Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You slam your head on the kitchen table. Ugh. Could the universe let you die? Please?

You wait, but no lightning bolt strikes, and no natural disaster sweeps you into its uncaring arms. Looks like mother nature wants you alive. Good on her, then. Fuck.

You were recently unemployed. Again. Yet another food place was tired of having your dumbass on staff and, while you could hardly blame them for “releasing you from their services”, this was the fifth time n as many months and you had a stack of rent notices, electrical bills, warnings, notices, and warnings for the notices stacking up on your counter. You’re kind of sick at looking at them.

Your only saving grace is the money your grandparents send you every month. The checks in the mail gave you just enough to scrape by on rent and to fill your shitty, almost broken fridge with junk food and soda. You’re grateful. It still sucks to sit in your house wrapped in blankets because the electricity had been cut off. It. Sucked. Ass.

Your battery operated alarm clock (because, again, no electricity) beeps, announcing that it’s time to go outside and walk around the shopping center, hoping there’s a business inside who hasn’t caught wind of your reputation. There are lots of shops in the area - they couldn’t all have heard of you… right?

Right. Okay, time to get up. You unbury yourself, removing six separate blankets from your too-skinny body one at a time until, with the last, you’re hit by the shocking cold of the outside air. You yelp, even though it happened same time nearly every day for the past week.

“C’mon, c’mon,” you say to yourself, “get dressed fast. More movement, less cold.” You put on mostly clean black pants, a purple sweater, and black combat boots with soles that were being held to the shoe with regularly reapplied super glue. They were so old, and you know you should get rid of them, but they’re so comfy and also you don’t want to spend money on something like shoes when you haven't yet gotten your next check from your grandparents.

You look in the mirror, turning side to side and, not spotting any completely terrible stains in any mortifying places, decide this outfit will have to do. You grab a soda, your empty water bottle, and your laptop bag that doubled as a complete purse. Out the door you go.

Oddly the brisk autumn air feels better than your top floor apartment. Maybe because it’s outside. Not so stifling. That’s probably it. The leaves crunching beneath your feet as you dodge both people and monsters alike, with the white vapor of your breath in front of your face, you feel free from the burden of your shitty, stagnant life. It feels good.

When you get to the shopping center on Maple, the first place you make it to is the boba café, and you went straight inside. Not to apply though. You appreciate your place there far too much to tarnish it with your complete incompetence. You but the cheapest thing on the menu, an egg biscuit, from a pretty new monster barista and sit in the back near the outlet, immediately plugging in your computer and getting out your notebook. It’s filled with all the stores and restaurants within ten miles of your place. Twelve of them are already crossed out - the ones that fired you - but you don’t let the sight deflate your mood. You’re going to be happy dammit, even though your subconscious seems utterly determined to sabotage you at every turn. You’d figure it out. You had to.

The WIFI at the little shop is fast, and your two egg biscuits are soft and warm, with a runny yolk. It’s easy to get caught up in the world of job applications, and soon you completely lose track of time to your quest. It isn’t until you feel a tap on your shoulder that you realize there’s a world outside your computer.

You look up - it’s the barista from before, a lovely green fire elemental. She’s got a shirt reminiscent of a japanese school uniform on underneath her standard black apron, and you wonder if that’s her personal style or if she’s in school. She looks a bit unsure of what to say, looking back at the guy behind the counter who waves at her encouragingly.

“Hi, sorry to bother you, but Josh says you need to leave. Unless you want to buy something else but otherwise you’ve used up your two hours.”

You blink, surprised. Had it really already been two hours? You looked at the time on your screen - wow, you’d actually been there longer than two hours - closer to four. No doubt it was thanks to knowing Josh, the manager in question, who seemed to like you well enough.

You smile at the monster girl. “Thank you, but I’m alright. I’ll get out of here. I needed to get moving anyway.” To Josh you say, “Thanks for letting me hang, dude!”

He sent you a thumbs up. Quite the chatterbox he is.

After packing up your stuff as quickly as possible and filling your water in the bathroom sink, you head out the front door with a pleasant jingle from the doorbell. You look at the list in your notebook. You’d applied to seven restaurants, three retail stores, Lowe’s, Safeway, Barnes and Noble, and a place you’d never visited but seen in passing called Grillby’s. Pretty damn good for three and a half hours. Now you just needed to get your groceries before heading home with arms that loved nothing more than to complain about the strain of everything on your body. Considering that you usually needed to get about ten bags home every trip, you suppose the screaming muscles were justified in their cries.

Oh well - it was better to get it over with now, right?

You walk for a while, taking slower steps this time than you had on the way to the cafe. You breathe in the autumn air with a calm deliberation, letting it cool your lungs til right on the edge of uncomfortable. It feels good, this leisurely stroll, even if there’s a destination at the end of it. It feels good to slow down and take things in.

Chapter Text

What else do you need to get? You look at the list and scan it quickly, hoping you’ll find it. Everything is crossed off, but there’s something nagging at you, and you can’t figure out what it is. You shrug. Whatever it was couldn’t be that important if it wasn’t written down. You wrote everything down.

Maybe you could get popcorn. You have a few more dollars, enough to buy one of the twelve-packs. Yes, you decide. You’re gonna enjoy yourself for a couple weeks. Blanket cocoons and movie nights with pirated films online.

The line is short today, and you’re grateful as you walked up right behind a woman who is already finishing paying for her things. You don’t pay any attention to her or the conversation with the cashier as you pile your loads of ramen and other foods onto the conveyor belt, thinking on which things you’ll give up if you don’t have enough money for it all. It’ll probably have to be the chocolate syrup and the five little sushi rolls. It’s enough to splurge on the popcorn, you don’t really need something as fancy as seafood even if it was store bought-

“hey, you there lady?”

You shake your head at the voice and return to the rest of the world. You look where the cashier is supposed to be and find a monster.

A… skeleton?

A skeleton monster.

Wow, this is strange.

“Um yeah! I’m here. All good. Just got lost in thought.”

“i’ll say,” he replies. “that’s a lotta ramen.”

You shrug. “Cheapest food on earth, right? And the lime shrimp one is actually really good.”

“never tried any of them. i’ll take your word for it.”

The rest of the transaction passes in relative silence, which you neither like nor dislike, and you leave a bit quicker than you think might have been necessary. You hope he doesn’t think you meant anything by it, but you’re already crossing the parking lot and there’s really no reason to return and apologize over something so trivial.

----

Your apartment sucks, sure, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t home. You’ve filled it with decently good looking things, a couch and bookshelf you’d found at a flea market, and a ton of things you’d bought at second hand stores. You liked your things. You enjoyed being around the things you’d earned for yourself, the meager collection of books, and the three skillets and pot, and your small collection of Disney movies. If you focus on those things, it’s easy to forget what kind of place you keep them in.

When you walk in the kitchen you start singing the song while you put away your food.

Often, I am upset

That I cannot fall in love

But I guess

This avoids the stress of falling out of it

You stick the soda in the fridge without opening the box, and put the popcorn in the pantry with the cereals.

Are you tired of me yet?

I’m a little sick right now but I swear

When I’m ready I will fly us out of here

Chips go on top of the fridge. You pass the bills and shove them quickly into the blue bin under the kitchen counter.

I’ll cut my hair

To make you stare

I’ll hide my chest and I’ll

Figure out a way to get us out of here

Milk, butter, things you probably won’t use for anything but toast and drink, but you liked to think someday you’ll have enough things to make something tasty. You smile at the thought. Maybe you could try french toast tomorrow. That might turn out pretty good.

Turn off that porcelain face

I can’t really think right now and this place

Has too many colors, enough

To drive all of us insane

You grab one of the popcorn bags out of the box into the microwave to cook, and take your computer out of the bag to move to the couch for a movie, expertly dodging the Home Depot bucket sitting quietly beneath the leaky ceiling. It takes a few minutes to find the right one (Jumanji), and you then return to the kitchen to grab the buttery treat and return to the couch.

In a few moments with a couple deft movements, you’re once again snuggled deep in the recesses of your blanket shield, your hands and face the only parts of your body made to feel the air so you can eat your popcorn and see the movie. Your nose is cold, but it’s a small price to pay. You snuggle down and press play.

-

You don’t know when you fell asleep, but when you wake up, the credits are rolling across your computer screen and there’s a light tapping on the front door. You groan. Not people. You don’t want people here. Was it Katie? You hope not. Last time she’d been to your apartment it’d been in good shape. You’d had heating and the lights were always on. You’d told her you could handle “this whole adult thing”. You’d been wrong, and you did not want her to know that, especially after her near constant offers for the longest time to help you out.

The tapping on the door persists, and your still sleep fogged brain vaguely realizes that she didn’t knock like that. Katie pounded the door like it had done her a terrible misdeed, even if she was in a perfectly good mood, so it couldn’t be her.

Your curiosity is piqued just enough for you to bother unburying yourself.

“I’m coming…!” You grumble. They’re still knocking, and you shuffle towards the door, making a respectable attempt to flatten down your hair that’s raised on end, charged with static. It works, mostly. You feel like it would be fine if you opened the door.

You open the door.

It takes you a minute to process what you’re seeing.

Not that it’s strange or anything, you’re just still in the after-nap fog where reality seems to bend and shift a little here and there, and it takes you longer than you’d like to admit to realize that there’s a small human child and a monster child standing outside your door. They both are wearing cute green vests, covered in colorful patches that probably mean a lot more to them than they do to you, over bright striped sweaters which you knew was how monsters told the kids apart from the adults. Humans had started adopting the tradition as well. Behind the two was a wagon, and in the wagon was about fifteen different colored boxes of cookies. The wagon must have been terrible to drag up five flights of stairs, especially since the monster child doesn’t seem to have any arms - oooh my god they’re girl scouts.

You grin at them. “Hey kiddos, what can I do ya for?” The funny phrasing you’d picked up from your grandparents pays off with twin giggles.

The human kid doen’t speak, but starts waving their hands. No. wait. Not waving, ASL. Ah shit, you’re so rusty, you’d been interested in learning for maybe five minutes in high school.. But you know enough to understand a little bit of what they’re saying.

HI - MY NAME IS F-R-I-S-K - MY FRIEND M-O-N-S-T-E-R-K-I-D

That’s the extent of what you understand, but thankfully ‘Monster Kid’ (who’s name seems hilariously on-the-nose to you) is more than happy to translate.

“Hi! I’m Frisk, and this is my friend Monster Kid! We’re selling cookies and we were wondering if you wanted to buy anything. We have thin mints!”

Ooooooohhh thin mints. You can already taste them. The sweet mix of chocolate and mint, the thing that truly made this country great. You could stuff yourself for winter like a proud American squirrel and be perfectly happy with yourself for it, not a single drop of guilt in your Home Depot bucket o’ regrets.

But you couldn’t.

You sag even lower than your tired slouch.

“Sorry kiddos,” you sigh. “Don’t have any money to spare.” the kids droop, disappointed, and the guilt you feel at taking away their smiles is heavy, and you try to quickly think of something you can do about it. “You know what though, the second I have the cash I’ll come find you two, and get all the thin mints in that wagon. How’s that sound?”

They cheer up immediately, letting out little yessssses and swearing to the sun and stars that they’d save you lots of cookies. They’d still be selling cookies in a month, could you buy some then?

“Of course! I’ll save up for it!” You’ll have to take some things off next month’s shopping list, walk a little further to the library instead of the boba shop, but you’d manage. It’d be fine, just to see these kiddos smile. You ruffle Frisk’s hair and rub MK’s head in a way that’s supposed to be about the same type of thing. It doesn’t have the same effect in your head, but they seem pleased by it.

There’s a weird shift in the air, like something is being shoved into a space nearby, and you hear a voice.

“hey kiddos, what’s holdin’ ya? ‘m gettin’ bonely waitin’ for ya.” you look up, surprised to see the same skeleton monster (you were pretty sure they were the same monster, he had a distinct… something about him) who’d bagged your groceries earlier today. Or yesterday? No, it’d been today. Jumanji wasn’t that long of a movie, you’d only been asleep for maybe an hour and a half. The skeleton sees you about the same time you spot him, and seems vaguely surprised, in an ‘oh this is a weird but unimportant coincidence’ sort of way. “hey pal.”

“Um. Hey?” You aren’t sure what to say. You literally said two sentences to him at the store today. “Little chilly for gym shorts, huh?” He seems to be literally big boned, judging by the thickness of his fibula and tibia. He’s wearing pink bunny slippers instead of shoes.

The skeleton shrugs. “eh, don’t feel it, really. the cold just goes right through me.”

You snicker. “Good one. Was just telling the kids to save some thin mints for me and I’ll buy them next month.” if you have the money, if you have the time, if you aren’t on the streets, if if if if if-

“i’ll make sure they get it to ya pal.” he turns to the kids, and Frisk signs enthusiastically in his direction. He nods. You think you see the word nice somewhere in their flying fingers, but you don’t trust your memory from one semester of high school ASL. “y’ sure buddy? gonna come out of - okay, okay, geez. you ready to go? still got a whole neighborhood to sucker into getting sweets.”

“Yeah!” MK cheers, and you feel like he’s saying it for both of them, cemented by the fact that Frisk punches the air excitedly. The three of them disappear around the corner, the skeleton taking the handle of the wagon. You notice, a bit confused, that they go in the opposite of the stairs, but you shrug. They don’t know the building, they’re bound to make a wrong turn or two. They’ll figure it out.

Still debating whether or not you should call out to the group, you turn back into your apartment and do a double take. How on earth…?

Sitting innocently on your kitchen counter, as if they’ve been there for ages, are three boxes of thin mints. On the box in front is a sticky note, and you immediately tear it off to read the note.

hey, sorry to break in. the kid wanted to give you a treat. said you looked sad. don’t worry, they said they wanted to pay for it. hope you get back on your feet. -sans

There’s something wet on your face, and you wipe your cheek to brush away the tears. God it’s so sweet, and so stupid, and also confusing how did the sk- Sans get in your house, but you don’t care, you can’t even find it in you to be freaked out. Why are these fucking cookies making you so goddamned happy?

You’ll have to find a way to thank him. Somehow.

Chapter Text

You save the cookies. Shoving the boxes into the highest corner of your tiny pantry makes you feel like a squirrel storing things for winter, but you think you’ve gotten into such a habit of save, save, save everything that it’s going to be hard to break out of if you ever can. But that’s not really your biggest worry right now. So you leave the Thin Mints where you stuck them for a rainy day, and try to find something else to do.

You decide on a Nora Roberts novel you found at a tiny little book store with dim lights and high shelves. The lady who ran it was nice, seemed kind of anxious though.

It’s not something you’d prefer to do - reading isn’t your absolute favorite activity, but you have to admit that it passes the time really well, and anything was better than spending another day scrolling through your email. Looking for job offers or accepted applications, managers asking you to come in for an interview. Refreshing your email again and again and again until you felt hollow and hopeless and numb.

Besides! This one looks interesting. A world where the population of earth was killed off by an unstoppable virus, and everyone left over was magical or immune. It seems like a nice little escape, so you dive in.

You don’t notice the lack of blankets. You don’t notice you’re warm.

You stay on the couch for a while. It’s kind of your spot. You even sleep there, never really trusting the cheap mattress you’d bought a year or so ago. You keep glancing up at the kitchen cabinet. At the spot where you knew your cookies were, even though the door was closed. Your mouth waters.

No, ______, be good. You’re saving them. You can have them another day.

You distract yourself with the bag of popcorn you never finished, and it’s not warm, but there are a few burnt pieces and its really salty and buttery and the flavors make you want to melt. It’s been awhile since you ate for reasons besides simple sustenance. Felt nice. Tastes good. Maybe you can grab one cookie…?

No! Be good!

Your computer chimes, and you’re ashamed by how fast you leap up and open your email. Then you want to cry, because it’s just another damned Webtoon update.

“Fuck you!” You shout at the tech. You jump as your neighbor bangs on the wall by your head. Oh, right, Mr Reilly works from home. You don’t care. “Yeah, fuck you too, asshole!” You bang the wall right back, and sink back onto the couch.

Could Mother Nature kill you now?

You should go for a walk. The fresh air might do some good. You pull on a coat, and leave the apartment, and your computer and your keys-

Oh shit, your keys! You snatch them off the counter, and lock the door behind you.

For once it’s colder outside than in, and you regret not putting on a heavier jacket as your breath steams up in front of your face. Oh well. You don’t want to go back right now. It felt small.

You step purposefully, crunching leaves under every footfall and laughing at the sound. Autumn is fun.

You dodge and weave through the light crowd, mostly people going in your direction - humans and a few monsters sprinkled in the mix, whom you try your best not to stare at. They look really awesome, the whole lot of them, but you don’t want to be rude. You’re certain they get enough of that without your help. It’s getting dark, the street lights coming on, but you don’t turn around. You want to explore.

You’ve been doing this a lot since you’d started your unemployment streak. You think by now you might’ve gotten to know almost all the city in a five mile radius of your apartment.

Maybe a little bit further, you think as you duck down an alley you’ve never turned to before. The brick walls are covered in the strangest graffiti you’d ever seen: it looked like moss, and running your hands along the words confirms it. They say beautiful things - Love protects us all; Monsters and humans should be together; create a better world. They’re such cheesy words, but you can admit that you’re a sucker for that kind of thing. You continue to run your hands over everything, the moss shedding frost as you do so. It was cold and soft. You like it. It’s happy.

It looks like the moss graffiti is also deliberately covering some far less pleasant words. Words of hate. You smile, a bit vindictively pleased, and exit the alley.

Across the street is a park, where a Bunny monster is handing out cold treats. Isn’t it a little… y’know, cold for that? You’re skeptical. But the monster is smiling, and so is everyone who came to find themselves holding one of the sweets, and you figured you’d accept it. Even if you aren’t going to get any. It’s too cold for that.

You wave at the Bunny, and he waves back. Then his expression changes, and he shouts, “Oh, look out!”

You flinch backwards, but it’s too late, you can’t see anything except something very big and very solid and suddenly you find yourself on your ass on the sidewalk and the crunchy leaves.

“OW! Fuck!” You string together a few more curses as you try to get up from your embarrassing position. A blue hand - is that webbing between the fingers? - reaches down, and you take it. You’re yanked up off the ground so hard your feet actually leave the ground, and you yelp high pitched at the feeling of your arm trying to pull out of its socket. It doesn’t though, and you find yourself standing again.

“Shit, are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. Just - fuck, owwww - just hurts a little. Sorry for running into you.”

“It’s alright! You got more hurt than I did, huh? Sorry about that. I’m Undyne by the way.”

You look up. Then you have to look up a little higher, before you’re able to get a good look at the person (you think they might be a woman but fuck they’re tall!). You see a Fish monster. A bit less literally a fish than say, the Rabbits were rabbits, but her webbed hands and the long fin-like thing falling over the left side of her head that easily passed for a shaved head of hair, and scales and shockingly bright (maybe glowing) yellow eye, it was obvious what she’s supposed to be. And maybe, also-

“You’re hot,” You blurt out, and the monster lady cackles, and suddenly you think the cold isn’t the only reason your face is red. You bury your face in your warm gloved hands, and silently wish you could die. Please? Please? “I-I mean. I’m ____. I’m sorry!”

“It’s fine, everyone wants a piece of this!” She flexes, but you can’t see anything under her heavy coat. She’s still laughing, just a little bit, and even though she still seems to be in good spirits, you’re mortified. Why did you say that? You don’t say things like that!

You groan. “I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to offend-”

“Hey, it’s cool!” Undyne grin, all sharp teeth and you tried to hide the tiny flinch at the sight of them. “I mean, I’m sure my girlfriend wouldn’t be as pleased by someone flirting with me, but she wouldn’t say you’re wrong, Fuhuhu!” She winks. You think she winks, at least. It’s hard to tell when there’s only one eye to look at. The general vibe of it is a wink though. You’re 90% sure she winked at you.

“Well I’m glad I didn’t offend you, I’m sure you have places to be!” You’re sure you’re being rude now, but you don’t want you embarrass yourself more than you already have. You could go back through the alley. Back to the moss graffiti, then back to your apartment. You’ve been gone for a couple hours. It should feel normal size again. “I’ll just get out of your hair- er…”

“WHAT?!” Undyne shouts, and you do jump this time, not bothering to try hiding it. Did you make her mad?? You’ve heard some monsters had really strong magic, oh no oh no- “No way! We’re gonna be best friends! Come on, I know a great sushi place, do you like fish?”

“U-um, yes?” You LOVED fish. You had to put the sushi back today. “I-I don’t have any money though-!”

“No problem dude! You said your name’s _____?” You nod. “Is that short for something?”

She’s steering you somewhere down the street, the opposite direction from where she’d been heading before she ran into you. You’d never been down this way, you don’t think. This could be fun… Besides, you aren’t in any position to turn down free food and, generally speaking, you’ve found monsters to be far more trustworthy than humans. You should be safe. Probably.

“Um. Yeah. I-it’s _____. _____ Reid. Just call me _____ if you don’t mind, though.”

She doesn’t mind. She grins that strong, sharp grin at you, and you felt warm again.

Chapter Text

As you and Undyne chow down on ten massive, fancy rolls of sushi, and Undyne talks and you listen, you decide that as hot as she is, you’d enjoy her more as a friend than a girlfriend. She’s so loud - she projects her voice, powerful and intimidating and she laughs again and again at you falling on your ass thirty minutes earlier, which makes you blush. She’s just so much and you aren’t sure how well you’d be able to deal with that even if she was single.

She tells you about her girlfriend Alphys, who’s apparently some kind of genius - she was the Royal Scientist back in the underground, and since the monsters reached the surface a few years ago, the two of them had been set up in a gated community because of some university getting a hold of her and her talents early.

Silently, to yourself, you think that must be the only reason Undyne can afford all this damn sushi. Monster rights have been slow going, and the most recent president has just set back efforts once again. Either way, you’re jealous at what Undyne can afford. You shove another salmon roll in your face before you can say anything.

You look up, and realize Undyne is looking at you expectantly. Oh geez, you aren’t eating too much are you? You hadn’t realized how hungry you were until you’d had all the plates put in front of you and now you’re just embarrassing yourself! You swallow quickly.

“Sorry, what did you say?” You ask as if you haven’t made an entire fool of yourself.

“I just asked what you were doing walking in an alley,” she replies. “Saw where you popped out from. You hiding from anybody?” You can’t tell if she’s joking or not.

“Pfft, what? No, I was exploring,” you explain. Who would you hide from anyway? Your grandma? Katie? “I walk everywhere - don’t have a car, and I like to take different paths and see where they put me when I don’t have anywhere to be. That alley was really pretty, actually. Somebody made graffiti with moss and put it over all the ugly words.”

You’re much more animated after telling her that. You aren’t sure what changed, but you begin adding much more input to the conversation. You tell her about the book you just read, and all the places in the city you’ve found with your little detours. And you tell her about the little Girl Scouts trying to sell you cookies, and their skeleton chaperone.

That interests Undyne. “You met Sans?!” She says, almost shouts.

You nod. “Yeah, but we didn’t talk much. He had to take Frisk and Monster Kid around the complex. But he did the sweetest thing, and gave me some thin mints even though I couldn’t afford them! I saw him talking to Frisk before they left, and now that I think about it that must’ve been what they were talking about. I don’t know much ASL but it’d be a really weird coincidence otherwise.”

Undyne grins all toothy again. “You’re sure that was all Frisk’s idea?” She asks. You raise an eyebrow at her.

“Uh, yeah,” you say. “Why else would he give cookies to a strange human he’s literally said five sentences to? Besides, that’s what he wrote on the note. ‘The kid said they wanted to pay for it’ or something like that.”

“Ooooooooorrr…”

“Ooooooooorrr nothing, dude. It was just something nice. Frisk mistook me just waking up for being sad, and they wanted to cheer me up.”

You decide to leave out the part where you cried over the cookies, and you really had been sad and they’d made you so happy you didn’t care that Sans had somehow broken into your house to leave them for you. Best not make things weird. You shove three more pieces of sushi in your mouth. The caviar pops as you chew.

Your phone dings, and you debate with yourself between being rude or missing an important email. Better have her think you’re inconsiderate.

You almost drop the phone.

“Holy shit, yes! Oh my god, yes, finally!” You keep yourself from shouting somehow. You aren’t sure how you manage it, because there you are, staring at your newest email, saying the owner would like to see you for an interview, and you see the words please reply at earliest convenience which is right fucking now, “holy shit!”

“What, what, what?!” Undyne demands, trying to see your phone. You dodge her, snatch a roll with what you think might be eel and move to the other side of the table.

“This restaurant I applied at today - I’m unemployed - emailed me and asked when I can come in for an interview,” you explain excitedly. “This is insane, I’ve never gotten a reply this fast!” Maybe things were finally going to turn around. Maybe - don’t get ahead of yourself. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.

“That’s AWESOME dude!” Undyne’s enthusiasm makes you smile. “What’s the place?”

“It’s called Grillby’s,” you tell her as you type. Thank you for considering my application. I’m available for an interview any time this week. No matter what time, you’ll have to leave an hour ahead if you’re gonna make it. You’d passed it on your way to your last job every day, and you’re sure it’s almost exactly in between there and your apartment.

You aren’t sure why Undyne is so happy for you when you just met her. She doesn’t know you. You don’t know her. But you remember her declaration that the two of you would be best friends, and you think this is probably her trying to make that true. You don’t care why though - it’s so nice to have somebody rooting for you, congratulating you, telling you that you’ll do amazing at that interview. She doesn’t know your track record and that sours it a little for you, but you do your best to ignore that voice. There’s no reason you have to believe she’s wrong.

“Grillby’s such a nice guy,” Undyne says for the third time. “He’d probably be a good boss. Dunno why he’s looking for help though - I don’t think he’s ever had any employees. Maybe Fuku finally convinced him to hire some folks.”

You don’t know who Fuku is, but she sounds pretty.

“What kind of restaurant is Grillby’s,” you ask.

“Burgers and beer,” she tells you. “It’s mostly a monster joint. A few human regulars, but I think Grillby freaks most of them out.”

You raise an eyebrow. “Why would he be any stranger than any other Monster?” A thousand ideas run through your mind. Spiders. Three heads. Twelve feet tall. A plant monster. A hand - don’t laugh, you saw a hand-shaped monster sitting behind a secretary desk once and you were seriously weirded out. There couldn’t be just one of those.

“He’s made of fire.”

You blink. You grin and laugh, and you feel Undyne giving you a weird look, but you don’t care as much as you usually would. “That’s it? There’s a new barista at my favorite cafe who’s a fire monster. I thought you were gonna say he had three heads or something!”

You take a long drink from your soda (well, less soda and more carbonated juice, but it’s good), and look up to see Undyne is still giving you a strange look. It’s a smile, but it’s subdued which you can already tell is unusual for her, and there’s this weird hint of confusion that you can’t figure out why it’s there. Her eye keeps moving up and down, subtly, but enough to notice. You look down - no soy sauce on your shirt - what is she looking at?

“What?” you ask. She shrugs.

“Nothing,” she says.

Chapter Text

When you finally sink into your soft, slightly flattened couch cushions, it’s nearly eleven o’clock. Not the latest you’ve ever been out. You remember coming home one night at 2 am after your grandparents took you in, drunk on Katie’s dad’s moonshine and crashing into everything. That was a fun night. At least you weren’t drunk this time - you’d never live down the video Katie took of you.

No, there wasn’t alcohol involved tonight, but you were definitely the teensiest bit food drunk, the kind of happy and sleepy that can only be brought on by a good meal and good fun, and there’s been a sweet warmth radiating from your chest ever since you exited the restaurant after Undyne got a text from her girlfriend. It tickled your nose and toes and the tips of your fingers, giving you a sort of protection against the autumn air while you took the longest route home you could think of.

This day… oh sweet mother of earth, this day feels like a turning point. It feels too fantastic to be real. It feels like… good things. Good food. Good friends. Good cookies, maybe a good job with a good boss and maybe, just maybe you’ll be able to stretch out this happy feeling in your heart. This feeling like nothing is gonna go wrong.

That’s too much to ask for. But it’s nice to think about.

But everything’s gonna be great.

You turn on your phone and stare at your email for a bit before going to your contacts. There’s a new one - Fishy McHottie , pretty obvious who that one is, and you haven’t gotten a picture for it yet, but hopefully it’ll be just as perfect as your picture of Katie, where she’s laughing so hard tears are streaming from her eyes and she’s trying to hide the fact that smoothie just came out of her nose.

You’d have to look out for the perfect picture. It was very important.

You fall asleep quickly after deciding that. Your hand slips out from beneath the blanket mountain, and your phone drops to the floor.

—

Undyne texts Alphys the entire way home.

Undyne •Met a super cool human today•

Bae •That’s awesome! What’s their name?•

Undyne •She said it was _____. She ran into me. Literally lol•

Bae •OMG! Are you ok? Is that why you aren’t home? I was worried!•

Undyne •I’m fine babe. She got knocked on her ass though. We got sushi. She’s got a black hole for a stomach! Sorry I didn’t let you know, I didn’t mean to scare you•

There was plenty of reason to worry, too. Undyne was tough, but one malicious, unexpected blow could have taken her out for a while. If not forever. 

Bae •I’m just glad you had fun•

Undyne •Yeah she’s hilarious! First thing she said was “you’re hot”•

Bae •Well she isn’t wrong ;)•

Bae •Do I have competition?•

Undyne •Never!•

Undyne •Oh, but you’ll never guess what she told me!•

Chapter Text

Your phone beeps.

It beeps again. And again. And again, holy fuck who is texting you this fucking early!

You roll over and grope blindly around the floor, because you never manage to hold onto your phone after you fall asleep, and find it almost but not quite fallen under the couch. You rub your eyes, trying to make them want to focus on something besides the insides of your eyelids, and glare at the screen. It’s too bright. God, way too bright. But you persist. Your eyes adjust to the light, and you read the texts.

_____! What’s up with life!

Oh. Katie. Katie was texting you. Cool.

Been so long, how are you?

Dude! You awake?

_____! C’mon!

Chocolate! Boba! French Fries! All the other foods that make you wake up when you smell them! C’mon lame-o nobody has ever slept longer than you ever in history.

You’re an ass. How dare you. I’m lonely, TALK TO MEEEEEEE

_____?

_____ you’re worrying me

Uh oh. Better reply to her. You scrolled down, reading more of her messages first. They were all getting more and more frantic, and you felt so bad about it, but you’d been asleep, c’mon. What did she expect? You don’t wake up easy.

I’m coming to check on you. Don’t be pissed okay?

I swear to god if you don’t answer I’m gonna bust down your door when I get there

_____ please answer

I’m almost there

Oh no. No, no, no she can’t come here!

I’m fine! No need to check on me!

You knew it was probably too late for her to decide to turn around. You unburied yourself from your blankets, and hurriedly shoved them all under the couch. Then you pulled them back out, and sprinted to your bedroom to throw them on your shit mattress. You could at least let her think you slept somewhere normal. 

Should you turn on the lights? You hadn’t in so long… but your disuse of the electrical grid made your bill really low, and you’d been able to pay it mostly regularly. You flip the switch, even though it makes you cringe terribly. You’re going to regret this later, you know you will. Right now though you’re just surprised by how different your apartment’s colors look with the lights on. It’s so bright!

You put out a box of cereal, though you can’t reason with yourself why . Maybe you wanted a bowl and just don’t feel hungry yet. You can’t find it in yourself to care right now. You pick up the counter and cover the blue bill bin with old newspapers and soda cans. It’s… a recycling bin! Yeah!

God, you’re cold. You find an old heavy jacket you haven’t used in a while. Maybe you can pretend you’re going out and she won’t want to come in. Maybe you can walk around outside and pretend everything’s absolutely normal.

Should you shower? You sniff your shirt. You don’t know if not smelling anything says more about your shirt or yourself. Have you been stewing in your BO so long you can’t smell it anymore? You shudder - ugh, don’t think about it, gross gross gross! You’ll be fine. Everything will be fine. She’ll walk in the door and before she can realize it’s no warmer than outside, you’ll steer her right back around, maybe get her to buy the two of you a couple boba teas. The thought of your passion fruit tea makes your mouth water. Decided, you grab your keys off the counter and are about to open the front door -

BAM!

Your door flies open, and you barely have time to register the fact that the doorframe has just fucking shattered before you’re looking up at the ceiling. It’s a popcorn ceiling. Ew. You’d forgotten about that. Your back and chest hurt. You think you have a splinter in your cheek, but it’s not really your biggest concern. Your doorframe is destroyed . Would this be covered under renters insurance? You hoped so. You also hoped you didn’t have to explain how it happened, because you’re running things through in your brain and there isn’t anything that could have done that, unless you suddenly have the super stupid magical power to blow up doors. You hope not. That seems like an expensive power.

A head with long, rich brown hair appears in your line of sight, and suddenly everything makes sense.

Katie.

“_____! You’re okay!”

“That’s a very subjective statement,” you mutter, and she laughs. It’s more like a cackle, but it makes you grin. You’re still upset about the door, but your friend got worried about you so easily. Given your history of being a fuckup, you can't blame her. She must’ve been going to those kickboxing classes she’d mentioned a while ago, if she was able to break down your door.

She offers a hand, and helps you get up off the ground once you accept it. “Sorry about the door,” she says before you get a chance. “I didn’t think I’d actually be able to break it. I just wanted to try being cool for a second.”

“Well, you succeeded.” You’re still slightly dazed, but you realize that your best friend is inside your cold apartment. You need to get her out before she notices anything. You shake your head, trying to get the cloud out of your head. “Hey,” You say, “I was gonna head to the cafe, get some boba. Wanna hang there?”

Her eyes light up. “You know I do! Come on! Do you still not have a car? I know driving was never your thing.”

That, at least, was something you wouldn’t have you lie about. You’d never wanted a car. You had a license, you could drive if you had a need, and it was also a good form of identification, because jobs always asked for that, but you had never owned a car in your life. Being behind the wheel terrified you. You shake your head.

Katie rolls her eyes and looks at you with fond annoyance. “Girl, you gotta get one sometime.”

“Says who? There’s buses.” Not that you use them often. You don’t always have the extra change.

“Whatever, weirdo. C’mon, we’ll take my car.”

Katie’s car is a painfully bright pink jeep. It’s got eyelashes on the headlights. The doors are covered in sparkly gold stars. Any other car you would have laughed at for being so terrible, but you’ve known Katie since you two were ten and it’s so absolutely her that you can’t ever bring yourself to tease her for it. Instead you laugh to yourself and get in without making any comments.

If there’s nothing else good to say about Katie’s car, she at least has the good sense to put the cloth cover over the open roof in winter. The biting wind doesn’t hit you as hard that way, and you can sing loudly and terribly to the music while Katie laughs at the cracks in your voice.

“God, you’re terrible,” she cackles. You do a little half-bow, as much as is possible when you’re restrained by a seatbelt. It feels foreign to you. You haven’t been in a vehicle in so long. You have to make an active effort to not scratch your neck where the seatbelt is digging into the flesh, and your brain is screaming at you to try and ease the itch.

Apparently another thing you forgot about is how damn fast cars are. It would have taken thirty minutes to get to the warmly lit cafe on foot. You didn’t expect it to take that long, of course, but holy shit - four minutes. Four goddamn minutes.

The two of you walk into the cafe, and you’re immediately greeted by warm air and the indie playlist Josh made years ago and has been slowly collecting enough songs that you don’t think you’ve heard the same song twice in a year. Or if you have, they’ve been far enough apart that you’d never be able to notice. The song playing now is by The Lumineers, if memory serves you correctly. It’s good.

The barista was here today too. You smiled and wave, and the way her gaze flickered up and down your figure - literally, her eyes seem to be something like sparks, and they do something like disappearing and reappearing in a slightly different position to give the impression she's looking somewhere else. She waves and you do the same as you and Katie find a table.

"Alright," Katie says. She playfully shoves you hard enough to knock you backwards into one of the chairs. "Egg sandwich, and green tea boba. Right?"

"Oh- yeah, that's right. Could you get me the passion fruit one, actually? I'll pay you back-"

"No you won't." She says it not unkindly, simply a denial of your offer. The girl leaves and returns soon with the food, and immediately goes back to chatting. 

-

"Can't believe they fired you over that!" Your friend isn't as loud as the monster lady you'd met last night, but she's equally boisterous. You've told her about your most recent employment failure ( only the most recent), and she's trying to cheer you up. "Its not your fault they gave out the wrong address!" 

"I guess so-" you slurp the remains of your boba and almost choke on one of the little balls. "but I still drove around for nearly two hours and wasted the gas. And delivery time."

She waves your logic away. "Nobody ever gives you enough time to settle into a job-"

"They shouldn't have to-" 

"You're a perfectly hard worker if you have a chance, everyone knows it."

"Maybe…" you chew your straw. "At least I have an interview set for tomorrow. Hopefully I don't fuck up this one."

The mousey-haired girl gives a sympathetic look, which is slightly ruined by her eating a cake pop in a single bite. "You got this man. Put me as a reference or whatever, i-"

The moment is further ruined by her nearly breathing in her treat. She hacks loudly as you struggle to keep from laughing your ass off, tears threatening to stream down your face from the effort. You lean over to pat her on the back. 

"Yeah, sure dipshit, I'll definitely put you as a reference when you can't even eat a cake pop properly."

She flips you off and you cackle like a maniac. 

This is good. 

Chapter Text

When your friend finally clears her airway of food, you two decide you've done enough sitting around the cafe for now. you pick up your things and throw on your coat. 

"Okay, we need to do something," Katie says as she starts up the car. She pulls out onto the street, rattling off ideas. "Any ideas? Movie, park, duck harassing, drinking- pick your poison babe. There's a park theater thing, if you wanna see that."

You give her a look. "Don't you have to work tomorrow?"

"Eh, I'll just give the little fuckers some dodge balls and let them go ham on each other. Nobody actually needs the gym teacher to be sober."

You're skeptical, but you shrug. Her choice, you guess. "Not feeling Shakespeare right now… what about mini golf? It's close, right?"

Katie beams and changes lanes immediately to adjust the planned route. A car honks irritably at her and is completely ignored. "Damn right, let's go! Any predictions you wanna make?"

"Five bucks says somebody's gonna fall in the pond."

"Nuh-uh, they're gonna dive, not fall. Chasing a ball or club."

"What if they're pushed or thrown?"

"That's a draw."

The two of you go back and forth for a bit as she drives, making increasingly ludicrous bets on the games of other players who would be on the course. Gambling and people watching are your favorite pastime when put together, and the mini golf track is a delightful place to do it. There's just something special about people going absolutely feral over what's basically amounts to a shitty obstacle course. You pull into the parking lot as Katie makes a shockingly high bet - for your games at least - of 25 bucks that either a man or child will end up stuck in the final hole's display, a large hollow tiki head that's always been the subject of amusement and dares among the humans of the city. 

The pair of you walk up to the pay station, and you do a mild double-take at the employee you're apparently going to speak with- a short-ish, round-ish skeleton who seems just as amused to see you as you are surprised to see him. 

"Oh, hey! I didn't realize you work here. Also. Um…" you wrack your brain for a moment. "... Sans? That's what you wrote on the note right?"

Katie looks confused at you - oh, right, you didn't tell her about meeting the monster. You've generally tried to not make it a big deal no matter how delighted you are every time. 

Sans chuckles. "in the flesh, kid. sans the flesh, of course." He winks, then seems to notice your friend. "oh, I've seen you too, right? at grillby's?"

Katie beams. "Hell yeah man, good to see you! We'll take two clubs and infinite opportunities to embarrass ourselves, please!"

"you got it pal. that'll be 30 bucks." His grin seems permanently fixed to his face, but you swear it looks more mischievous. Katie immediately hands over the cash, and - yup, you weren't imagining things - his smile grows wider. "sorry. did i say thirty? i meant 70."

"Sans!" Katie is hiding her own smile. 

"aw you're right, that's way too generous. 200 monster gold please."

"You know humans don't have that stuff!"

You're a little too baffled by the exchange, seeing your friend is clearly familiar with Sans, but her indignation at his absurd request of monster gold of all things sends you into a fit of giggling that draws the Skeleton's attention in a clearly positive way. His eye lights spark brighter and his sockets crinkle a bit around the sides. The fact that he can move his face at all confuses you into laughing harder, needing to lean on the counter for support.

"No-" you gasp for air and burst out laughing again. "No no, pay the man, you- pffffffff - you heard him!" 

Katie snrks at you and punches your shoulder. "God what even is the conversion rate? I know one was set up-"

Sans laughs, which is a nice sound you haven't actually heard from him yet. "nah, your pal's got a good sense of humor, you get the cool human discount, thirty bucks. Don't go pa tellin the boss, he'll have my hide."

That sends you and Katie giggling again, and she has to drag you to the clubs before you collapse on the floor from the overload of absurd humor. Either your sense of humor has degraded to the point of insanity, or she's used to Sans's stupid puns. You catch your breath.

"Oh my god Katie you didn't say you knew him!!" You grin madly at her, silently begging the wild woman you call your best friend to tell you everything. 

She does, of course, as you leave the building and move on to the first hole outside. It's actually pretty empty out here- only a group of guys who look maybe nineteen or twenty, and are swinging the golf clubs around like swords. Neither of the two bored employees out here try to stop them.

"Girl if you'd get out for more than work you'd know him too! I've been wanting to take you to Grillby's for ages, it's become a real hot spot for magic fusion cuisine. Have you seriously not been??"

"No," you admit sheepishly as you make the first putt. You overshoot and the ball ends up bouncing wildly against the walls and obstacles before ending up…. Right back where it started. Katie laughs. "But that's not going to last long, I have a job interview for a waitress position there tomorrow and even if I don't get the job I'll probably just have lunch there afterwards."

Katie gives you an approving nod. "I'll see you more if you work there, I've been going at least twice a week. Also, I recommend the burgers and this really awesome cocktail called fire fruit. Its literally magical. So fucking cool.”

While you're distracted your friend takes the opportunity to kick your golf ball into the artificial pond. She whistles innocently, but the grin on her face proves that she absolutely meant to do that. “you're the actual worst.”

 She shrugs. “You could always dive in after it!”

“And owe you eight bucks? I think not ma'am." You walk back to the half ball bucket and fish out a bright pink one. "And since you sabotaged me, I got that hole free. Now are you gonna play fair?"

She just grins. "Yeah, yeah."

Before you know it, it's four thirty, and Katie drives you around for a bit. You eat an inadvisable number of chili cheese dogs, and your best friend pesters you into giving her every detail of your interview tomorrow. Then she bothers you even further on the ride to your apartment until you give in, promising to wait for her to pick you up for it so you don't need to walk. You make a big show of eye rolling and acting annoyed by her insistence, but really you're grateful. Even in autumn the walking with an arrival time would have make you sweaty and frazzled, and you don't need a potential employer to see you like that before you even speak to each other. 

The two of you hug in front of your apartment - fuck the doorframe is still broken, fuck fuck fuck - after she's helped you find things to prop it closed for the night. 

"I promise I'll help you fix that man, I'm super sorry."

"Hah, it's fine," you lie. It's driving you insane again now that you can see it. "I'll manage. I'll see you tomorrow!"

"You too babe! Sure you don't wanna stay with me tonight?"

"Pfft, nah, you have school tomorrow, don't worry about it."

Katie gives you a long hard look, and you're about to squirm uncomfortably before she shrugs. "Aight man, gnite!" 

She waves, and you close the door with a chair under the knob. It's a night of light sleep, unable to get much rest without your locks, but it's fine. You manage.

----

You don't really have professional clothes, but you think the outfit you close is alright for an interview at a bar. It's actually quite clean, and no matter what anyone says you like these plaid pants, thank you very much. All in all it's sensible, and you feel alright about it. 

Unfortunately a good outfit doesn't make your nerves go away, and since you promised to wait for Katie you also can't sprint away your anxious energy. So you find yourself jogging around your apartment, doing your best to replace your usual method of relief. It's not helping much. Damn this apartment, it's so small at the most inconvenient times. It's like it grows and shrinks with your mood. Ugh. 

Eventually you give up, and you think you must have zoned out at some point, because the next thing you hear is the distant sound of a car horn playing a monotone rendition of We Will Rock You . You jolt up, fumbling with the chair against the door and bolt down the steps. Sure enough Katie is there, waiting in her horrendously pink Jeep for you to join her. 

"C'mon girl, I have another class in an hour," she hollers cheerfully. "Let's get my bestie a job!" 

"Oh my god, shut up!" You laugh, mortified as you get in, slapping her shoulder. "The whole complex doesn't need to know my calendar, bitch! Drive!"

Katie complies, and the hot pink abomination is on the road before you can spot any neighbors spying through their blinds. Most of them were probably at work, it's mid-day after all, but that doesn't make you less nervous. 

Your anxiety spikes dramatically as you and your friend find yourselves parked on the street by Grillby's after a mere five minutes. Shit. Cars, cars fast . You stare at the warm, welcoming building's neon sign and find yourself shrinking down in your seat until only your eyes are visible, watching a couple monsters enter the building with smiles on their faces. 

"Oh dear god," you mutter. "I cannot fuck this up."

Katie nudges your shoulder. "Sweetheart, you okay?"

"... Nervous." You pause. "I think I'm also hungry maybe." 

She nods. "Alright. I have fruit gummies in the glove box, grab a pack and calm down. I gotchu."

You nod and retrieve a pack, then make yourself deliberately eat them one at a time. "Time is it?"

"You've got fifteen minutes."

She knew you'd do this. Katie always knows, you've known each other for your whole lives, but it still feels nice to be known. You nod and quietly eat your fruit snacks. By gummy number eight, the grapes, you start to feel like you could actually enter the building. 

You shove the wrapper in your pocket and sigh. Then, before you can convince yourself otherwise, you step out of the car. Katie smiles and hops out as well, and when you give her a questioning look she just shrugs. "What? I told you I came here for lunch anyway. C'mon, before you chicken out. You need moneyyyyyy."

You have no time to overanalyze that comment before she drags you inside. 

Even though Katie is literally pulling you towards the bar by the wrist, you manage to take in the homey atmosphere and customers who seem to be mostly monsters. Which you were prepared for- Undyne had told you as much, after all, but it's still surprising to see just how heavily the numbers are skewed towards their minority. It's kinda cool. 

Wait, is it racist to notice this stuff? God dammit. You're already making a bad impression, fuck, somebody's gonna see you staring and they're going to be upset and they'll tell Grillby and you won't get the job, you need the job you need it you need it need it need it need-

"Hey." Katie speaks softly and shakes your shoulder. "Earth to bestie. Relax. Fuku's gone to get Grillby, pull yourself together. You'll do fine."

"R-right." You slow your anxious thoughts to a crawl, and look at the display behind the counter. Alcohol, obviously. You don't really understand the concept of making things look nice, except clothes for important things, but you think this looks good. Fancy bottles, or something. You've never worked at a bar, you realize. You hardly even drink. Will that affect your chances-?

"Hi Grillby!" Katie says loudly, pulling you back again. 

You see two fire monsters, and you're pleasantly surprised to realize you recognize one of them- the pretty green girl from the cafe standing next to a taller monster whose colors are much more similar to what people normally think of for fire. 

… he's gorgeous. 

You stare. It's hard not to, his flickering flames and dancing reds, oranges and yellows are mesmerizing. You could stare at his brilliant light forever, you think. And the uniform , sweet lord you didn't think anyone could pull that look off anymore! 

You quickly shake your head, realizing with horror that you were grinning like a fool. From the edge of your vision you see Katie resisting a grin of her own.

"I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean to be rude. My name is ___ Reid. You asked me to interview for a waitressing position. It's a pleasure to meet you." You put out your hand to shake as you finish your spiel, which he takes with a crackling sound you swear is supposed to be amused. 

Fuku (you can't believe you never asked her name, geez) giggles softly. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Miss Reid." She waves as you. "Glad to officially meet! I'm translating for Uncle Grillby for now. He has trouble speaking human languages."

Grillby nods, and you're suddenly aware that Katie has slid into a booth to chat with a rabbit who looks way too drunk for 1pm. You're on your own. You can do this. 

You give your best professional smile, and nod. "Works for me."

"Great! Everyone's been served for now, so we have about fifteen minutes." She looks to Grillby and they… speak? "Let's go to the back, through the fire exit." 

You successfully keep from laughing, and nod. You follow the two fire monsters, and cross your fingers. 

God, help you. You need this job.

Chapter Text

Something in you feels ready to burst. Your heart, or maybe the soul that monsters mentioned so much. You still weren't sure you believed in it, but it didn't matter right then because you felt like you were going to collapse into your burger and drown in your drink.

Katie, the fucking hypocrite, had ordered you the same drink after your interview, but made sure that yours was sorely lacking in booze. Nevermind the fact that she still has work in like 45 minutes. She's petting your hair comfortingly as you nurse your meal, ignoring the stares you must surely be getting from other patrons. You're doing your best to collect yourself.

Honestly the interview hadn't gone bad, but Grillby had politely asked you to wait in the restaurant for a bit as he and his niece spoke. Even as he'd prepared a burger for your trouble, you'd begun fearing the worst. Surely you were a terrible candidate for the position. Certainly not worth the shockingly generous pay the job offered - it wasn't worth staying, and if it weren't for Katie's insistence you honestly don't think you would've just for your anxiety. But her patience and confidence in you soothed your fears enough to slide into the booth beside her, and you nibbled quietly at your burger.

It was not magic infused, it seemed. It felt like just a regular burger, which Katie said was indeed an option on the menu.

You've worked your way slowly through half of your lunch before the two fire monsters emerge from the back, and you're once again amused by the fire exit sign. You shoot upright, making your spine pop as your terrible posture is abruptly shifted into something healthy. Grillby is still gorgeous in a way you really didn't expect to notice. Fuku still radiates warmth that seems like more than just her incredible magic flames. She smiles and waves at you and Katie as the two come over.

Fuku translates Grillby's mesmerizing crackle into an apology. "'Discussion took a bit longer than I anticipated, I'm sorry for keeping you waiting'."

You blink, a bit surprised at that. You look confused between the two. "Oh- that's okay? I don't really expect you to decide on a hire for a couple days at least, I'm sure you have a lot of applicants.."

Fuku shakes her head. "Uncle Grillby has only gotten a few, actually. I think I know why, but it doesn't really matter." She looks to the older elemental and translates more. "'You said that you would be able to start as soon as needed if you were chosen'. Is that still true Miss Reid?"

You nod frantically. "Absolutely! I-" you bite your cheek. You can't seem desperate, nobody likes desperation. "Yes sir, that's right."

Fuku smiles, and you swear you can see fangs in the flickering green-white fire forming her mouth. "Wonderful! Perfect! I'll grab the paperwork, honestly you humans complicate everything so much…-"

She bounces away quickly, leaving you, Katie and Grillby in her wake as you process what she's just said.

You-

"Wai-" you stare at Grillby, trying to see if she was kidding. His demeanor hasn't changed from the polite calm from the interview, with the exception of something pleasant. He nods, confirming the question you have not asked yet. He puts out his hand to shake, and you take it energetically as Fuku returns with a folder. You're pretty sure it's got the logo from Josh's cafe on it, and you aren't sure what to make of that.

She sits in the booth, and Grillby follows. "We decided that any applicants would know immediately if they're chosen. I didn't appreciate having to wait so long when I applied to the cafe, it was really stressful."

You nod silently, understanding perfectly. You generally reduced yourself to a pile of apathetic mush for the waiting time.

Katie groans loudly. "Ugh, I'd forgotten about all that. I do not envy y'all for dealing with this shit."

Fuku hands you the paperwork and you begin filling out your information. You almost passed over the feature added to paperwork in the last… six months, you think, checking the box for 'human'. Technically you know it's for insurance purposes or something, but it's still a little strange that a checkbox for species has been added to everything else.

You finish as Fuku and Katie chat pleasantly, and look up at the monsters across from you, unsure of who to actually pass everything to. Grillby takes pity, holding out a hand for the papers. You hand it over, physically biting back the urge to thank the man profusely for his kindness. He puts it away neatly and makes a sound that you can't quite identify.

A brilliant seam of light cracks around the space where a mouth typically appears on faces, and he, shockingly, speaks.

"I look forward to working with you, Miss Reid."

You stare, jaw dropped slightly before you click your teeth shut. He's been 'silent' this whole time and though Katie was historically unflappable, you feel that your almost starstruck reaction is justified. You'll later chalk it up to the emotional rollercoaster of the last half hour, but for now that's not on your mind, as you commit his voice filled with dry heat and smoke to memory.

Every ounce of control over yourself spills into holding back tears of relief. You were confident that Fuku was speaking honestly on her uncle's behalf, but hearing the owner of the restaurant say it aloud removed some lingering stress you hadn't even realized was still there. You feel like you could float away.

You plant your feet firmly under the table just in case. "O-oh! I didn't-! Um. No, no sir, the. Thank you Mister Grillby I don't- hah… you have no idea what a relief this is for me, I can't even express my um. My gratitude! Honestly sir thank you so much." You really could cry. This… you cannot fuck this up, he was being so kind, so generous to your hopelessly inept self. "Oh! Um! When should I come in for work? First day?"

He- you don't know whether to laugh or cry, he looks guiltily amused at your rambling gratitude. He smiles softly. "Of course. Would starting this Wednesday at seven am suit your schedule?"

You have no schedule, you think as you nod. You contain your reaction to the inevitable early morning to not but a small twitch of your wrist. Don't show discontent. You've dealt with early shifts before, it'll be perfectly fine, you'll be awake enough to work after the half hour walk in the chilly autumn air. "Yes sir, that's perfect. I'll be there bright and early."

He gives an approving nod, then stands to return to his own work. "I'll unlock the doors for you, then."

You watch him return to his place behind the counter.

You jump as Katie squeals in your ear, and the whole restaurant either winces at the noise (especially the dogs and rabbits, their poor ears!) or turns to stare, confused. She throws her arms around you and squeezes, and air rushes from your lungs at the force of her active-lifestyle-backed love.

"Oh I'm so so glad I was here, yes yes yes! You deserve this hun, I told you it's be ok!!"

You laugh. Katie laughs. Fuku giggles behind her hand.

You feel an ache, deep in your bones, melt slowly away. Something about this… something really does feel different. You feel like this could really, truly work.

You feel calm.

--

Later that evening, Katie stops by your apartment with a set of tools and a door frame piece. You make tea for the two of you as she graciously fixes her own mess, and she doesn't notice the chill as the two of you talk happily over your drinks. She leaves, and you retrieve your blankets from under the couch for a night of deep sleep.