don't step forward into the room, not yet. Don't intrude, don't force yourself, not when he's been hurt like...

"It's...it's just me."

[pleasereset]

Asriel uncurls himself, sitting up a little in the bed to get a better look. His heart sinks to see his sibling still all glass, aside from the red glowing soul that Asriel once ripped apart, dragged out of their body over and over in an attempt to get rid of Frisk for good.

The blanket wraps itself a little tighter around Asriel, and the small monster tries to smile at Frisk - a pathetic attempt at normalcy, to push away all the horrors of a few days ago and try to make things normal for the both of them again.

It doesn't work, and the smile twitches and disappears from his face. He can't pretend, and it makes him want to cry that he can't. His stomach still hurt from being starved, his ears ached, his hands and feet were practically unusable. There was no smile or words he could use to brush something like this off.

It's hard not to feel a rush of emotions when looking at Frisk. He was gone for a long time, unable to see his family, and for a while he seriously believed that he'd never see them again.

He missed them so much.

"Frisk... I'm glad to see you."

He means it, even if his voice sounds small and weak. There's a numbness to his tone as he tries to hold himself together.

[gainedlove]

A tiny smile finds its way to Frisk's lips; small, wobbly, but kind and caring as it ever was. Even when Asriel's falters they keep theirs in place, quietly stepping into the room with their odd, clacking footsteps.

They approach slowly, seeing the way he keeps the blanket close around him. Frisk remembers being afraid like that, wincing to hear footsteps approaching. Even if what they went through wasn't anything close to what Asriel endured...

"I missed you, too."

Stopping by the side of his bed, they hold a hand out. Just...leaving the offer there, not trying to force it.

"I...I'm sorry, I wanted t' come find you....but..."

Toriel stopped them, and maybe it's for the better. They've already cracked in places just from bad tumbles and...other accidents. It's so strange, being this fragile. They feel weaker than even a monster, sometimes.

[pleasereset]

Asriel shakes his head, a little bit of relief sinking in at the confirmation that Frisk hadn't made it to the Outpost. They didn't need to see that, they didn't need to be put through what he was.

"N-no, I'm glad you didn't. The people out there... they were really ruthless. They would've hurt you... o-or done a lot worse."

If not hurt, definitely sold off to someone else. The thought makes Asriel feel sick. He couldn't free Papyrus or Mettaton, or even himself. Just imagining anyone else he knew ending up in that same situation fills Asriel with a helpless sort of despair and anger.

Asriel watches Frisk's hand for a moment, and cautiously reaches out. He's afraid of shattering them, adding to the cracks that were already there. But biting his lower lip, and trying to hold back a few stray tears that wanted to fall, he realizes just how badly he needed some kind of comfort. Something that isn't the loneliness of a cell or the pitying looks of anyone who's come across him.

Instead of reaching for Frisk's hand, he leans forward. It hurts, but he reaches out both of his arms towards Frisk.

[gainedlove]

Frisk's lips press together, but they manage to not bow their head. Asriel doesn't need to worry about their troubles right now. And...he's safe now. That's the important part. They have to hang onto that.

When Asriel reaches forward, it only takes a moment for Frisk to realize what he needs, and it's no question if they will provide or not. Their arms go around him and they lean close over the bedside, hugging their brother tightly and carefully leaning their head against his. They have more than a few sharp ends on their hair from shattered strands, but they've mostly figured out how to keep from hurting anyone.

[pleasereset]

Asriel leans into the hug, wrapping both his arms around Frisk as carefully as he can without harming them. Asriel's shoulders shake as his rests his chin on Frisk's shoulder.

He doesn't want to cry. He's cried so much and he's so tired. But a sob comes out anyway, and there wasn't much point to hide the tears that would follow. Desperate fear and horror rising to the surface in a small, little wail.

"I don't want to go back... I-I don't want them to come here, I don't want to ever go back there...!"

[gainedlove]

Just like all those months ago, like they have so many times before, they hold Asriel quietly and rub his back, being the solid ground he needs. When the tears start, they hold him a little tighter, closing their eyes and trying to not start sobbing themself.

"You won't...they can't get here. We won't let them take you back. Promise."

They'll die before they allow anyone to hurt Asriel like that again.

[pleasereset]

Frisk's reassurance doesn't get a response - Asriel believes them, or at the very least he desperately wants to believe them. Tall shadows out of the corners of his eyes, things like heavy footsteps, even though that man wasn't on the ship, Asriel couldn't chase away that fear. He still remembered the threat he was given early on when he was put to work.

"Do you want to know what happens to animals that don't work?"

Asriel didn't know the answer, but he shared a cell next to them. He heard their cries, cowered at their roars and growls, and saw the marks they left on their cell doors in desperate attempts to escape.

His family wouldn't let him go back. He'd never see that place again. But it still doesn't stop his loud sobs, as suppressed terror bubbles and rises to the surface. What could have happened was far more terrifying then what actually did. A part of him feels awful, unleashing all of this onto Frisk. Frisk shouldn't always have be the one who saves him. But at the same time, he doesn't let go.

And he doesn't want Frisk to let go either.

[gainedlove]

Comfort. There had only been a few times when they had hesitated, held back for reasons they had never been able to explain, but Frisk had always regretted those timelines. But they hold Asriel close and let him cry out all his hurt and grief.

"It's okay," they murmur, burying their face in the soft fur on his shoulder. They can smell the dust from old wounds, and do their best to forget it. "We're safe now. You'll get better, an' you'll be back in our room again, an' Mom'll tell us stories and make us pie, an' it'll...it'll be okay. No one is gonna hurt you here. You don't gotta be scared anymore."

[mttbrandlegs]

While Mettaton couldn't claim to have suffered as much abuse as Asriel, he has his own hangups, and he's still a bit more subdued than usual. His energetic speaking patterns often fail him during idle conversation, sometimes without warning.

So when he finally gets a chance to visit Asriel now hat they're back on the ship, the child's reaction makes him feel so utterly guilty that he might have vanished into thin air if only he could do that anymore. Instead, he steps forward, revealing himself fully.

"It's me, sweetheart. I didn't mean to frighten you."

Asriel's whimper makes him want to draw closer, to pet the young boss monster as he had on that platform. Then it had been a platitude born of solidarity in that awful situation. But...now it was more real. Even though Mettaton still struggled with empathy, moreso now that he'd killed multiple times in recent memory.

He cared, really he did.

[pleasereset]

Asriel allows himself to relax, though he stays curled up on the bed. The voice is a relief to hear, but at the same time all those memories of being dragged off the platform by his collar comes rushing back to him.

He remembers being dragged in front of the man who bought him, a man who towered over him while he sat there and trembled. The slavers gave him a couple of warnings. "It bites. Watch out for its claws." His jaw was tied shut for the "buyer's safety", and from there on out his life didn't get any better. The man who bought him didn't treat him like a monster or human, just...

... Well, he's not sure. He treated Asriel a lot worse than the creatures growling and snarling in the cells next to him.

The thought of that man coming back, of any of the people on that planet finding him made him want to curl up and hide in terror. Could they still find him? He wasn't sure. Maybe they still could. Maybe they were trying right now.

Asriel shivers, wrapping his arms around himself before offering a sort of smile. He never did find out what happened to Mettaton after he was dragged off. Did he get rescued? Maybe Sans or Toriel found him first. Or maybe he ended up like...

"Mettaton..." his voice is a little weak, "you came back."

[mttbrandlegs]

"Of course I did," Mettaton responds with a tone of normalcy that..just rang pretty false, even to him. In a way, especially to him. He keeps it up anyway, because it's better to pretend everything's alright, isn't it? That's what he always does. "I hardly enjoyed my time in that awful place! I can't imagine anyone would, slavery isn't exactly a party."

As he speaks, the robot draws closer to Asriel's bed, taking a seat at the edge of it and looking at the small boss monster. His cavalier attitude wears off the longer he looks at Asriel, and without thinking, one of his hands raises up to his own neck, rubbing uncomfortably where his collar had previously rested.

"I'm very happy to see you made it back yourself, dear," he began, still playing around more awkward parts of the conversation.

[pleasereset]

"Thanks. I'm glad you made it back too."

Asriel's reply is a little awkward and felt made up of just as much false normalcy, and seeing Mettaton rubbing his neck, Asriel starts to unconsciously do it too. It felt like the collar was still there sometimes. His hand stops on his neck when he realizes what he's doing, when he feels his claws digging into the bandages a little. He looks down at the bedsheets in embarrassment.

"Did you... did you get hurt?"

[mttbrandlegs]

That question makes Mettaton stare as if he's been caught doing something he shouldn't. Even his fingers pause, curling inward into a loose fist which he drops into his lap.

"No. Not too terribly."

It's a clipped response, not that he intends it to be. But when your follow-up is I was the one doing the hurting, it's uncomfortable to discuss. Very uncomfortable. He's a murderer many times over now--and really he shouldn't be upset. He was made to kill, not entertain.

Never mind that he'd rarely done it until this month.

Shaking his head to clear it, Mettaton changes the subject to something else that, while uncomfortable, is marginally less so than thinking about everyone he killed and trying to summon the empathy to deal with it.

"Asriel, listen. I'm so sorry that I was not able to free you before."

[pleasereset]

Asriel catches on to the clipped response, and he fidgets with the blankets nervously as he feels a pang of shame. Did he ask something he shouldn't have? It was always hard for him to tell when he did something wrong, but he always did, and that's why he was hurt over and over and over-

A painful lump forms in Asriel's throat, moisture forms at the corners of his eyes and he quickly blinks it away. Mettaton's apology earns a quick surprised look. Of course Mettaton had tried, he got his muzzle off after all, but he wasn't in any better position than Asriel was.

"N-no, I'm sorry I couldn't help you... I should've tried more, or fought harder-"

There's a small hic to his voice, and the wetness on his face is a little harder to hide now. He wants to curl up under the sheets of his bed, he wants to go hide in Toriel's arms. But no matter where they went or what they did, there were no promises of safety or survival.

"Everyone here keeps getting killed or taken away o-or hurt somehow, and I'm so sick of it."

[mttbrandlegs]

Tears. Mettaton wasn't usually good with those, and this body couldn't cry anyway. For the better, he feels, but just because he's a robot doesn't mean he can't still feel the cold, discomforting sensation that comes when he realizes he's made a kid cry.

Because Asriel shouldn't feel as if he didn't try hard enough. How could he, he was just a little boy, treated like an animal...

Mettaton can't bear it anymore. He's not warm or comfortable, but he still reaches forward, placing a hand over one of Asriel's.

"No. That's not right, your situation was far more precarious than mine! I can be fixed--"

A white lie never hurt anyone, right?

"--but you...you have been hurt, and it was not fair! Those men treated you so coldly, as if you had no feelings, and you don't deserve it! If I could have, I'd have ripped their arms off and then...then...!!"

He stops. God, what an awful thing to say in front of a child!! He has the good grace to look at least slightly ashamed.

"Forgive me. I would have just stopped them. Somehow..."

[pleasereset]

Warm or not, the physical comfort is more than welcomed. He'd spent so much time being isolated, with the sounds of creatures that wanted to reach through their cells to get him as his only company. He sniffs, fresh tracks of tears running down his face.

His head shakes, not at all bothered by Mettaton's violent declaration. It wasn't his fault. Neither one of them could help the other. And Asriel felt just as helpless as he did when the refugees stormed the Moira and started to mow down his fellow monsters. He'd been chained up, beaten, overworked well past the point where he could stand it, and humiliated by being treated like he was barely even an animal.

"I-it wasn't your fault. They were really strong."

Humans were stronger than monsters. Even young monsters knew this, that's why there were so many scary tales he heard throughout his youth - watch out for the human in the closet, make sure they aren't hiding under the bed. Of course when Chara was adopted into his family, Asriel treated those tales as just silly children's stories.

But they really were strong, weren't they? They easily tore Asriel apart when they saw him in the village, and it took no effort for them to capture, subdue, and sell him off.

"T-the man who bought me, he kept me where he kept the rest of the animals he had. He never gave me anything to eat - I was so, so hungry and he wouldn't listen to anything I said-"

Asriel shivers, curling up further and trying to make himself smaller on the bed.

"Mettaton... I-I don't understand. Do some humans really hate monsters that much?"

[mttbrandlegs]

Mettaton had always glorified the human race. The design for his EX body was even startlingly similar to the human form, and he reveled in it. Even emulated the way their entertainment worked.

But faced with a question like that, he couldn't help but feel doubt in his idolization. He couldn't tell Asriel "not all humans are bad, just some of them," because no kid wanted to hear that after their ordeal. And to be honest, after Mettaton had been forced to kill, kill, and kill again...?

He momentarily thought back to his own experiences on the surface. Mettaton was usually met with a bit of intolerance; after all, the way he presented himself was not defined in a way that cut as clear as those aboveground would like. Why was he, a male robot, so campy? What made him so special anyway, that he could attract so much attention. Naturally, he faced everything head-on and changed opinions, but it was still something he was aware of. That, and the way some of the monsters on the surface were treated. Which was...not very kindly. Because they were different.

He takes a breath, exhaling it slowly before he answers.

"There are close-minded people everywhere, Asriel dear. These were more close-minded than most, and possessed of the clear idea that they could barter sentient beings. The man who bought you had no right to treat you as he did, and all of what he did is born of ignorance for what a monster really is. It isn't right, darling.

None of it was right."

Asriel was not an animal. Mettaton...wasn't a heartless killing machine? No, he...he was built for that. Asriel was a sweet child, but he...was not. He could never reconcile that within himself.

His fingers twitched around Asriel's, and he looked away. This wasn't like him at all, to be so upset. So sad and full of self-doubt...and self-fear.