Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

This was it.

You had done all you could in your weakened state to help your heroes, a human and a monster, bring peace to the world. With the last of your powers, you granted them your blessing imbued with your wish for peace. As you faded before them, you noticed their sorrowful tears.

“My goddess!” the human cried. “Why…? Why did you sacrifice the last of your powers?!”

“We could have gained peace with our own power!” the monster cried. “You…you could have regained your true form if you had just kept it!”

You shook your head. You knew the truth. Without your power, the fighting would never end and even if it did, you were too far gone to be restored.

“My dear heroes…”

You embraced them in your arms, and they buried their faces into your shoulders as they tried to keep the tears at bay.

“You and I know that I am too far gone to be whole again,” you said. “Before I fade away, I wanted to give you everything I had so that peace would come to this world. With my power, I know that you two will lead this world into a bright future. A future where humans and monsters can live together in peace.”

“My goddess…”

The human and monster tightened their grip on you before pulling away. They wiped their tears away and looked at you with determination burning in their eyes.

“Goddess of the Stars, I, Mage Robin Albright, swear to you that I will bring peace to this war torn world!”

“Goddess of the Stars, I, King Alaic Dreemurr, swear to you that I will bring peace to this war torn world!”

Together, they vowed to you.

“Together, we will lead this world into a bright future that you would be proud of! Where monsters and humans can live in peace, side by side! That there will be no prejudice against the other, for we are one!”

You smiled, feeling tears run down your cheeks at their heartfelt vows.

“I know you two can do it. Though I will not be there to see it happen, I know that you will carve out a wonderful future for this world.”

You were fading fast and before you could fade away completely, hugged them one more time.

“Be brave and walk forth with integrity, persevere in your justice, be patient for your future, always hold kindness in your heart, and most of all…”

You faded away, your last words echoing in the air.

“Stay determined.”

~~

You wake up, eyes slowly fluttering open as you sit up.

“Another dream of that time…”

You get up, yawning as you make your way to the bathroom, avoiding the boxes strewn about the place. You had finished up boxing everything the night before, leaving only the essentials out for your last day at the apartment. Entering the bathroom and turning the lights on, you look at the mirror. Your human self stared back and you fiddled with your hair. Your dream played back in your mind as you got the shower ready.

When the barrier imprisoning the monsters underground had broken, your memories came rushing back like a raging river. You were once a goddess, the Goddess of Stars to be precise. You watched over the world from the stars with love for the beings that lived on it. Monsters and humans lived in peace until one day a human king declared war on the monsters.

Fear had gripped humanity’s hearts, and they viewed the monsters as a threat to them even though the monsters never wished to fight in the first place. Even worse, the human king and his mages had found a way to harness the divine power of the gods, overwhelming the monster forces. You had to step in, bringing forth a hero from both races and granting them the power to fight back against the stolen divine powers. You smiled as you remembered your dear heroes.

The human mage, Robin Albright and the king of monsters, Alaic Dreemurr.

Robin was a mage who defected from the human king’s side to the side of monsters. In his escape, he met Alaic, who was patrolling the surrounding area against his Royal Guard’s wishes. With a common goal, they worked together and ended up being the best of friends. You wished you were there when they brought peace to the world. Yes, despite everything, you were reborn in this world as a human with powerful magic that you kept secret. However, it wasn’t your world, for you knew that Robin and Alaic would have brought the two races together in peace.

No, you were reborn in a world where that peace would not be achieved until many, many years later. Four years ago, in fact, by a little kid named Frisk. When the barrier fell and your memories came back, you could feel that Frisk held the power of the Stars. Perhaps this world’s long gone gods and goddesses gave the last of what they had to Frisk in order to save monsterkind. The peace was shaky, for humans held fear about monsters they didn’t know existed, but it was there and you were happy that the monsters have gotten their freedom. Alaic would have been happy to see it. Speaking of Alaic, you wished you could meet Frisk, for something about them reminded you of Robin. Unfortunately, meeting the Monster Ambassador wasn’t an easy thing even if they were a child.

You turn off the shower, dry yourself off then change into a fresh dress. Stepping out of the bathroom, you take into account all the boxes that had to be put into the moving van. The movers were going to be here soon and you wanted to make sure everything was in order.

“I’m finally gonna get out of here,” you mumbled to yourself.

The apartment, while somewhat charming, wasn’t the greatest. It was a bit rundown and the price of the rent really wasn’t worth it for what it was. You could have gotten a much nicer place, having been fortunate enough to be born into a loving, well-off family, but you really wanted to do things on your own without relying on your parents’ wealth. Luckily in your search for a better place, you came across a large, nice looking house with a much more affordable price that was looking for a roommate.

Admittedly, house may be an understatement as it looked like a small villa. You met with the woman, Sherry, who put up the advertisement and she seemed pleasant enough, informing you that there were nine people living in the villa including her. Eight of them were skeletons, four pairs of brothers who all shared a relationship with her. You weren’t surprised at the polyamory, but you were worried about getting in the way to which Sherry reassured you that you wouldn’t. With that done and the rules having been gone over, you took the deal.

You looked up at the sun shining brightly in the blue sky with a smile on your face.

“A new beginning is about to start,” you said. “May the stars watch over my new life.”

Chapter Text

With everything in the moving van, you thank the movers and let them know you could handle it from here. Double checking the address, you start up the car and head towards the villa. It was a bit on the outskirts of town, but it wasn’t too far from the shops. Staring at Mt. Ebott looming in the distance, you smiled as that new beginning was drawing nearer.

“I hope I can find a good go-to restaurant and bakery near the villa,” you said yourself excitedly. “I’ve just got to learn more about how to make monster food correctly.”

You loved the culinary arts and had gone to culinary school to get a degree in pastry making. While your true love was in baking, you also loved to cook, judging from the large amount of non-baking cookbooks you had in your possession. You had to leave some behind at your parents’ house unfortunately. Currently, you were looking for a new job in the restaurant industry as you had to quit your old waitressing job since it was too far from the villa. You were hoping to save up money in order to open your own little bakery while also gaining experience and hopefully new cooking secrets.

“Honey, are you sure you don’t want us to help?” your dad asked. “We can get you any place you like! Just say the word–ow!”

Your mom whapped your dad on the head, exasperated.

“Dear, if our daughter wants to do things on her own, let her. If she wants our help, she knows she can come to us anytime,” she said before looking to you with a smile. “You know we’re just one call away, sweetheart. I know you got this, but if you ever need help, just call.”

You smiled at the memory, giggling as you remembered the pout your dad gave your mom as he rubbed his head. Your dad was quite overprotective so you were glad your mom was there to keep him in line.

“I do have a bit saved up so that I can live without a job for a little bit, but I gotta find one fast. Hopefully there’s a bakery looking to hire!”

After a bit of driving, you came up on the villa, and your heart pounded in anticipation. You really hoped you wouldn’t get in the way of Sherry and the skeletons’ relationship. Taking a deep breath, you closed your eyes.

“The stars are with me. Everything will be fine,” you muttered before gathering your determination and getting out of the car.

The villa was nicer in person and held a welcoming vibe to it that helped calm your nervousness. You hoped that the skeletons wouldn’t take too much offense to an outsider coming into their life with Sherry. Walking up to the door, you rang the doorbell and waited, shifting from one foot to the other. Soon enough, the door opened to reveal Sherry and the bright smile on her face.

“Oh, hey! You’re here!” she exclaimed.

“Yes, thank you again for letting me stay–whoa!” You were cut off as she ushered you inside excitedly.

“Come, come! Let me show you your room!”

You tried to match her excitable pace as she practically dragged you through the villa. While you were going up the stairs, you caught sight of two skeletons, one tall and one short. Both were dressed in black and had scars on their faces alongside their scowls as their eyes followed your every move. You winced, guessing that maybe they weren’t happy with your acceptance into the villa. Perhaps you could convince them that you won’t be an inconvenience and that you weren’t here to bring drama. Being a former goddess had its perks, one of them being that you could control your magic perfectly. You could hide it from others and appear as a normal human, which would be perfect in showing angry skeletons that you were harmless.

Sherry led you to what seemed to be the attic and boy was it dusty. It also looked like it was still being used as storage with random items scattered around. You were told that you were going to take the attic room, but you were at least expecting it to be cleaned out.

“I’m sooo sorry!” Sherry clapped her hands together and gave an apologetic pout. “We’ve been so busy and haven’t had time to clean out the attic.”

You blinked, looking between her and the attic. Well, you supposed that was an acceptable reason. Still, were they really that busy that they couldn’t at least have cleared out the dust knowing they were getting a new roommate? You sighed, not wanting to doubt your new roommates on your very first day here.

“It’s alright,” you reassured her. “I can clean things up by myself. I don’t want to bother you or the others when you’re busy.”

With your answer, the apologetic pout immediately disappeared as if it was never there. “Great! Now, come on. Let’s get you introduced to the others.”

Once again, she dragged you through the villa and into the living room where the rest of the skeletons had gathered. Eight pairs of eye lights turned to you the second you stepped into the living room, making you a bit nervous over the attention. Something about them seemed a bit familiar to you, but you couldn’t quite place your finger on it.

“Guys, this is our new roommate (Y/N)! You know, the one that I told you about?” Sherry introduced you.

You gave the skeletons a small wave and a polite smile. “It’s nice to meet you all. I’m (Y/N) (L/N), and I hope we can get along–”

You were cut off and you jumped when a skeleton wearing a blue hoodie teleported right in front of your face. His smile seemed strained and his left eye light was glowing with magic.

“okay, pal, i’m gonna give it to you straight. behave and follow the rules or else we’ll kick you out no questions asked.”

You were bewildered, shocked, surprised and just about everything between those emotions. You figured that the others would be uncomfortable, but you weren’t expecting such a cold welcome and especially not a threat backed by magic.

“Uh, I’m not here to start anything,” you said carefully. “And I won’t get in the way of your relationship if that’s what you’re worried about. I’ll respect your boundaries.”

He huffed, as if he didn’t believe you. One of the taller skeletons, one who wore a red scarf and a friendly smile, walked up to him and put his hands on the shorter one’s shoulders.

“NOW NOW, SANS. JUST GIVE THE NEW HUMAN SOME TIME. I’M SURE WE’LL ALL GET ALONG JUST FINE!”

The newly named Sans looked up at him before letting out another huff and walking back to the group, but not before giving you another glare. The taller skeleton gave you an apologetic smile but it, too, seemed a bit strained.

“I’M SORRY ABOUT MY BROTHER, HE’S JUST BEING CAUTIOUS. I AM THE GREAT PAPAYRUS, HUMAN (Y/N)! THE OTHERS HERE ARE RED, EDGE, BLUE, STRETCH, BLACK AND MUTT.”

Papyrus pointed to each skeleton as he introduced them. Edge and Black were the skeletons you saw earlier and they still didn’t look happy that you were rooming with them. Red gave you a smile, but it was filled with a threatening intent. Stretch and Mutt seemed disinterested in you, but Stretch did give you a small warning glare. Blue was the only one aside from Papyrus who genuinely tried to be friendly with you. While it was nice that they were doing their best, you were starting to regret coming here if the welcome from the rest of the house was this awful. Sherry wasn’t even saying anything to calm them down, having ditched you the second she introduced you. This was already raising huge red flags for you, but maybe you could give it a few weeks and see if they would warm up to you. If not, then there’s no reason why you couldn’t start searching for another place starting now. Really, not even a few hours in and you were already thinking about leaving.

“Again, it’s nice to meet you all, but I should probably bring my things in and clean up my room,” you said, pointing to the door. At this point, you were glad that you’d be busy getting settled in. You’d have no time to chat with the skeletons or be in their presence.

“OH, I’LL HELP YOU!” Papyrus offered.

“bro, you don’t need to do that,” Sans said.

“WHY NOT? SURELY IT’LL BE HARD CARRYING THINGS UP AND DOWN THE STAIRS.”

“YEAH, SANS,” Blue chimed in. “HELPING HER IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO.”

Stretch shook his head. “she’s an adult, blue. surely she can handle things by herself.”

“AND I’M AN ADULT CAPABLE OF MAKING DECISIONS, BROTHER!” Blue shot back. “AGAIN, IT’S THE RIGHT THING TO DO, RIGHT PAPY?”

“INDEED, BLUE!”

Black scoffed. “THERE’S NO NEED FOR YOU TO GO OUT OF YOUR WAY FOR THIS INTRUDER.”

“LET THE INTRUDER GET HER OWN THINGS,” Edge growled.

Did they really just call you an intruder? You made a note in your mind to start looking for a new place as soon as you brought everything in.

I should probably keep most of my things in the boxes to make things easier, you thought to yourself.

“Um,” you started, trying to cut in. “I appreciate the help, Papyrus, Blue. However, I don’t want to bother you if you’re busy, so if you don’t mind you can just help me carry the boxes. I’ll take care of the rest myself.”

“ARE YOU SURE, HUMAN (Y/N)? Papyrus asked.

“I’m sure,” you said, giving him a reassuring smile. “Shall we get started?”

Papyrus and Blue both beamed at you and nodded. They still looked a little nervous, but you appreciated that they were trying anyway. You gave a polite nod to the rest of the skeletons before going outside to bring in the boxes. Once you were out of earshot, Black clicked his tongue.

“SHERRY SAID SHE’S SUPPOSEDLY SHAPING UP,” he told the others. “BUT I DON’T BUY THAT FAKE ACT FROM HER.”

“she’s hiding her monster hate under that facade after all,” Red said.

“like we planned, we oughta keep a socket out for her,” Stretch said.

“YOU SHOULD MAKE SURE THAT PAPYRUS AND BLUE AREN’T ALONE WITH HER, YOU LAZYBONES!” Edge screeched. “SHE’LL PROBABLY TRY SOMETHING WHILE THEY’RE HELPING HER!”

“don’t worry, edge,” Sans reassured him. “i knew paps would want to help, so i told him to tell me if she does something to him. i still didn’t want him helping her though…”

“MUTT, KEEP A SOCKET ON THEM WHILE THEY’RE HELPING HER,” Black said, turning to his brother.

“gotcha, m’lord,” Mutt replied, teleporting to where you, Papyrus and Blue were.

When Mutt found you, you were carrying a box up the stairs. His appearance startled you and you let out a small yelp, almost falling down the stairs.

“HUMAN (Y/N)!”

Papyrus was behind you and he caught you before you could tumble down. Luckily he was only carrying a small box in one arm, so he could fully catch you.

“T-Thank you, Papyrus,” you thanked him in a shaky voice.

“ARE YOU OKAY? DID YOU HURT ANYTHING?” he asked worriedly.

“I’m okay, don’t worry.”

You straightened up, adjusting the box in your arms as you turned to Mutt with an upset look on your face.

“Mutt, you scared me there. I could’ve seriously injured myself if Papyrus wasn’t there to catch me!”

“heh, sorry about that,” Mutt apologized, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

“MUTT, YOU SHOULD BE MORE APOLOGETIC!” Papyrus chided him.

Mutt held up his hands. “alright, alright. ‘m sorry about that, (y/n).”

You sighed and shook your head. “Nothing happened, so apology accepted. Is there something you need from me?”

“nah. jus’ here to observe.”

You gave him a deadpan glare. Your regrets about taking this deal were growing even more and you figured you’d have to ask your parents for help after all. This place was looking more and more like a death trap to you.

“If you’re here to just watch, then at least stay out of the way, please,” you said, walking past him.

You, Papyrus and Blue brought in the boxes, leaving them in a corner of the attic so that they’d be out of the way while you cleaned. The whole time, Mutt was just watching you all from the hallway, an amused smile on his face.

“ARE YOU SURE YOU DON’T NEED HELP CLEANING AND PUTTING THINGS TOGETHER?” Blue asked.

“I’m sure, Blue,” you replied, giving him a smile. “Thank you both for your help. I can take things from here.”

Blue and Papyrus smiled back, seemingly a little more comfortable around you.

“IF YOU EVER NEED ANY HELP, THEN JUST ASK,” Papyrus said.

They waved and left you to your business. You really appreciated their kindness in a house that really seemed to dislike your mere presence. Sherry had reassured you that things would be okay, but you’re starting to think that she was a red flag in and of itself. You sighed and got ready to clean the attic out, grabbing an apron from one of the boxes to put over your dress.

You wondered why the other skeletons were so cold to you despite knowing you for a mere few minutes. Were they really that bothered that an outsider was intruding in their shared relationship? You thought back to Sherry ditching you the second she introduced you.

Or maybe…?

Either way, you needed to make a phone call.

~~

In the meantime, Papyrus, Blue and Mutt had relayed everything to the others at Sans’ request and Black’s demand. Edge and Black had scoffed at what they were told, agreeing that you were just biding your time before showing your true colors. Sherry had pouted, clinging onto Edge’s arm.

“Guys, I told you that she’s shaping up,” she said. “She might have some outbursts and cause trouble here and there, but I trust that she’s getting better.”

“we’re just tryin’ to be safe, sweetheart,” Red said. “we don’t want anything happening to you since you said she used to steal and ruin your things.”

“I THINK WE SHOULD GIVE HUMAN (Y/N) A CHANCE,” Papyrus said. “EVERYONE DESERVES A SECOND CHANCE AFTER ALL!”

Blue nodded in agreement while Stretch sighed, looking over at Mutt.

“what do you think, mutt?” he asked.

Mutt shrugged. “hm, i’m not interested in the new human, but i s’pose it’d be good to be safe. like m’lord and edge said, she could just be biding her time.”

“we’ll all keep a socket out” Sans said. “at sherry’s request, we won’t kick her out immediately if she causes trouble, but we will have to give out appropriate punishments and hope she learns her lesson.”

“Awww, thanks, Sans! You’re the best” Sherry gave him a kiss on the top of his skull, causing a blue blush to appear on his cheeks.

She went back to clinging onto Edge’s arm, giggling sweetly.

She just loved when a plan came together.

Chapter Text

Fortunately, your cleaning went uninterrupted as neither Sherry nor the skeletons seemed to be interested in interacting with you. You laid out a blanket on the now clean bed and sat down with a sigh, looking over your hard work. The attic was free of dust and you had taken out some of the essentials and set them aside, keeping most of your stuff in their boxes. It took a good chunk of the day and the sun was starting to set. You fell back onto your bed and took out your phone, tapping on your mom’s number and bringing it to your ear.

“Oh, hello, dear!” came the cheerful voice of your mom after a few rings. “Did you get settled in your new home? Today was your moving day, right?”

You smiled at her voice, feeling a little better. “Hello, mom. Yeah, I just moved in today, but…”

“But?”

“I think I need to move out already.”

Your mom let out a confused noise. “What? Even though you just moved in? What happened?”

You told her everything that happened as well as your suspicions about Sherry having a hand in all this and by the end of the tale she was rightfully angry.

“I’m happy that Papyrus and Blue are trying to be friendly. I’m sure they’re lovable sweethearts, but the rest of those skeletons are no good and quite judgemental! How dare they threaten my baby! Oh, and don’t get me started on that suspicious harlot!”

You giggled as your mom ranted in your ear. You were grateful to have such a kind and caring mother that you could turn to when you needed help.

“So you see why I’m already thinking of moving out?”

“As clear as crystal, sweetie. Your father and I will look for a better, more trustworthy place for you. I suggest a place far away from these rude people, but I know you don’t want to leave Ebott.”

You smiled as she understood you completely. “Yeah, it has to be in Ebott. Also, I’ll be looking for places too, mom. I can’t leave everything to you and dad.”

Your mom laughed. “I understand. We’ll call or text you when we find a good place, alright? And we’ll make sure it won’t take long. Be safe, sweetie. I don’t want you getting hurt by those rude skeletons. Since Papyrus and Blue are being nice to you, stick to them as much as you can.”

“I know, don’t worry about me. I know how to take care of myself and how to keep myself safe. You know what dad says about (L/N)s after all.”

The laugh from the phone was even louder than the last one. “Right. (L/N)s don’t take shit from anyone.”

You laughed in return and exchanged goodbyes with your mom before hanging up. Sitting up, you looked out the window and, deciding that you weren’t that tired from cleaning, decided to grab dinner outside the villa. You didn’t feel like eating with the others after they displayed their clear dislike for you. You’d just inform Papyrus or Blue that you were going out for dinner. On the way to the villa, you had spotted a bar called Grillby’s and decided to eat there.

Grillby.

You remembered the name from your past life, having known him as one of Alaic’s generals and one of his most trusted friends. You had met him several times when Alaic had brought him as an escort to one of your temples to pray to you or receive your guidance. You remembered your first meeting with the man of fire, remembering how he had fallen back in surprise when you appeared before Alaic as he asked for your guidance. Apparently he hadn’t been expecting you to actually show up and give his king guidance. You giggled as you remembered his shocked expression which then turned apologetic as he frantically apologized for his transgressions against you, of which he had none. In fact, you knew he was one of your most devout followers as he was always praying to the stars. Over your next few meetings, you had gotten to know the fire Elemental more and had even given him a charm imbued with your power for protection. Like Alaic and Robin, he had become a dear friend to you despite your few meetings. You were glad to see he had survived the war in this world and that he had found a new calling.

After making sure that everything was in order, you changed into a different dress and headed out. On the way out, you managed to spot Papyrus (who was alone, thank the stars) and told him that you’d be eating out for dinner.

“ARE YOU SURE?” he asked, looking a little sad. “I WAS GOING TO MAKE YOU SOME FRIENDSHIP SPAGHETTI AS YOUR WELCOME DINNER. BLUE WAS GOING TO MAKE FRIENDSHIP TACOS TOO.”

You smiled, touched by their consideration. “Oh, Papyrus, I’m really thankful for that. But after today, I think it’d be best for me to be on my own for now. I’ll gladly take you and Blue up on your offer for lunch if you’d like? I’d love to try your friendship spaghetti and Blue’s friendship tacos!”

The smile on his face as the sadness washed away really made you think that he was a sweetheart with a heart of gold. “OKAY THEN! BLUE AND I WILL PEN YOU IN FOR LUNCH TOMORROW!”

“I’ll be sure to be there,” you said, returning his smile. “I’ll be going then, bye Papyrus!”

You waved and headed out the door, but not before catching sight of the others who just gave you looks ranging from glares to disinterest. Letting out a sigh, you just got into your car and drove to where you saw Grillby’s.

Once there, you parked across the street and walked over. You looked up at the glowing sign that was like a welcome sight for night owls and drinkers alike before opening the door and heading inside. The second you stepped inside, a cozy warmth wrapped around your body as if you were wrapped up in a nice, fuzzy blanket and you smiled instinctively. It was a familiar warmth to you, a warmth you hadn’t felt in a long time. You looked around and took in your surroundings, seeing both monsters and humans in the cozy establishment. There were more monsters than humans, but it was nice to see that some humans were supporting monsters. You turned towards the bar and smiled as you saw the familiar fire elemental behind the bar polishing a glass. Nothing about him had changed except for the bartender’s uniform he now donned instead of his armor.

“Welcome to Grillby’s!” a cheery voice welcomed you. “Is it just you today, deary?”

You turned to see another fire elemental, his flames a more yellow color than orange and he wore circular glasses that had swirls in them. His suit was quite colorful, complimenting his cheery personality. He seemed a bit familiar to you, but you were sure you hadn’t met him before.

“Yes, it’s just me,” you answered.

“Then please take a seat at the bar,” he sang as he pointed to Grillby. “My cousins will take care of you.”

Ah, so he was Grillby’s cousin. No wonder he seemed familiar to you, it’s because he was related to Grillby. You walked over to the bar and took a seat, just now noticing the other fire elemental standing next to Grillby. His flames were purple and he wore a fur-lined suit and cat eye glasses.

“What can we get for ya, doll?” the purple flamed elemental asked.

“Could I get a cola and the menu, please?”

Next to him, Grillby nodded and started to pour you a glass of cola while the purple elemental handed you a menu.

“What, not drinking?” the purple elemental asked with a smirk. “That’s a boring way to start the night if you ask me, doll.”

“I drove here and I don’t really drink much anyways,” you told him.

“Heh, maybe if you let me make you a drink you’d change your mind,” he said, leaning close to you. “Bet you’d be cuter if you were a bit tips–gah!”

Grillby whapped him on the head, giving him a deadpan glare.

“The hell was that for, Grillby?!” the man cried. “I’m just saying that I could get her to like drinking more!”

“You shouldn’t make her drink if she doesn’t want to, Fellby,” came Grillby’s quiet reply. “And don’t make her uncomfortable with your flirting.”

The newly named Fellby looked at him in surprise, knowing that Grillby hardly ever talked in front of people, especially people he didn’t know. Grillby himself was surprised, but for some reason he couldn’t explain, he felt…comfortable speaking in front of you. You were a stranger to him yet it’s as if your mere presence brought him safety and comfort, letting him speak freely in front of you.

You were a bit surprised since you knew that Grillby was a man of few words, but you hid it behind a blush and a giggle.

“Thank you for your consideration, um…Grillby was it? The one the bar’s named after?” you said, pretending not to know who he was.

“That’s me,” he said, a small smile on his face. “I apologize for my cousin’s behavior.”

“Tch, you’re just a stick in the mud,” Fellby grumbled. “Well, if you’re not gonna drink, what’ll it be, doll?”

“Ah.” You took a look at the menu before deciding what to eat. “I’ll take a burger and an order of fries, please.”

Grillby nodded. “Understood. Fellby, behave while I’m in the kitchen.”

“Yeah, yeah, just get outta here,” he said, waving him off.

Grillby glared at him, getting his point across, before heading into the kitchen. Once he was gone, Fellby grinned at you.

“Good, he’s gone. Now I can talk in peace. Have you met him before, dollface? You don’t know, but Grillby’s a guy who doesn’t talk much, so you’ve got to have met him before. I can’t believe he’s been hiding a girl as beautiful as you!”

Your blush worsened and you shook your head. “N-No! This is my first time here and I’ve never met Grillby before now.”

“Fellby’s right though! You’re very cute!”

You jumped a little in your seat as the elemental who greeted you at the door took a seat next to you, grinning.

“I’m Swirlby, deary,” he introduced himself. “And I have to say you must be really special if Grillby’s talking to you so freely. Like Fellby said, he usually doesn’t talk much with people he doesn’t know so seeing him talk is a surprise.”

What is with these fire elementals and them making you blush? Your blush deepened at Swirlby’s words and you looked down at your lap, fidgeting with your hands.

“O-Oh, I didn’t know that. I don’t think I’m all that special though…I’m just a normal person,” you said, trying to calm your racing heart.

Swirlby chuckled and booped your nose. “Well I think you’re something special. Don’t you, Fellby?”

Fellby was about to respond when another fire elemental emerged from the kitchen. His flames were magenta and he was dressed like a Victorian era gentleman complete with a monocle that had a swirl in it.

“Have you been minding your manners in front of the lady, Fellby?” he asked with a smile.

The purple elemental rolled his eyes. “What’re you doing out here, Flareby?”

“Grillby instructed me to keep an eye on you while he’s cooking,” the newly introduced Flareby said. “After all, with a brute such as yourself, you’d scare off any beautiful lady, ahuhu!”

“Say that again, you damned fake gentleman! Like you’re not a brute yourself!”

Flareby ignored him and took the seat next to you that wasn’t occupied by Swirlby.

“Ignore our brutish cousin, my dear. I hope he doesn’t scare you off from coming back,” he said to you with a gentlemanly smile.

Stars, he called you “my dear”. Swirlby’s “deary” was adorable and Fellby’s “doll” and “dollface” was a little embarrassing, but “my dear” certainly hits different. Have fire elementals always been this charming?

“It’s okay. Fellby isn’t really bothering me and I’m definitely going to come back,” you said. “The atmosphere here is lovely and you’re all so lively!”

Swirlby squealed and pulled you into a hug. “Aw, I’m glad you think so!”

You were surprised at the hug, but since it felt warm and comforting you didn’t mind. You giggled at Swirlby’s excitement and hugged back. At that moment, Grillby came out of the kitchen with your food. He tilted his head seeing you and Swirlby hugging, but since it seemed that you consented to it, he just nodded his head and placed your food down.

Fellby’s eye twitched. “What the hell, Grillby?! You scold me for getting close, but you let Swirlby get close?!”

“That’s because unlike you, my intentions are pure!” Swirlby countered, letting go of you.

“The hell did you say, candle?!”

“Aahh, they’re at it again I see, ahuhu,” Flareby laughed.

You looked on in concern as Fellby picked up Swirlby by his lapels, but Grillby just shook his head.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “Bickering is common between them. Everyone’s used to it by now.”

He gestured to the other customers who weren’t even batting an eye at the bickering elementals. Some of the humans were looking curiously, but didn’t step in seeing that everyone was just ignoring them. Your concern went away as you nodded in understanding.

“You have such lively cousins,” you said. “It must make life that much more exciting for you.”

Grillby sighed. “It’s exciting in some way. I have to mediate between them since I’m the peacekeeper around here.”

You watched the fire cousins bicker as you took a bite of your burger. Your eyes sparkled as the most wonderful flavor filled your mouth. This was quite possibly the best burger you’ve ever had in your entire life, and you’ve had quite a few burgers.

“Whoa…this is so good!” you exclaimed. “You’re such a good cook, Grillby! This is honestly the best burger I’ve ever had!”

The bartender’s face turned a little blue, his own way of blushing. “Thank you for your praise.”

You conversed with him as you ate, the others stopping their bickering to chime in at times before going back to bickering with each other. Grillby had to step in a few times before he just let them go at it, you and him watching in amusement. When you finished your dinner, you had two slices of pie to go, one from a pie Swirlby made and another from Flareby’s pie. With a smile and a wave, you bid goodbye to the fire cousins, your heart and stomach full.

Once you were gone, Fellby threw a smirk in Grillby’s way.

“What’s with you tonight? You were talkin’ up a storm with her. You fall in love or something?”

Grillby just gave him a blank look. “No.”

“I think there’s something special about her,” Swirlby said, reiterating what he had said earlier. “I feel really comfortable around her, like I just want to hug her and bake her my best cookies!”

Flareby let out a chuckle. “Ahuhu…I agree. It’s like the first time I saw the stars, I can never get tired of looking at her.”

“She’s quite the sight,” Fellby agreed, leaning on the bar and putting his hand on his cheek. “The next time she comes in, I’m definitely getting her number.”

“Ah…”

The others looked at Grillby as he seemed to realize something.

“What’s up?” Swirlby asked.

“I just realized…that we never got her name…”

“Ah.”

Chapter Text

Four weeks passed since you moved in and decided on the spot to move out. You had told your mom to give you some time to see if the skeletons would warm up to you before moving out. During the first week or so, things seemed okay for the most part. The day after you went to Grillby’s you kept your promise to Papyrus and Blue and joined them for lunch. The spaghetti and tacos were…interesting to say the least. You couldn’t refuse Papyrus and Blue’s expectant faces so you bore with it and ate every single bite. Their happy faces made every bite worth it, even if your stomach did suffer massive damage. After that, every now and then they would invite you to eat with them, and you would but it started to get harder with the other skeletons’ stares. Especially when Sherry would fuel the fire. As the weeks passed, their invitations waned until they stopped altogether. Edge and Black would glare at you and hurl insults whenever you entered their line of sight. Something about you being fake and threatening you to never get near their brothers. Red was also very threatening, but he hid his threats in his jokes and puns. Stretch would just watch your every move with narrowed eyes and Mutt just sat on the sidelines, muttering a “heh” every so often. You didn’t see Sans often as he kept to himself in the basement but whenever you crossed paths with him his eye lights would go out.

Then the trouble started half into the second week.

Small things like clothes started going missing and somehow ended up in your room. You had no idea how they got there, but everyone aside from Papyrus and Blue blamed you for stealing. Then there were a few days where dinner was burnt and once again the blame laid with you, which honestly made you mad considering how much you loved to cook. When Sherry’s stuff started appearing in your bedroom, the accusations worsened and you figured out what was going on.

You were being used.

Any time Sherry’s things appeared in your room, she would say things like “(Y/N), I thought you were doing your best to get better!” or “You said you would stop stealing my things!”. You figured out then that she had spun a story about you being a childhood “friend” who stole her stuff and bullied her around as well as being a monster hater. Her lies were what caused the skeletons to hate you on sight when you first moved in. Anything that Sherry messed up, you were to blame. At first, you had tried to get the misunderstandings cleared up, but everyone just flat out refused to believe you, blindly trusting Sherry’s words. That had gotten you angry, angry enough to bring divine punishment to them but you knew that that wasn’t the answer. No matter what you did, no one believed you and as much as you wanted to straighten things out and reveal the truth, you couldn’t help people who didn’t want it. This entire ordeal had made your job search more stressful than it should have been, so you ended up doing odd jobs here and there instead of committing to a fulltime job.

“It’s a good thing you have a lot saved up. That way, you can rely on it for a bit while you search for a job in a much calmer and safer environment,” your mom said.

Currently, you were in your room laying on your bed as you talked to your mom on the phone.

“Yeah, and I’m just about ready to move out,” you told her. “I still have a lot of my things in boxes so I can pack up really quick.”

“Good, because your father and I have found a wonderful place for you! It’s a nice condo that’s far from the villa and is near some really nice shops. The landlord is a friend of ours and has given us a good deal on the condo. You can even move in the same day you decide on it!”

“Really? That’s good to know! I also found a nice studio apartment, so I’ll check those two places out. Text me the address of the condo, okay? I’m gonna go pack up a few more things to make moving easier, so I’m going to hang up.”

“Alright, sweetie. Take care of yourself!”

You said your goodbyes and hung up, sitting up and getting ready to pack up a few more things when Edge screamed for you.

“HUMAN!!!”

You sighed, knowing just what was going to happen next. You were going to be blamed for something or other and everyone was going to accuse you and try to force you to apologize to Sherry. You applied a thin layer of magic to your arms as a sort of barrier before heading downstairs. Edge and Black had a tendency to grab your arms and leave bruises and scratch marks, so you started using your magic to minimize them. It wasn’t strong enough to stop them completely as you feared that they would notice that you were using magic.

You reached the living room where everyone aside from Sans was gathered. In the middle of the bone pile was a crying Sherry and you had to hold back another sigh.

Here we go again.

“What is it, Edge? Did something happen?” you asked.

Edge snarled at you. “DON’T TRY TO PLAY INNOCENT, YOU WHELP! YOU STOLE SHERRY’S PRECIOUS NECKLACE!”

This time you couldn’t repress your sigh as you brought a hand to your forehead. Suddenly you felt very, very tired.

“And? Why do you think I stole it?”

“BECAUSE SHERRY FOUND IT IN YOUR JACKET POCKET!” Black exclaimed, holding up your jacket.

That’s your jacket alright. Earlier, you took it off when you came back inside from running some errands. Right then, a delivery man had rung the doorbell and you had set it aside in order to answer the door. You had forgotten to grab it on your way back to your room. How careless.

“And exactly when did this happen?”

“why are you asking when you already know? it was a few hours ago,” Red said.

“I wasn’t even here a few hours ago. I was out running errands,” you countered.

Edge grabbed your arm as you predicted. You winced but the magic you had applied lessened the pain.

“APOLOGIZE RIGHT NOW, THIEF!” he demanded. “NO ONE SAW YOU LEAVE OR ENTER SO YOU MUST BE LYING ABOUT BEING OUT!”

You glared at him. “I’m not going to apologize for something I didn’t do. Why don’t you go ahead and check the camera outside? You’ll find that I wasn’t here the last few hours.”

“why don’t you stop lying now? it was in your jacket pocket so you had to have stolen it,” Stretch said. “and even if you were out, you could’ve stolen it when you got home.”

You gave him an incredulous look, disbelief filling your body. “Why would I go to the trouble of stealing something then putting it in my jacket pocket and leaving it here?!”

“Guys, it’s okay…” Sherry sniffled. “I got it back, but…(Y/N), when are you going to stop stealing? We’ve grown up now, so you should know it’s not right to steal.”

“HUMAN (Y/N)...PEOPLE CAN CHANGE. I BELIEVE YOU CAN TOO!” Papyrus said nervously.

You turned to Sherry, your face now showing a deadpan expression. “We have never grown up together. I literally met you only weeks ago.”

“YOU’RE DENYING YOUR CHILDHOOD WITH HER?! HOW LOW CAN YOU GET?!” Black screamed.

“pretty harsh, don’t ya think?” Mutt asked.

“(Y/N)...” Blue muttered your name.

You pulled your arm out of Edge’s grip and grabbed your jacket from Black’s. This was getting ridiculous and you decided then and there to stop your search for a new place to decide on either the condo or studio apartment in order to get out of the villa as soon as possible.

“Whatever Sherry has told you about me isn’t true. I have never grown up with her nor have I ever bullied her. The only time I met her was when I answered the ad for a roommate. She does not know my life nor do I know hers. I do know one thing though, and that is she lied and is lying to you about me. But I know you wouldn’t believe my words over hers because she’s such a ‘saint’ to you. She’s not.”

Your deadpan expression turned into a glare and something in it made the skeletons flinch. They didn’t know what it was, but it felt as though they had angered a god despite you being a human. For one second, they felt their sins crawl down their backs. Even though they felt that they were in the right. You turned around, glancing back at them coldly.

“And trust me, I know what a real saint would be like.”

You headed back to your room, leaving them in shocked silence. Closing and locking your door, you leaned against it, breathing deeply in order to let your anger leave your system. You rolled up your sleeve and winced, already seeing that it was developing bruises from Edge’s hand. At least you could heal it so that the bruises would fade away more quickly. After a few minutes of you trying to calm down, you decided that you wanted to be out of the villa as much as possible. So you threw your jacket on, left your room and locked it tight before hurrying out the door, ignoring the startled stares from the others as you left.

You started up your car and after a bit of driving, you reached the nearest park just as it started to get dark enough for the stars to come out. You made your way to the fountain in the center of the park and sat down on its edge, looking up at the stars.

Looking up at the stars always filled you with energy and you could feel the last bits of your anger wash away as you watched them. Instead of anger, a small wave of nostalgia filled you as you stared at your former domain. You missed being among the stars, creating constellations for humans and monsters to see. You made stars fall from the sky so that they could wish on them, and gave the first star of the night just as much wishing power. Your mind wandered to Sans and Blue as you reached up towards the stars.

“It’s such a shame…” you muttered. “That such people who love the stars are like that…”

Before he stopped talking to you, Blue had told you that he and Sans loved the stars. You could feel it too, faintly. When you were a goddess, you could feel your followers’ love for the stars and that carried over to your new life, but much, much weaker. You no longer drew power from their belief, but whenever you could feel it it always filled you with love and happiness. Sans and Blue’s love for the stars filled you with that same love and happiness, but it also made you sad and disappointed. Whenever he was even around, Sans was always giving you trouble and Blue would go along with whatever Sherry’s next lie was and tried to get you to “change your evil ways”. You felt bad for Blue as well as Papyrus, but you couldn’t push past their bystander act.

“Huh? Aren’t you…?”

You startled and turned to whoever was addressing you only to see that it was Grillby. He was holding a bag of groceries so you figured you must have been on a grocery run for the bar.

“Oh! Hello, Grillby,” you greeted him, a smile on your face as you moved away from the fountain. You didn’t want him to get near water after all.

“I’m so sorry I haven’t come back since my first visit,” you apologized. “These past few weeks have been…busy to say the least.”

Grillby shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. Please come whenever you have the time. When you do, just ignore Fellby’s whining. He’s been whining that the others scared you off before he could get your number.”

You giggled. “Swirlby and Flareby were sweethearts. Fellby…I think he’s a nice guy, if a bit of a delinquent.”

Grillby let out a huff of amusement. You had hit the nail on the head.

“By the way, I never got your name,” he said.

You gasped, putting a hand over your mouth. That’s right! You never introduced yourself to them! You talked a lot with them but giving them your name slipped your mind.

“Oh my stars! I’m sorry about that! My name is (Y/N) (L/N), and I’m sorry for the late introduction,” you introduced yourself with a sheepish smile on your face.

Grillby’s flames crackled in surprise. You were (Y/N)? His mind flashed back to the night of Red’s most recent visit to the bar.

The bell over the door rang and Grillby and Fellby looked up to see Red come inside. Both elementals were surprised to see him since his visits had become fewer and fewer within the last year.

“Well look who it is,” Fellby said with a smirk as Red walked into the bar. “Finally decided to show your ugly mug, Red? You haven’t been here in so long, I thought you dusted! Hah!”

“shut up, fells,” Red growled. “this ‘ugly mug’ scored me a girlfriend if you’ve forgotten.”

Fellby clicked his tongue, eyes narrowing at the mention of said girlfriend. He didn’t like Sherry one bit, none of his “cousins” did. They had only met her one time, and while she had acted nice and sweet, something about her rubbed the elementals the wrong way. Not to mention that Sans and Red’s scarce visits started after they met her.

“You’re still with that bitch?” he asked, a faint growl in his voice. “That woman gives the alcohol a bad name. You should just drop her.”

“watch what you say about our angel, fellby,” Red growled back, eye glowing with magic. “i dunno why you’re such an ass to her when she’s been nothing but sweet to you.”

“Red,” Grillby warned him. The regulars had tensed up at the sight of his glowing eye.

Red “tsk”-ed and the magic faded away, as did the tension in the regulars’ bodies. He took a seat at the bar where he and Fellby glared at each other. Grillby silently placed a bottle of mustard in front of him.

“It’s been a while,” Grillby said, diffusing the tension.

“we got stuff to do,” Red shrugged. “‘specially now that we got a new roommate, if you can even call her that. she’s the one you should be calling a bitch.”

Fellby raised an eyebrow. “A new roommate? Didn’t think anyone would be brave or desperate enough to get mixed up with your so-called ‘angel’.”

Red glared at him. “she’s someone sherry knew from childhood. name’s (y/n) (l/n), a bully who’d steal her stuff and pick on her, but sherry said that she was tryin’ to go on the straight and narrow. she believed that she was changing and wanted to help’er out. but that bitch took her trust and spit it back at her.”

He ranted about all the things that had been happening at the villa. From burning Sherry’s dinners to stolen clothes and jewelry, everything was your fault. There was even one case where you had tried to seduce Papyrus away from Sherry. Grillby and Fellby shared a glance as Red continued his rant.

You honestly sounded like the most awful person on the planet to ever exist. However, with how they felt about Sherry, they couldn’t make assumptions based on Red’s story alone.

“ah, shit. i gotta go before boss drags me back,” Red cursed. “put the mustard on my tab, fellby.”

Before Fellby could yell at him to pay his damn tab, Red shortcutted away. Fellby cursed, swearing that he was going to dust him one day.

“...What do you think?” Fellby asked.

Grilby glanced at him before picking up a glass to polish. “I don’t want to make assumptions, but right now my impression of her isn’t good. We’d have to see (Y/N) for ourselves.”

“Yeah…I suppose that’s right.”

“...by…? Grillby?”

Grillby blinked, looking at you as he snapped out of his thoughts at your voice. You were looking at him in concern, as he had gone quiet after you introduced yourself.

“Are you okay?” you asked.

“Yes, I’m fine,” he apologized. “You were saying?”

“I was just calling you since you went quiet all of a sudden. It got me worried.”

“I just remembered something, that’s all,” he said, waving a hand.

You tilted your head, still a bit concerned but you didn’t push it.

“Are you heading back to the bar? I can drive you back so you don’t have to walk over,” you offered.

Grillby furrowed his brows. “Are you sure? I don’t want to bother you.”

“Don’t worry about it. I wasn’t doing anything anyways, just looking at the stars.”

“But…”

You smiled, pointing in the direction of your car. “I was just starting to feel a little hungry, so why don’t we head to the bar together?”

He gave you a small smile in return, finally accepting your offer. “Alright then.”

The two of you started walking to your car and he noticed that your gaze turned to the stars now and then. You were more focused on them than on the man of fire next to you which intrigued him. Monsters have been on the surface for four years now, but humans still stare and point at them. Many have certainly stared at him a lot and were wary of his flames. You, however, stood close to him and walked next to him with none of that wariness.

“Do you like stargazing?” he asked, looking up at them.

“Very much,” you answered. “They’re wonderful and beautiful things, aren’t they? You can wish on them, create stories from them, they can guide you when you’ve lost your way…”

You turned to him and his breath hitched. The smile on your face was mysterious and ethereal, as if you knew secrets of the world he couldn’t possibly know.

“They can even bring people together as if it were fate.”

Grillby’s soul thumped in his chest and he gulped. The picture of you and your ethereal smile under a starry sky filled his vision and it almost felt too much for him to handle. It was like you were meant for the stars and the stars were meant for you.

Your giggle broke him out of the spell you unknowingly put him under.

“And it must be fate that we met tonight because I’m craving that burger of yours! Swirlby and Flareby’s pies too! They were so delicious that I’ve been dreaming about them, haha!”

Grillby smiled softly. “I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the food. Swirlby and Flareby would be happy to hear it as well. Knowing them, they’ll probably put in more effort for your dessert.”

“Oh, they don’t have to go the extra mile, but…maybe I could get the recipes?” you asked hopefully.

“Haha, good luck on that.”

The two of you chatted all the way to your car, and the comfort Grillby felt from you when he first met you filled his soul, pushing away any doubts about you.

It was as if the stars had lifted what little clouded his soul and turned it into stardust.

Chapter Text

The bright, welcoming lights of Grillby’s showed you that you had reached your destination and you parked across the street.

“Thank you for the ride, (Y/N),” Grillby thanked you as he got out of the car, taking the groceries with him.

“No problem, Grillby,” you said, getting out as well.

The two of you walked into the bar and Grillby was immediately greeted by Swirlby.

“Grillby! You were running a bit late so I was going to check up on you, but you made it back! What took you so long?” It was then that he noticed you were there and his face lit up quite literally. His flames turned brighter as he smiled. “Oh, it’s you! I knew we didn’t scare you off! See that, Fellby?! The lovely lady is back!”

He ushered you and Grillby towards the bar and you took the same seat as you did on your first visit.

“I see her, candle,” Fellby called back with a smirk. “Welcome back, dollface. I’m sure it was my charm that brought you back after being scared off by the candle and the real brute.”

He jabbed a thumb in Flareby’s direction. He had taken Grillby’s place behind the bar while he was out. The magenta elemental huffed, pointing back at him.

“We all know you’re the real brute around here. You have no class whatsoever,” he said, ignoring Fellby’s cursing as he turned to you. “In any case, welcome back, my dear. We’re very sorry for Fellby’s behavior last time.”

“Don’t worry, he didn’t bother me,” you said, giggling. “I’m sorry for not visiting sooner. I’ve been busy these last few weeks.”

“You’re here now, which makes it alright,” Fellby said, leaning on the bar. “Which also means that I can ask you for your number now, beautiful. Let’s get to know each other a little bet–ow!”

Grillby threw down a fist on his head as he took Flareby’s place.

“Stop making her uncomfortable,” he chided him.

“I’m not! I just want to get to know her!” he whined. “Besides, you’re the one who walked in with her! Why isn’t anyone saying anything about that?!”

“Because Grillby is a gentleman, unlike you,” Flareby pointed out.

“Yeah, he has pure intentions!” Swirlby added, chuckling. “You’re the only one with impure intentions!”

“What the fuck did you say, candle?! Who says my intentions are impure?!”

Like during your first visit, Fellby held up Swirlby by his lapels, the yellow elemental just laughing in his face.

“Why did you walk in together, Grillby?” Flareby asked.

“We ran into each other at the park,” the orange elemental answered.

“I offered to drive him to the bar so that he didn’t have to walk all the way back,” you added. “We talked for a bit so I’m sorry for making him late.”

“It’s alright, we’re able to hold the fort,” Swirlby said, escaping from Fellby’s grasp.

“Thank you for bringing him back to us safely,” Flareby thanked you. “We’ll make your meal on the house as thanks.”

“Oh, please don’t worry about it!” you exclaimed, waving your hands. “I didn’t do it for a free meal after all.”

“Then at least let us put your dessert on the house, deary!” Swirlby said. “Flareby and I will even throw in our best cookies!”

“Will you accept, my dear?” Flareby asked expectantly.

You sighed, smiling in exasperation. “Alright then. Thank you for your generosity, Swirlby, Flareby. Oh! By the way I never did introduce myself. I already told Grillby, but my name is (Y/N) (L/N)! Sorry for the late introduction.”

The other elementals looked at you in surprise, looking back at Grillby with an unsaid question in their eyes. You wondered what they were so surprised about, and gave them a questioning look to which they just laughed sheepishly.

Grillby just nodded in response to their silent question and they discreetly shared glances with each other before smiling at you. In Fellby’s case, it was more a smirk than a smile as he leaned in closer to you.

“(Y/N), eh? Now that I finally got a name to put to your pretty face, how about that number exchange–gah! Would you guys stop hitting me every time I ask for her number?!”

He rubbed his head, glaring at Flareby who was the culprit this time around.

“Ahuhu. No,” Flareby sang, smirking at him.

“You deserve it after all, ahuhuhu!” Swirlby cackled.

“Why you–!!”

And they were at it again. Grillby just gave you a tired look and you laughed in response.

“It seems they won’t be stopping any time soon, so I’ll just go ahead and make your food,” he said.

“Thank you,” you said. “I’ll keep an eye on them, so don’t worry, hehe!”

He nodded and headed into the kitchen, groceries in hand. You watched the cousins bicker with each other in amusement until one of the dog monsters tapped you on the shoulder to talk to you. The dogs were there the night of Red’s visit and had overheard him ranting about you, causing them to decide to see if you were as bad as Red had said. The dog didn’t tell you this of course. You told the dog, who introduced herself as Dogaressa, that you were just a normal person and weren’t some secret friend the elementals had kept secret. Eventually she invited you to play poker with the rest of the dogs and you agreed. The bickering elementals didn’t even notice you had left the bar until Dogaressa’s husband, Dogamy, let out a sorrowful whimper as he lost the game. He had a full house but you had beaten him with a straight flush.

“Looks like I win this round,” you laughed.

Dogamy whimpered again. “I thought I had it in the bag this time! I thought tonight’s losing streak was going to end!”

Dogaressa laughed, patting her husband on the back. “(Oh, don’t worry, dear. You’ll win the next round.)”

Greater Dog and Lesser Dog let out a yip and Doggo barked out a laugh.

“I doubt that, considering that everyone who won had a hand a rank higher than his!”

You and the dogs laughed and poor Dogamy gave Dogaressa kicked puppy eyes. She giggled and nuzzled him with her nose. The dogs, like the elementals, had felt that comforting aura you gave off and immediately accepted you into their pack, allowing them to freely laugh like this.

“Oi, mutts! You have some nerve to steal (Y/N) from under my nose!” Fellby yelled.

“Quite rude of you indeed,” Flareby frowned.

Swirlby trotted over, standing next to you with a pout. “Why didn’t you tell us you left?”

Dogaressa waved them off. “You looked busy. It’s not our fault you didn’t notice her leaving the bar.”

The dogs snickered as Fellby and Flareby grumbled while Swirlby kept his pout. The door to the kitchen opened and Grillby came out with your food, looking a little surprised to see you sitting with the dogs before setting down your plate.

“Playing poker?” he asked.

“(I invited her to play with us),” Dogaressa answered. “(And she just beat Dogamy this round!)”

Dogamy laid his head on the table, looking at his cards sadly. “I just can’t seem to win tonight…”

“You’ll win sometime, my friend,” Grillby comforted him.

“I’m gonna go eat at the bar,” you said, pointing to said bar. “That way you’ll have less competition, haha!”

“Har har, very funny,” Dogamy said sarcastically, grinning at you.

You waved at the dogs as they started up another round before going back to your seat at the bar, the elementals practically surrounding you as you returned. Swirlby and Flareby taking the seats on either side of you while Grillby and Fellby were behind the bar.

“The dogs have really taken to you,” Grillby commented.

“They’re really friendly!” you exclaimed after taking a bite of your burger. “And they’re so fluffy that I want to pet them! Oh, er, is that, like, inappropriate or something? Because they’re not like normal dogs.”

You flushed, thinking that you might have unknowingly offended your new friends within minutes of knowing them. Grillby let out a soft chuckle.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “They love being pet, and Greater Dog is known to give a lot of love and attention to people he likes.”

You let out a relieved sigh and smiled. “Okay, good to know. I’ll be sure to give him lots of love and attention in return.”

“Keh, long as he doesn’t come slobbering all over us, we’re fine with him bothering everyone else,” Fellby grumbled.

“Oh, don’t worry about being slobbered over, Fellby,” Flareby said, grinning. “He doesn’t like you anyways.”

Fellby glared at him, growling. “Say that again, fucker! I’ll have you know that I got the most charm outta all of us here!”

“Actually, I’m the most charming one here,” Swirlby proclaimed, a hand to his chest. “You’re just mean.”

“Fuck off, candle! You have no sense of style! What the hell is that suit you always wear?! It’s a disaster!”

The three argued again, this time arguing who has the most charm and sense of fashion. You and Grillby just shook your heads.

“How have you been?” Grillby asked, ignoring his bickering cousins. “You said you’ve been busy these past few weeks. Is everything alright?”

“Well…” You thought for a moment, thinking about how to best describe the villa that’s been your personal hell for the past four weeks. “It could be better. My roommates aren’t exactly…friendly, so I’ve been looking for a new place to move into.”

Grillby tilted his head, his hands that had been polishing a glass slowing. The others tuned in, pausing their argument to listen to you. No doubt you were talking about their skeleton friends. They didn’t want to say anything about knowing them, feeling that it would be unwise to share at this moment.

“Assholes, huh?” Fellby asked.

“Well, I wouldn’t say it like that…” you said, not usually one to curse. “But yes. They usually blame me for things I didn’t do. No one listens to me, so I just decided that I’d rather move out.”

You didn’t want to dump everything on the elementals. You had just met after all and you didn’t want to overshare.

“Do they not investigate the real cause?” Flareby asked. “After all, if it’s not you, then shouldn’t they at least investigate?”

You fidgeted, unconsciously rubbing your arm. “Er…not really. Everyone just believes one of our other roommates words. She’s, uh…well, she’s in a relationship with all my other roommates to put it bluntly. It’s kinda like her word is law, or something like that. I think it’s pretty stupid honestly, but like I said, no one listens to me so…oh my stars, I hope I’m not bothering you with this or oversharing.”

You covered your face with your hands, groaning. Sometimes it was a bit hard to not share too much when you just wanted someone to listen. At least you had friends that you could and did spill everything to.

“Don’t worry, we’ve heard a lot in our career,” Grillby reassured you.

“Yeah, that’s what happens when you’re a bartender,” Fellby added. “Lotta people drowning their sorrows in alcohol that spill pretty much everything.”

“So basically, everyone thinks you’re some sort of villain?” Swirlby asked.

“Without hearing your side of things?” Flareby asked, crossing his arms.

You shrugged, swirling your cola with your straw. “Pretty much. I’ve been trying to get the misunderstandings cleared up, but no one will hear me out. Just before I came here, I got blamed for something I wasn’t even around for. Right then I decided to move out as soon as possible, and I’ve already found two places I could move into on the same day.”

Swirlby and Flareby had hummed, looking thoughtful as they put a hand over their mouths. Fellby had glanced at them, eyes narrowed in thought. Grillby’s face was neutral, but as he glanced at his cousins, he had a feeling as to what they were thinking. You continued on, unaware of their silent thoughts.

“My parents found a condo and I found this really nice studio apartment. I’m thinking of checking the condo first and then the studio apartment. It’s gotta be one of those two because I just can’t stand staying in that villa any longer.”

The elementals glanced at each other before coming to an understanding. Grillby turned to you, flames crackling gently.

“(Y/N)...if possible, could you stay here until we close?” he asked.

You blinked, tilting your head questioningly. “May I ask why?”

“We just wanna ask you something, doll,” Fellby said. “And it’d be better if no one was around.”

“Don’t worry! We won’t do anything!” Swirlby shook his head and waved his hands, realizing how Fellby’s words could be taken. “It’s pretty important, so please hear us out.”

“It has to do with your story just now,” Flareby explained. “Will you listen?”

You were curious and this was a good reason to stay outside of the villa longer so you nodded.

“Okay then.”

A few hours went by and it was almost closing time for the bar. The last customers, the dog pack, got up and waved goodbye to you and the elementals. Dogaressa specifically looked at each man in the fire group with a look that said “No funny business.” before she walked out.

“Well, everyone’s gone,” you said, looking around the empty bar. “So what did you want to talk about?”

The elementals looked at each other for a moment once more before turning back to you.

“About your roommates,” Grillby began. “Would they happen to be skeletons?”

You blinked, eyebrows raised in surprise before furrowing. “Yeah, they are. Do you know them…?”

“We do,” Fellby answered. “A couple of’em are regulars here. And they’re, ugh… friends. ”

He hissed that last word like it hurt him to say it. Grillby looked amused for a moment.

“Yes, we’re friends with them,” he said. “Sans and Red are regulars and our friends.”

That shocked you. You had come to a place that those skeletons regularly frequent? A place you were hoping to become an escape from them? Stars, what if you had run into them?! Grillby’s was a very cozy and comforting place, and a place where you could see an old friend. You’d hate to even think about not coming because of the potential of running into the skeletons.

“Well, they were regulars,” Swirlby said sadly. “They’ve been coming less and less over the past year.”

Flareby huffed and scowled, looking a lot like Fellby in that moment. “And it all started after they met that woman.”

“Recently, Red came over to the bar. It was a surprise to say the least. Thought the fucker dusted because he hasn’t visited in forever,” Fellby growled. “We heard about you from him and he made you sound like the bitchiest person to ever exist.”

Grillby gave you an apologetic look. “We were a little wary of you, but because something about Sherry didn’t feel right to us, we didn’t dislike you right off the bat. When you introduced yourself to me, I was surprised to know you were the supposed ‘monster hater’.”

“I don’t hate monsters at all!” you exclaimed, frantically shaking your head. “Every monster I’ve met has been so kind! Well…except for the skeletons.”

“Don’t worry, we believe you,” Flareby said. “You see, there’s something about you that makes us feel very…comfortable in your presence. It’s why the dogs accepted you into their pack so easily.”

“You’re a good person, aren’t you?” Grillby asked with a gentle smile.

You blushed and looked down at the bar. “W-Well, I hope I’m a good person. I mean, I don’t want to be mean to anyone.”

“Deary, do you mind if we do a check on you?” Swirlby asked carefully.

You looked at him in surprise. You remembered what checking for monsters meant thanks to your previous life. Monsters could look into one’s soul and see their true intentions or emotions, which is a reason why you hid your magic so that if a monster checked you, they’d think you were a normal human. Being able to mask it completely was a perk from when you were a goddess, and one you were very grateful for. You wished the skeletons would do a check on you but they refused to.

“Sure, I don’t mind. Checking is like…seeing a status screen like a video game right?” you asked, making it seem like you didn’t know exactly what it was.

“Yes, it’s similar to that,” Grillby said. “Then, if you don’t mind, we’ll check you.”

You nodded and the elementals all checked you, each check having different information for each elemental.

(Y/N) (L/N)

LV: 1 ATK: 10 DEF: 10

*A kind soul who wants to move out of the villa immediately. (Grillby)

*Is so done with Sherry’s bullshit lies about her. (Fellby)

*She hopes that she won’t be blamed for something she didn’t do when she gets back to the villa. (Swirlby)

*She wishes the skeletons could see the truth about their girlfriend. (Flareby)

“So that bitch has been telling lies about you, huh?” Fellby concluded.

“Yeah, did you see that?” you asked. “She told the skeletons that we knew each other since we were kids and I was like some childhood bully to her. I never grew up with her nor was I a bully. I only met her weeks ago when I answered the ad for a roommate.”

Flareby sighed, growling. “We knew she wasn’t any good. When we met her, her sweetness felt fake. Like she was just acting, and badly at that.”

“Your sweetness is just as fake if you ask me,” Fellby grumbled.

Flareby glared and grabbed him in a headlock. “Say that again, you brute!”

“Gah! Look who’s being the brute now, fucker!”

Grillby ignored the purple and magenta elementals in favor of speaking next.

“We’re so sorry about what’s happened to you at the villa,” he apologized.

“It’s not your fault,” you reassured him. “If anything, I’m glad you told me all this. You’re worried about Sans and them, right?”

“Yes, we are,” Grillby replied. “We tried pulling them aside to talk about Sherry, but…”

Fellby had finally escaped Flareby’s headlock, rubbing his neck with a scowl.

“They think that bitch is an angel,” he huffed, obviously not pleased about that. “I told Red to drop her, but he didn’t listen to me, that fucker.”

“I suppose it must have been the same for you when you tried to tell them what you found out,” Flareby said, dusting off his hands.

“Yeah, unfortunately,” you said, nodding.

“I’m especially worried about Blue and Papyrus, those soft souls…” Swirlby said worriedly.

You understood his worry, seeing how nice Papyrus and Blue were to you despite Sherry’s lies. Out of all the skeletons in the villa, you felt for them the most and wanted to help them out.

“I’d like to help, but I’m afraid they don’t want it,” you told them. “And I can’t help people who don’t want it, so I need to leave before things escalate.”

Fellby crossed his arms, looking thoughtful for a moment.

“....Why don’t you just come live with us then? You don’t gotta go to that condo or studio apartment or anything. We can just get your stuff and bail you out tomorrow even.”

His cousins whirled around and looked at him in surprise, having not expected him of all people to offer such a thing.

“What?” he asked, frowning at their surprised faces. “Grillby was wondering what to do with the spare bedroom!”

“Well yes,” the orange elemental admitted. “But Fellby, you just heard about her experiences with roommates. (Y/N) shouldn’t be forced to have roommates again if she doesn’t want to.”

“We won’t treat her like shit like Red and them do,” the purple elemental barked, but then he looked a little sheepish at Grillby’s deadpan glare. “But, uh…yeah, guess I might’ve jumped the gun there…”

“I, for one, would love to have you as a roommate, (Y/N)!” Swirlby exclaimed, finally brightening up a little. “But of course you don’t have to live with us if you don’t want to.”

“The offer is there, however,” Flareby stated. “And we’ll help you move your things into your new place regardless of whether you decide to live with us or not.”

You contemplated the offer. It was rather generous of them to let you come and live with them after hearing your story and despite only knowing you for a short while. You admitted that you loved the notion of living with Grillby, an old friend that you held dear to your heart even though this Grillby was not the same one you had known. Not to mention that you were already at the point where you were ready to leave at any time. You looked up at the ceiling as if you could see the stars outside.

The fire elementals silently awaited your answer, their fire crackling anxiously. You turned your gaze from the ceiling to Grillby and gave him a soft smile.

“Grillby, you remember what I said about the stars?” you asked.

Grillby tilted his head, trying to figure out which part you were talking about.

“...That they can bring people together as if it were fate?”

Your smile grew and suddenly each elemental felt as though you had taken their breath away. Taking out a little memo pad and pen that you were glad you brought from your car, you wrote down your number and gave it to Fellby, giggling as he looked dumbfounded at receiving the thing he’d been bothering you about for two nights now.

“I’ll take you up on your offer, if you don’t mind. I have nearly all of my stuff packed away so I can leave tomorrow.”

You stood up, straightening out your clothes before getting ready to leave. That same ethereal smile that you gave Grillby earlier was now present on your face again. Grillby could feel his soul clench once more, and it wasn’t only him. Fellby, Swirlby and Flareby each felt their soul clench in a way that was almost painful yet so deliciously sweet. It was almost unbearable, as if they felt they weren’t worthy of that smile that you gave so freely to them. And their minds must be playing tricks on them because as you turned back to them, the stars seemed to twinkle in your eyes.

“It really must have been fate that we met tonight. The stars, the light of the night skies, have led me to you, the light that wander the earth and the light who now guides my new path.”

Chapter Text

You thanked the stars that no one had come to bother you when you returned to the villa that night. Everyone seemed to be asleep, leaving you with some well earned peace and quiet at the villa. Quietly and carefully, you rummaged through a box.

“As much as I want to leave, I can’t leave without doing this,” you muttered to yourself.

Letting out a quiet “aha”, you pulled out a box full of colorful strips of paper, jewelry tools and accessories and tiny bottles with corks. Smiling, you got to work, folding the strips of paper into origami lucky stars as you murmured spells into them. Into two of the tiny bottles went three origami stars each, then a silver keychain for both bottles and your little project was done. On your desk were two keychains, the star filled bottles for charms. You took them in your hands and concentrated, making the magic woven into the stars hard to detect. Each star held a spell of protection, making the charms a three time use charm. They were perfect protection charms for Papyrus and Blue.

Gifting them protective charms was something you decided early on in your stay at the villa. Though they always believed Sherry’s lies and stopped talking to you as much, you were still thankful that they even tried at all and were the friendliest out of the skeletons. Not to mention that, like Swirlby, you were rather worried for them as they held kind hearts that could easily be hurt by someone like Sherry. While the charms couldn’t protect against wounds of the heart, they could at least protect against physical harm, something you hoped wouldn’t come to the kind skeletons. Now the only problem was getting the charms to the skeletons. There was no doubt in your mind that Sans and Stretch would stop you from giving anything to their brothers, and you were sure Sherry would be the same. You sighed and stretched, deciding to grab some water before heading to bed and thinking more on your little problem. Quietly, you went down the stairs and to the kitchen, only to startle at the sight of the kitchen lights being on and Papyrus and Blue sitting at the table nursing glasses of water. Likewise, the two skeletons jumped at the sight of you, looking nervous.

“O-OH! (Y/N)..!” Papyrus nervously greeted you.

“Y-YOU WEREN’T ASLEEP?” Blue asked.

“No, I was just getting a quick project in,” you said.

What perfect timing! The stars really must be looking out for you tonight and you offered them your silent gratitude.

“A PROJECT…?” Papyrus asked.

“Yes, you see, I’m moving out tomorrow,” you told them as you poured yourself some water.

Both Papyrus and Blue looked at you in surprise. You were moving out? They were told by Sherry that you didn’t have much to your name which is why you chose the villa to stay in as it was a cheaper option than other places. Could you afford to move out at this point?

“OH,” Blue said.

The two went quiet, unsure of what to say. After you had left the villa earlier that night, they weren’t quite sure what to think of you. They were still quite cautious of you though, believing that what you said about not growing up with Sherry was a lie. They were told you lied quite often after all, so it made sense that that may have been a lie as well. However, they still believed that you could change for the better. But the way you glared at them earlier left a deep impression on them. As if they had stared at a goddess in the face and somehow lived by the grace of her mercy. It was an impression that they wouldn’t forget anytime soon, and something that left them thinking.

“Can you two wait here for a moment?” you asked after finishing your water and washing the glass.

They tilted their heads questioningly. “HUH?”

Quickly and quietly, you went back up the stairs and grabbed the charms before coming back down to the kitchen. You held out the charms to them, and their eyes widened in surprise.

“KEYCHAINS?” Papyrus asked.

“THEY’RE REALLY PRETTY…” Blue said in fascination.

“They’re what I was working on earlier,” you explained, handing the charms to them. “They’re good luck charms I made for you.”

Papyrus and Blue looked even more surprised as you handed the keychains over.

Papyrus looked at his charm in awe. “EH? YOU MADE THEM, (Y/N)? THESE PRETTY KEYCHAINS?”

“Of course,” you said, puffing up your chest a bit in pride. “I enjoy crafting things from time to time, so I have a lot of art supplies.”

Blue looked up from his keychain to look at you in confusion. “BUT WHY DID YOU MAKE THESE FOR US?”

“Because kind people like you deserve to have some good luck come your way,” you said. “I may not like how you don’t believe me when I tell you the truth, but I’m grateful for the kindness you’ve shown me. However, I understand if you don’t want them. You can just give them away if that’s the case.”

Your words left them speechless and you turned to leave the kitchen. You stopped by the doorway and looked back at them.

“It’s truly a shame things panned out like this. May the stars guide you, Papyrus, Blue.”

You headed back to your room, leaving Papyrus and Blue to contemplate your words.

“BLUE…” Papyrus trailed off, unsure of what to say.

“UM…I THINK THAT MAYBE SHE’S CHANGING,” Blue said hesitantly. “THAT’S A GOOD THING, RIGHT? WE ALWAYS BELIEVED THAT PEOPLE CAN CHANGE.”

Papyrus smiled. “YES, YOU’RE RIGHT. AND IT WAS KIND OF (Y/N) TO GIVE US GOOD LUCK CHARMS! IT MEANS SHE’S THINKING ABOUT US AND OUR WELL BEING.”

“YEAH!”

Though they have things a bit wrong, they were starting to believe in you just a little more.

Soon enough, the night passed and in the early morning, the fiery cousins had come to sneakily move out. Before you had started on your little magic project, you had texted Grillby and the others if they could help you move out before anyone woke up. You didn’t want the skeletons, Sherry especially, to cause a commotion and you had no more patience for it either. At the very least, Papyrus and Blue can tell the others that you had moved out. You even left your part of the rent money for the month.

“I’m sorry for asking you to come so early,” you told Grillby as you piled another box into the van.

“No worries, we understand that you didn’t want to cause a scene,” he said, placing another box. “I’m just worried that, with Fellby’s tendency to yell, we might wake everyone up.”

“Oi!” Fellby hissed, quietly. “I can be quiet when I want to!”

“Shocking,” Flareby smirked. “How unusual for a ruffian to have the ability to be quiet.”

Before Fellby could explode on Flareby, Swirlby held him back.

“We can continue this after we get home!” he said. “Otherwise, we’ll wake everyone up!”

Fellby huffed and made the “I’m watching you.” gesture to Flareby before packing in another box. Flareby just smirked before continuing to help Swirlby pile in the boxes. Grillby sighed, putting a hand on his forehead and shaking his head tiredly.

“Um…I’m sorry,” you said, feeling a drop of sweat roll down your head.

“No, I should be the one apologizing,” Grillby said. “Come, let’s get this finished up.”

You gave him a quiet giggle and a comforting pat on the shoulder before continuing your work. Once everything was packed you and the fire cousins got into the cars and drove off. You looked back at the villa in the side mirror and let out a sigh before leaning back in your seat.

After four weeks of that place being your personal hell, you were finally getting out. 

By the time the skeletons and Sherry had woken up, the only things that indicated that you were ever there was the money on the kitchen table and the hidden keychains on Papyrus and Blue’s person.

Chapter Text

The house that Grillby and his cousins lived in wasn’t on the level of the villa, but it was still a nice, big house. You looked at it with a relieved smile, happy that you had escaped your personal hell that was the villa. On the drive to the house, you texted your parents that you had decided to live with some friends (actual nice and good friends, you reassured them) instead of moving into the condo or the studio apartment. You ended the text with the promise of explaining things in more detail after you had settled into your new place.

“It’s not as nice as the villa, but I hope you’ll be more comfortable here than there,” Grillby said.

“Things are already better, Grillby,” you reassured him. “And really, thank you again for letting me live with you all.”

“If you ask me, you should’ve bailed out sooner, dollface,” Fellby said, grabbing a box.

You grabbed a box yourself and started to head inside. “I wanted to give them a chance because at first I didn’t know that Sherry had told them that false story of me being her childhood bully. I thought they didn’t like me because I was an outsider to their shared relationship. So I thought that maybe if I showed them that I wasn’t here to get in the way and that I didn’t mind them being together, they’d warm up to me.”

“And then you found out what was really going on,” Swirlby concluded.

“Yup, and I decided I needed to get out of there ASAP,” you replied. “I was not going to stay in that sort of environment. I’d go crazy!”

“I think it’s those damn boneheads that’ve gone crazy,” Fellby commented.

“For once, I agree with you,” Flareby agreed.

“I wish we could help them see the truth…” Grillby said sadly. “I’m worried about Sans…”

“In the four weeks I was there, I’ve only seen Sans about three times,” you told him. “He usually stayed cooped up in the basement. I’m not really sure what he’s doing down there since I was told to stay away from it.”

The elementals had stiffened slightly at the mention of the basement and they all gave you various kinds of nervous chuckles, causing you to give them a look of confusion.

“Well…there’s just something down there he doesn’t want people messing with,” Grillby said. “He said it was dangerous.”

You tilted your head. “What, is it, like, filled with power tools and stuff?”

“It’s more like a lab!” Swirlby answered. “Lots of finicky science stuff, he told us.”

“Red and Stretch are really the only ones who go down there aside from Sans,” Fellby said.

“Mutt goes down there sometimes too, but he usually doesn’t,” Flareby added. “Those guys are the only ones allowed in there.”

You blinked, tilting your head to the other side. Well, you supposed it didn’t really matter to you, but…

“There’s nothing illegal down there, right?” you asked, eyes narrowing.

Grillby jumped and shook his head and hands violently, flames crackling in a panic. “Stars, no! You have my word that nothing illegal is going on!”

“It’s really just a normal lab, deary!” Swirlby backed his cousin up.

“Sans, Red, Stretch and Mutt have a science background and used to help out at the labs in Hotland,” Grillby explained. “Which is why they have a lab down there. They conduct experiments that pique their interests. When they’re not being lazy of course.”

You imagined the aforementioned skeletons doing lab work and made a face. It was a bit hard to imagine those lazy skeletons of all people doing any sort of paperwork, let alone delicate lab work.

However…

Thanks to Grillby’s explanation, you finally figured out why the skeletons seemed familiar to you. You wondered how you didn’t connect the dots sooner when it was so obvious.

They reminded you of Wing Dings Gaster, aka W.D. Gaster.

The tall skeleton was a close friend of Alaic, just like Grillby. He loved researching anything that piqued his interest and was just as strong as Alaic and Grillby. The three were often seen together and that trio soon became a quartet when Robin joined the side of the monsters. You remembered how Gaster and Robin became fast friends thanks to their common interest in research and science, and there were many a time where they talked the entire day about their current projects and interests. Poor Alaic and Grillby would sometimes be subjected to strange experiments thanks to those two. After one such experiment, Alaic had brought Gaster and Robin to your temple so they could repent for what they had done (not that they had stopped even after repenting. You pitied your friends.). Like Grillby, Gaster was also a devout believer and wasn’t expecting you to actually appear. The moment you appeared, he started blubbering and taking notes while expressing his belief and asking for forgiveness at the same time. You laughed and accepted his and Robin’s sincerity and forgave them for their sins against Alaic and Grillby, though you knew that they would be back on their mischief soon enough. You could even hear Gaster’s protests, “It’s not mischief, it’s science!” . After that day, Gaster became a dear friend as well.

“I can hardly imagine those guys doing actual scientific work,” you said with a sigh.

Grillby laughed. “Haha, I don’t blame you.”

“Keh, it’s hard to imagine them doing anything at all that required effort,” Fellby barked.

As you brought in your things, you thought about your other old friend. Considering how the skeletons reminded you of Gaster, you wondered if they were related to him. In your previous life, the number of skeleton monsters had dwindled thanks to the war, and Gaster’s relatives were among the survivors. You wondered if it was the same in this world, and if so, it could be possible that Sans and them were his relatives. Another possibility could be that Gaster had married and settled down. The science nut wasn’t married while you were around, so it’s possible he could have married after you faded away and had children. The skeletons are cousins and it could be possible that one pair of brothers could be his sons. And of course it was possible that Sans and the others were not related to him at all. Well, it’s not like you could ask anyways, and considering how you haven’t seen your old friend could mean two things.

One, he was busy with work and you just haven’t figured out where he was yet.

Or…

Your shoulders fell slightly at the thought of the other possible reason.

Two, he died in the war.

You glanced over at Grillby, wishing you could ask about what happened to the Gaster of this world. Grillby glanced over and gave you a questioning look to which you just shook your head and smiled. Now wasn’t the time to think such gloomy thoughts. You had earned your freedom from the villa after all, so you should be in a more cheerful mood. You looked up at the early morning sky, the last of the stars fading out of sight with the light of the sun.

Who knows?

Gaster could be out there alive and conducting his beloved experiments right now.

Chapter Text

You fell back onto your new bed with a sigh. All your things had finally been brought in and now you have to go through the arduous task of putting everything together. It was a task that had been put off since moving out of your old apartment. You sat up and looked out the window, the sun shining through it. You smiled and stretched, letting out a relieved sigh.

“To think I get to live with my dear old friend and his cousins…what a welcome change! Now I can finally have some peace and settle into my new home.”

Your stomach grumbled and a light blush painted your face.

“...But I guess I should eat first.”

You left your room and headed for the kitchen where Grillby and his cousins were. Fellby, Swirlby and Flareby were sitting at the table while Grillby was cooking.

“Oh, we were just about to get you, deary!” Swirlby waved to you, gesturing for you to take a seat next to him.

“We’re sure you’re hungry, considering how you left the villa in such a hurry,” Flareby said as you took a seat.

“Haha, yeah, I didn’t really get the opportunity to eat before leaving,” you said.

Fellby jabbed a thumb in Grillby’s direction. “Grillbz, figured you didn’t eat. That's why he started making breakfast.”

Grillby glanced at you with a small smile and nodded before turning his attention back to his cooking.

“Speaking of cooking, is there a rule about it here?” you asked, propping your elbows up on the table and resting your head in your hands. “Like, do we all take turns cooking?”

“Yup!” Swirlby answered. “It gives us the opportunity to taste each other’s cooking since we’re all chefs.” The yellow elemental put a hand on his chest, puffing it up proudly. “Just leave the cooking to us! We’ll make sure you eat only the best food!”

You giggled at his enthusiasm. “Thank you, Swirlby, but I can’t be the only one who doesn’t cook in this house.”

“Don’t worry about it, my dear,” Flareby said. “It’s the least we can do for you after all you’ve been through.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” you threw his words back at him. “I can cook too! I went to culinary school after all, so I’m more than capable of cooking for myself and others.”

All the elementals perked up at your revelation, intrigued.

“You went to culinary school?” Fellby asked.

“Yup, I took a course for pastry making,” you said, going through your phone to bring up pictures of your school days. “Here, check out some of the things I made in school!”

You put your phone on the table and they gathered around it as you swiped through the pictures. There were pictures of an elaborate croquembouche, a three-tiered cake, cute cupcakes, delectable looking cookies, and even freshly baked bread. You also showed them a picture of you in your chef’s uniform with your classmates.

“T-This is amazing, dollface!” Fellby exclaimed, having swiped back to the picture of the croquembouche. “I don’t really make sweets much, but even I can tell this is impressive.”

“As the ones who do make sweets a lot, this is even more amazing than what me and Flareby make!” Swirlby said, eyes shining with delight.

Flareby nodded. “I like to think I make some pretty good desserts, but I must admit that your skills make me a little jealous.”

Grillby, who had joined you after he finished cooking and setting the food on the table, smiled as the picture landed on one where you were smiling while you were decorating a cake.

“You look like you had a lot of fun,” he said.

“I did,” you giggled. “It was the best time of my life, even if it did get a little hard here and there. I had a lot of fun learning with my classmates. And now that monsters have come up to the surface, there’s even more for me to learn! Honestly, I’m pretty excited about learning how monster food is made.”

You turned to them, eyes sparkling like stars in the night sky. You were living with monster chefs which meant you had the perfect opportunity to learn directly from them! The thought made you ecstatic.

“So if you don’t mind, can you teach me how monster food is made?”

Seeing your enthusiastic, sparkling eyes, the fire elementals couldn’t help but feel their souls clench. The cuteness you exuded was too much for them to handle. Grillby put a hand over his chest and laughed lightly. Fellby coughed, resisting the urge to hold his chest like some lovestruck idiot. Swirlby put a hand to his chest like some lovestruck idiot and even let out a tiny “Ugh!”. Flareby turned away, trembling slightly and a hand over his mouth.

“I’m afraid we can’t teach you,” Grillby said sadly. “Monster food is made by injecting magic into food, so unless you’re a monster you wouldn’t be able to make it.”

“Or a mage,” Swirlby interjected. “Back then, mage chefs also made monster food. There were some really good cooks!”

You wilted in disappointment. “I see…”

You had magic, which meant that you were more than capable of making monster food. However, since you were hiding it you couldn’t exactly come out and say that you were capable of magic. The number of mages had dwindled to the point where there were none, if any, at all. Magic was still within humans, that much you could tell, but they weren’t in touch with it as they once were in the old days. You theorized that those who really believed in it could use it, but only a fraction of it. Either way, you couldn’t tell them you could properly use magic, for fear of endangering your relationship with the monsters. The war may have long since passed, but you were sure that they would be wary of any human who could use magic.

But…

If the day were to come that you had to reveal you had magic, you would tell them your story with sincerity and your head held high. You could only hope that it wouldn’t damage your relationship with the fire elementals to the point where it was beyond reconciliation.

“We can still show you how it’s made, though,” Flareby said, snapping you out of your thoughts.

You perked right back up. “Really? Thank you!”

“It’s nothing flashy, but you do see the magic being put into the food,” Grillby said. “Ah, and we can eat human food in case you were wondering.”

“It doesn’t top off our magic and energy as much as monster food though,” Fellby explained.

“I’ll show you when I cook lunch–OOF!”

Grillby was cut off when Swirlby pushed him aside, his hand raised in excitement.

“I’ll show you when I cook lunch later! You can cook next time since you made breakfast, Grillby!”

You let out a slow laugh, looking at the floor where Grillby was pushed aside. “T-Thank you, Swirlby! Are you alright, Grillby…?”

Grillby grumbled from his place on the floor before sitting up and rubbing the back of his head.

“I’m okay,” he mumbled.

Fellby scooched his chair closer to yours, draping an arm around your shoulders once he was close enough.

“After the candle’s done with his lame ass lunch, I’ll let you see some real monster cooking when I cook dinner, dollface,” he said, winking at you.

“HEY! MY COOKING IS NOT LAME!”

“I’m surprised a ruffian like you can even cook a steak correctly,” Flareby taunted, cleaning his monocle.

“THE FUCK DID YOU SAY ABOUT MY STEAKS?!”

Flareby ignored him as he put his monocle back on, turning his attention to you and giving you a smile.

“I’ll show you how I bake magic into my sweets, my dear,” he offered.

Fellby jumped out of his chair and grabbed Flareby’s collar, growling. “Fuck off with that, no way I’m letting you do that after what you said about my steaks! I’ll make dinner and dessert!”

“Hey, that’s not fair! If you get to do that, then I get to cook all day tomorrow! And I’ll have (Y/N) helping me! No interference!”

Swirlby jumped into the fray, leaving you and Grillby to watch the massacre that was happening at the table. You laughed nervously as Grillby sat down next to you, tiredly watching the scene with an exasperated look on his face. You had a feeling that this was going to be an everyday occurrence in your life as much as it was in his.

“Um…I look forward to seeing how monster food is made,” you said, smiling at him. “And thank you again for letting me live with you all.”

Grillby returned your smile, its brightness lifting the tiredness he always felt at seeing the daily massacre. Your smile was healing, and he felt that it was going to be a necessity in his life from now on.

“We should be thanking you for coming to live with us, (Y/N). I have a feeling that our lives are just going to get more exciting.”

What a way to start your new life. For real this time.

Chapter Text

Sherry bit her nail as everyone gathered in the living room. When they woke up, there was an envelope containing money on the table. The envelope had a small note written on it in your handwriting that said, “I’ve already moved out. This is my share of the rent for the month.” . Edge threw the envelope on the table with a scoff, glaring at it as if it were his worst enemy.

“SO SHE RAN AWAY,” he said with a sneer. “A COWARDLY MOVE FITTING FOR A COWARD LIKE HER.”

“i’m surprised she had enough money to pay for her part of the rent so early,” Red said.

Papyrus and Blue glanced at each other. That night, they had decided not to say anything about you moving out until the others woke up.

“WE SAW (Y/N) LAST NIGHT,” Papyrus started.

Blue nodded. “SHE TOLD US SHE WAS GOING TO MOVE OUT.”

“WE WERE WORRIED THAT SHE DIDN’T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY, BUT I GUESS IT ALL TURNED OUT WELL FOR HER IF SHE MANAGED TO PAY FOR HER PART OF THE RENT!” Papyrus said with a smile.

As if reading each other’s minds, the both of them didn’t mention the good luck charms they had received from you. Somehow, they felt that it was something they shouldn’t mention, especially in front of Sherry. Their impression of you had gone up after receiving your charms, and they hoped that your path on the straight and narrow would never waver. They’re glad that you were starting to turn over a new leaf for real!

Of course, you were never the sort of person Sherry made you out to be, but they didn’t know or believe that.

“hmm, izzat so?” Mutt drawled. “that’s kinda hard to believe, but whatever.”

Stretch shrugged. “i’m happy that she’s not around to cause trouble. honestly, it was a pain to deal with her lies.”

The two didn’t really care if things turned out well for you, as long as you were out of their (nonexistent) hair. They weren't a big fan of the trouble you caused for their angel, and now that you were gone, there was no more need to worry about Sherry getting hurt by you anymore. As much as they wanted to believe you were trying to be a better person like Sherry said, all they had seen was you being an awful person who wasn’t even trying. Honestly, Papyrus and Blue believed in you too much, but that’s how they were; they always tried to see the best in people.

Black scoffed and picked up the envelope. “HMPH! HARD TO BELIEVE THAT INTRUDER ACTUALLY DID SOMETHING RIGHT FOR ONCE. LET’S JUST HOPE THIS MONEY ISN’T STOLEN.”

As the skeletons talked, Sherry continued to bite her nail. She couldn’t believe you actually had the gall to move out like this! How dare you try and ruin her plans for a perfect life?! This was such an ingenious plan and you ruined it by moving out! Her lies about you being a bitch came true and she believes it. Without you, there was no way she could keep up her perfect saint act. There was no way she was actually going to cook, clean or do any sort of work deemed beneath her. That stuff was for losers like you! She had a whole bunch of boyfriends who dote on her day and night and would do anything for her, why should she be expected to do anything?

She had to fix this and quick.

~~

After breakfast, you started on the arduous task of putting everything together, putting things where they belong. Clothes in the closet, books in the bookshelf, and so on and so forth. Grillby and the others offered to help you and you gratefully took them up on their offer unlike last time when you declined Papyrus and Blue’s help. You did have to pull Fellby away from the box that you knew contained all your underwear, though. The purple fire elemental had nearly opened the box before you managed to stop him in a flustered panic. He laughed and winked at you flirtatiously when you told him not to, under any circumstances, touch that box. You didn’t notice that he had a tint of blue on his face because you were busy being embarrassed. With the elementals helping, you managed to get everything in place before the day was done. Looking around your room, you finally felt as if you had settled in.

The week passed peacefully, as if your life in the villa never happened, and you were thankful for the peace. It was usually interrupted by the bickering elementals, but you would take that over the skeletons glaring at you any day. Besides, it didn’t bother you much anyways, and it always made the house very lively. The elementals were very friendly to you and seemed to get quite attached to you easily. Monsters made connections much more easily than humans after all, and you were glad to finally be with monsters who showed kindness and affection for you rather than contempt. After taking the week to settle in and get used to the new routine, you started up your job search in earnest.

“You could always work with us in the bar,” Grillby offered.

“Don’t you already have enough help?” you asked as you surfed a job site on your phone. “I’d think having all your cousins helping out would mean you’ve got things covered.”

“But it’d be fun to work with you,” Swirlby said. “Besides, we could always use more help.”

He leaned in and gave you a cute pout, trying to convince you to take the job. You laughed and pushed his face away from yours. Swirlby was cute, but you weren’t falling for it.

“You’ve already been so kind, letting me live with you. The least I can do is find a job on my own.”

Swirlby’s pout deepened even more, and he clung to your arm. You still weren’t falling for it.

“Swirlby…” Grillby sighed.

You ignored the pouting elemental, opting to pet the flames on his head instead while you scrolled through your phone. A purple flier on the coffee table caught your eye and you moved the papers that were on top of it. It was an advertisement for a monster bakery called Muffet’s Bakery. The address was close by and you wondered if they were hiring. You wanted to work on the bakery side of things rather than on the cooking side of things after all.

“Do you think they’re hiring?” you asked, showing the flier to Grillby and Swirlby.

“Muffet’s? No way! Absolutely not! I won’t let you get hired by her!” Swirlby exclaimed at the sight of the flier.

You raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”

“Because she’s never going to let you go once she knows how good you are!” he cried. “And then she’ll rub it in our faces that she gets to work with you!”

“But I live with you…”

Grillby facepalmed, but he had a grin even as he sighed in exasperation. He knew that if you worked with them, Swirlby would do the exact same thing he said Muffet would do.

“Last I heard, she was looking for someone to help her with the baking,” he said. “With your skills, I’m sure she’ll hire you.”

Swirlby whipped around, gasping as he put a hand over his chest, betrayal on his face.

“Grillby! You should’ve insisted she take the job at the bar! Don’t you want to work with her and see her everyday? Don’t let someone else snatch (Y/N) up!”

You rolled your eyes. “Swirlby, I live with you. You see me everyday without me working at the bar. Anyways, thanks, Grillby! I’ll head over to the bakery in a few.”

Grillby nodded. “Tell Muffet that I sent you there. We’re friends, so she’ll know you’re someone she can trust.”

“Noooooo!!”

As you stood up from the couch to get ready, Swirlby clung onto your waist with teary eyes, tears of lava comically running down his face. You had to shake him off lest his tears make your clothes catch fire. Fellby and Flareby walked into the living room, hearing the commotion Swirlby was making.

“What’s the candle crying about now?” Fellby grumbled.

“I’m gonna go to Muffet’s Bakery to see if I can get hired,” you explained, trying to push Swirlby off as he clung to you once again.

Flareby startled. “What? My dear, if you go, she’ll never let you go! She’ll brag about how she gets to see your lovely face every time she comes into work!”

“You too?” you asked exasperatedly.

“Flareby understands!” Swirlby said.

“Won’t it be more convenient for you to work in the bar?” Fellby asked. “I gotta say, it’ll bring some life into the place and my life if we had a pretty girl like you around.”

“I’m already in your life,” you said. “You guys see me everyday here at the house. Besides, I want to focus more on baking rather than cooking and bartending.”

Grillby pulled on Swirlby’s collar, pulling him away from you as he eyed his cousins. “We understand, don’t we?”

Swirlby whimpered, going slack in Grillby’s grip. “Fiiiine…”

Flareby frowned, but it seemed more like a pout to you. “I understand. It is your decision after all.”

“Whaaat? Come on, doll. Seeing you at home just isn’t enough,” Fellby complained. “I need to see that pretty face of yours after looking at the boring matchstick, the stupid candle and the fake gentleman’s faces all day.”

“Fellby.” Came Grillby’s stern voice.

Fellby groaned and held up his hands. “Fine, fine. I get it.”

You gave Grillby a grateful smile, thankful for the one voice of reason in this house. You were glad to see that that part of him hadn’t changed even in another world.

“Oh, come on, you guys,” you said. “I’ll be hanging out at the bar a lot anyways, so you’ll see me there. Here, I’ll even help out sometimes, and no, Grillby, you don’t need to pay me since I’m volunteering to help out.”

Grillby, who had opened his mouth to say the exact thing you predicted he’d say, closed his mouth.

“You’ll really help out?” Swirlby asked, hope in his eyes.

“Of course. I promise.”

He smiled as he and the others were pacified at your decision. You laughed and shook your head, unable to believe how troublesome these elementals were. What big babies. You left the living room to get ready to head over to the bakery.

Unimpeded by the big babies, thankfully.

Chapter Text

“Here we are.”

You got out of your car and looked up at the sign in front of you. In purple cursive, the words “Muffet’s Bakery” hung above the door. There were cobwebs in between some of the letters and a small spider hung off from the bottom of the “y”. You tilted your head, seeing the irony in the sign. You walked inside and you “ooh”-ed at the interior design. It looked a lot like a cute little Victorian cafe and everything had some shade of purple to it. There were a lot of bows and lace, but it wasn’t to the point that it was gaudy. There was a display case that featured all sorts of pastries and a lot of them had some sort of spider theme to it. At the register stood a spider monster who looked just as cute as her cafe did. Again, the irony hit you.

“Ahuhu, welcome to Muffet’s Bakery, deary,” she greeted you. “What can I get for you?”

Whoa, she even talked like Swirlby and Flareby. You wondered if they got it from her or if it was just some shared thing between them.

“Hello, my name’s (Y/N) and I’m actually wondering if you were hiring people,” you said, taking out your resume from your bag. Grillby said to mention his name, but you figured bringing your resume wouldn’t hurt. “Grillby mentioned that you were looking for help.”

The spider’s eyes (all eight of them) widened as she gasped, and she put a hand (one of eight) over her mouth.

“Grillby, you say?” she asked. “As in, that Grillby? The Grillby who doesn’t speak much to people he doesn’t know that well? A pretty girl like you knows that Grillby?!”

You felt a drop of sweat roll down the back of your head. You supposed you understood her shock. The Grillby in this world was a lot like the one you knew in your world. 

“Um…yes, I know him. I live with him, actually. With him and his cousins,” you answered, rubbing the back of your head.

That seemed to put the spider in even more shock as another pair of hands flew to her cheeks.

“They never told me they had a pretty girl living with them! The nerve of them to keep this secret from me!”

“I only moved in last week,” you said.

“And they still didn’t tell me,” she huffed. “I’m sure it was Swirlby and Flareby’s idea to keep it secret.”

Considering how Swirlby and Flareby reacted when you told them you were going to inquire about a job at Muffet’s Bakery, you could see her point.

“Uh, well, anyways, I’m here to inquire about a job,” you said, trying to move the subject along.

“Ah, yes.” It seemed to work as the spider was put back on track. “I’m Muffet, deary, and I’ve been looking for someone to help me with the baking. If Grillby sent you here, then you must be very skilled at it. Put that resume away, I don’t need it, ahuhu. We’ll do a more practical test.”

You did as she said, and she gestured for you to follow her into the back. A tiny spider crawled down from the ceiling and landed on the counter.

“Watch the counter for me, deary,” Muffet said to the spider.

You blinked as the spider gave her a salute. Huh, looks like these spiders were monsters as well despite looking like normal spiders. You followed Muffet into the kitchen and she started pulling out some ingredients.

“Since Grillby sent you here, I assume you have quite a bit of baking experience?” she asked.

“Yeah, I went to culinary school for a degree in pastry making,” you replied.

Muffet clapped her hands together. “Oh, splendid! You really know your stuff then. Since that’s the case, you can make donuts, right?”

You nodded. “Yeah, I love making donuts!”

“Then I’ll have you make a batch of donuts,” Muffet said. “You can make any flavor you want and I’ll taste test them. This is mainly so I can gauge what I’ll have you start making at the beginning of your job. Of course, I’ll pay you for it. I’m not going to make you do work and not pay you for it.”

You had to admit that it was a nice change of pace doing something more practical to get a job and actually get paid for doing the test. You got started on making some basic chocolate donuts and Muffet watched you throughout the whole process until she was called back by the tiny spider to help a customer. When she came back, you were in the middle of piping a cobweb design in vanilla frosting over the chocolate donuts. You thought it would be a nice touch considering how everything here was spider themed. Muffet clapped her hands together and let out a delighted giggle.

“Oh, (Y/N)! This is just adorable!” she exclaimed, picking up a donut. “Do you mind?”

“Go ahead!” 

Muffet took a bite and her eyes sparkled, a hand on her cheek. It was just a simple chocolate donut, but that was what was great about it. Sure, she enjoyed putting in some nice twists in her pastries, but sometimes simple was the more delicious way to go. Her other pair of hands grasped yours, and without missing a beat she said, “You’re hired.”

“W-Whoa, that fast?” you asked, flustered.

“It’s a delicious donut, deary,” she said. “Not to mention Grillby sent you here and I trust him to send me someone who’s competent.”

“Oh, thank you for thinking that I’m someone you can depend on.”

This was so much easier than when you applied for your previous waitressing job. Thinking back on how many interviews it took you last time, this test was a breeze. Despite your culinary background, some places really put in high requirements that even your background couldn’t fulfill. It was ridiculous. It really goes to show how important connections were.

“When can you start, (Y/N)? If you need a bit of time, I can accommodate that!” Muffet said.

“I’m ready to start when you need me, Miss Muffet,” you said.

“Just call me Muffet, ahuhu.” Muffet nodded and took a look at her phone’s calendar. “Then please come in at 8 AM on Monday. I’ll get everything done first and then I’ll show you the ropes.”

You grinned. Finally, a step towards your baking dreams.

“You got it, Muffet!”

~~

When you got home, you gave the elementals the good news (or bad news in Swirlby and Flareby’s case), and they congratulated you on finding a new job. The two hovered around you absolutely devastated that Muffet had taken you away from them before Grillby shooed them and Fellby away. It was time for the bar to open and it was Grillby’s day off, so it was up to them to open up. You wondered if the bar would survive without him, but you were told it would be standing. Maybe a little worse for wear, but it would still be standing. Grillby would never tell you that it nearly burned down after Fellby and Swirlby got into a rather precarious cooking competition. You were sat at the little bar that separated the kitchen and dining room, Grillby behind the bar polishing a glass as if he were at his actual bar.

“I thought today was your day off,” you said.

“I still enjoy doing the small tasks,” he replied, bringing the glass up to the light to check if it was spotless. He pushed up his glasses and contentedly put the glass away before picking up another one.

You cradled your chin in your hands as you watched him. Yet another thing this Grillby shared with the Grillby you knew. Sometimes, Alaic and the others would gather in your temple just to hang around and you peeked in every once in a while. It gave them peace, Alaic once told you, to be in a place that was filled with your aura. He, Gaster, and Robin would be conversing while Grillby would silently polish his sword, listening in. He would bring his sword up to the light, push up his glasses and set it back in its sheath in content before reaching for a piece of armor to polish. How nostalgic.

It did get you wondering how close this world was to your original world. It was wise for you to remember that this Grillby was his own man. You looked forward to finding the differences between him and the one you knew. Even with the differences, you’re still happy to call him a dear friend.

“I heard that you modeled your current bar after the one you ran in the Underground,” you said.

Grillby nodded, a small smile on his face. “It felt like the right thing to do. That bar is a home to me and many other monsters, so making the bar on the Surface just like it makes us feel at home.”

You hummed, grabbing a chip from an open chip bag on the bar.

“Dogaressa told me you ran it in a place called Snowdin, where it snowed all year long. First of all, how is that even possible? Second of all, you’re a fire elemental so wouldn’t that other place, uh…Hotland I think it was called? Wouldn’t that have suited you better?”

You could guess the answer to your first question. It was most likely due to some sort of magical phenomenon. But…you seriously had to ask who named these places. Snowdin was an awful pun (which you supposed was pretty funny) and Hotland was…incredible in many ways.

“It snowed all year due to a magical phenomenon,” Grillby answered. “And it’s true that Hotland would have suited someone like me better than Snowdin, but…well, I wasn’t quite up to snuff when choosing where I wanted to live.”

You tilted your head. “Not up to snuff?”

Grillby’s hands slowed in polishing. “.....I felt that Hotland was just a bit too hot for me. Funny, I know, but…it happened soon after the war, and I just didn’t feel…comfortable there.”

Your own hand slowed down from grabbing chips. “Oh…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ask something so personal.”

If it happened soon after the war, you couldn’t imagine what he must have been feeling. Monsters had lost the war and they were imprisoned underground with no way out. Surely there must have been a lot going through his mind and soul, a lot of which you most likely wouldn’t understand.

“It’s alright, you didn’t know,” he replied quietly.

The two of you were silent for a moment, the only sound coming from a clock on the wall. Grillby caught your gaze and gave you a small smile.

“Well…I guess you can say that I settled in Snowdin when I got snowed in ,” he said with a quiet chuckle.

You blinked, having to process his words for a moment before letting out a groan, your face falling into your hands. That’s one difference found. Your Grillby despised puns, but this one seems to have fully embraced it. You wondered if it was the influence of this world’s Gaster, something your Gaster had failed to do to your Grillby.

“That was so bad,” you groaned.

Grillby’s quiet chuckled turned into a laugh and he gave you a wink.

“I’m sorry, (Y/N). I’ll cool down the jokes for you.”

“Stooooop!!”

The melancholic silence disappeared and was replaced by your and Grillby’s laughter. It really brightened things up, however bad the puns were.

Chapter Text

this isn't an update, but i just wanted to say that this fic will be in hiatus for a while. as per usual, its because my hyperfixation has moved on x'D sorry for getting your hopes up, but i promise i'll be back to this fic! until then!

Chapter Text

Working at Muffet’s wasn’t all too hard. Having gone through an internship during your school days had prepared you for working in the kitchen. It was quite easy for you to fall into the rhythm set for you by Muffet. You did dislike having to get up early though, something that you had bemoaned since the day you decided you wanted to pursue the culinary arts. You persevered for what you loved.

“Ah, good morning, (Y/N)!” Swirlby greeted you as you walked downstairs.

“Good morning…” you yawned.

“Someone’s a sleepyhead,” Flareby snickered.

“Your tired face is very cute though,” Fellby said with a grin.

You tiredly glared at him for making you blush this early in the morning. As you sat at the table, Grillby placed down a cup of coffee and your breakfast in front of you and you gave him a grateful smile.

“Hey, why does Grillby always get a pretty smile and I get glared at?!” Fellby complained.

“Because unlike a certain purple fire elemental, he’s sweet,” you countered with a playful grin.

“I’m sweet! I can be sweet!”

Flareby joined you with his own grin. “We all know you’re anything but sweet. After Grillby, Swirlby’s the next sweetest elemental here.”

Lava tears gathered in the corners of Swirlby’s eyes as he put a hand on his chest. “Aw, Flareby! I knew you cared!”

“What the fuck! How can I be beneath the candle?!”

The daily massacre started up once again when Fellby chased Flareby around the room with Swirlby egging him on. You and Grillby ignored them.

“Heading to work soon?” Grillby quietly asked you.

“Yeah,” you yawned before biting into your food. “I wish I didn’t have to wake up so early…”

He chuckled. “You knew what you were getting into when you started working at a bakery.”

“I know, doesn’t mean I can’t complain about it,” you giggled. “But it’s amazing that I get to meet so many monsters! They always seem so surprised to see me though. I guess it’s kinda rare to see a human employee in a monster-run shop.”

“It’s increased a little, but it is still a rare thing even after four years,” Grillby nodded.

It was a slow process as humanity tried its best to coexist with monsterkind. It was slow, but the small steps made all the difference. Just seeing humans visit monster shops was already a huge step in itself.

“I hope I get to see some humans,” you said. “Maybe even the Monster Ambassador themself! Imagine that!”

Fellby tuned into the conversation in the midst of grabbing Swirlby in a headlock.

“The twerp? You do actually have a chance at seeing them. They go to Muffet’s from time to time. She says they’re her best customer.”

“Frisk is a cute kid,” Swirlby said as he flailed in his cousin’s hold. “They’re so nice it makes me want to give them candy everytime I see them.”

“Do you know them?” you asked.

“They love dropping by the bar,” Grillby explained. “I actually met them when they were in the Underground in Snowdin.”

“They’re such a sweetie, and so polite, too, ahuhu,” Flareby smiled.

“Keh! The brat’s way too much of a goodie two-shoes if you ask me,” grumbled Fellby. “They could stand to be less sugary.”

“Why, Fellby!” you gasped, putting your hands over your mouth in mock shock. “I thought you were sweet!”

“W-Wha?! I-I am sweet, dollface! I just mean that the brat could be more assertive!”

Flareby rolled his eyes. “You mean act like you, a ruffian?”

So you might have a chance at seeing the little ambassador. They no doubt held the power of the Stars, and that feeling of them reminding you of Robin gave you some thoughts. If they ever came by, you could get a chance at confirming your suspicions. That may be a while, however. Even if they were a kid, being an ambassador was no doubt a busy job.

Eating the last bite of your breakfast, you got up.

“Well, I better start getting ready to head out.” Picking up the dishes, you headed to the sink to start washing them.

“Ah, we can take care of the dishes,” Flareby said, standing up. “You can head on to work, deary.”

Huffing a laugh, you smiled at him. “Don’t worry, I can wash my own dishes.”

This little routine has become a part of your life living with the elementals. You’d take any opportunity to do any errands that required water before they could do it. You wanted to help keep their contact with water to a minimum, something that touched each of their souls. After taking care of your dishes, you waved goodbye to them.

The routine at Muffet’s Bakery was very much the same as any other bakery. Make the dough, prep the dough that was made the day before, shape the dough for the various pastries on the menu, bake or fry, repeat. It was meditative in a way, going through the motions of baking. It hardly felt like work to you. When you weren’t in the kitchen baking, you were manning the cash register and bringing customers their order if they chose to eat in.

“How are you doing, deary?” Muffet asked, poking her head out from the kitchen.

You stopped playing with a small spider that had stopped by the register and gave her a smile.

“I’m doing good. The morning rush has ended and we’re just getting the late risers now,” you replied.

She giggled. “You would be a late riser, too, if you weren’t in the baking business.”

You pouted and looked to the side. “I enjoy sleeping in and being warm in my bed.”

She started laughing at the face you were making which made you start laughing too when the bell above the door rang, signaling a customer. Both you and Muffet turned to the door on instinct.

“Welcome to Muffet’s Bakery!” you both greeted cheerfully.

Your eyes widened in surprise as you registered who came through the door. Beside you, Muffet clapped two of her hands together in delight.

“My! Greetings, Queen Toriel and Frisk! It’s been a while since your last visit,” she said happily.

Toriel, a white-furred goat monster and the queen of monsterkind, had walked in holding the hand of Frisk, the Monster Ambassador. Your eyes nearly bugged out of your head and you panicked for a second, unsure of what to do, before hastily bending into a bow.

“U-Uh, welcome to Muffet’s Bakery, Your Majesty and Ambassador Frisk!”

Sure you wanted to meet Frisk, but you didn’t think it’d be this soon! And they’re being accompanied by royalty, no less!

Toriel giggled into her paw before waving it. “Oh my! There’s no need to be so formal, miss. Just call me Toriel and Frisk, Frisk. Is she a new employee, Muffet?”

“That’s right!” Muffet replied. “(Y/N) is a lifesaver! She’s made managing the bakery so much easier! Come on, introduce yourself, sweetie!”

“U-Um, my name is (F/N) (L/N). It’s so nice to meet you, Your Maje–I-I mean Toriel and Frisk.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, (Y/N),” Toriel said with a smile. “How wonderful it is to see a human working in a monster-run shop. It makes me happy to see those small steps.”

You rubbed the back of your head sheepishly. “W-Well, Muffet is a great boss. Probably the best I’ve had so far.”

Muffet whapped your shoulder lightly, one of her hands on her cheek. “Flattery won’t get you anywhere, deary!”

But she still looked happy judging from the slight flush on her face.

Frisk pulled on Toriel’s clothes and made a few signs with their hands. She nodded and put a hand on their shoulder before turning to you.

“Do you understand sign language, (Y/N)?” Toriel asked.

“A little bit, but I’m learning,” you answered and Toriel nodded.

“Frisk would like to introduce themself and say hello,” she said.

You leaned down on the counter and smiled at the little ambassador.

“Hello, Frisk. I’m (F/N) (L/N), it’s nice to meet you,” you greeted them.

Frisk started signing back and you concentrated on their signs in order to make out what they’re saying.

“Hello, Miss (Y/N). My name is Frisk! You’re really pretty!”

Once you understood what they said, your smile grew wider. “Aww, thank you! You’re a charmer, aren’t you?”

Frisk struck a pose and blew a kiss in the air. You, Toriel, and Muffet laughed and Toriel playfully scolded Frisk.

“Come now, dear! You have to stop with the flirting! Goodness, where did you learn such things?”

She put a hand on her cheek and sighed exasperatedly, like a mother with a rowdy child. You grinned at her.

“I think they’re going places if they know how to use flirting the right way,” you said, giving Frisk finger guns. Well, as long as they’re not taking lessons from Fellby. The kid grinned and finger gunned back.

“What would our little charmer like today?” Muffet asked with a giggle.

“A chocolate donut!”

“We’ll also take two slices of strawberry shortcake,” Toriel added.

“Coming right up!”

Muffet started bagging up their order while you rang them up.

“If it’s alright, may I ask how you came to work here?” Toriel asked as she handed you the payment.

“Grillby recommended me, actually. He offered to let me work at the bar, but I’m more of a baker than a bartender,” you replied. “Swirlby and Flareby were super disappointed when Muffet hired me.”

“Ahuhu! As they should be! They kept you a secret from me after all!” Muffet said proudly as she handed Toriel their order.

Toriel’s eyes widened and she put a hand over her mouth. “My! You know Grillby and his cousins?”

“I live with them,” you said. “It’s been…about a month? Yeah, about a month since I moved in with them.”

Toriel gasped and Muffet nodded furiously.

“Right?!” she exclaimed. “I was surprised when she first told me, too!”

Now this was something Asgore was sure to want to hear. Grillby was his father’s best friend and one of his best generals, so Toriel knew that her husband would want to know how he was doing these days.

Frisk’s eyes sparkled. “Whoa, you live with them? That’s so cool! I also live with monsters. I live with Toriel and Asgore.”

Now that you didn’t know about the little ambassador. You had seen them on TV with the monster king and queen all the time, but you didn’t know that Frisk lived with them.

“That’s amazing, Frisk,” you said. “Everyday must be so fun with them. I know that my life has been more lively ever since I moved in with Grillby and his cousins.”

The daily massacre certainly did liven up your life. You always sat at the table with Grillby, munching on your food as Fellby, without fail, holds up Swirlby by his lapels as he and Flareby egg him on. Yesterday’s massacre was about who had the strongest flames out of the four of them, to which Grillby was unwillingly roped into. The house nearly caught fire despite its fireproofing. You yelled at them for that one.

“Can you tell me some stories about them, Miss (Y/N)?” Frisk asked.

“Maybe when I’m not working, dear,” you said. “Tell you what, come to Grillby’s tonight and I’ll tell you all the stories you want, pinky promise. Fellby’s reactions are going to be hilarious.”

Frisk brightened up and they looked to Toriel for permission. The goat monster hummed in thought before eventually giving in to Frisk’s hopeful eyes.

“Alright,” she acquiesced. “You can go.”

Frisk cheered and held out their pinky to seal the deal. You held out yours and intertwined theirs with yours. The moment their pinky touched yours, you felt a surge of familiar magic as well as a familiar aura. Your suspicions were confirmed.

Frisk definitely had the power of the Stars, and was the descendant of the Robin Albright of this world.

“Ah…” You thought as you smiled at the child. “My dear Robin…how proud must you be to see this little one accomplish something so amazing. Despite everything they must have gone through, they still came out of it a wonderful child. Your kindness and strength lives on in them.”

You almost teared up, knowing that his lineage had continued in this world. But you held it in, knowing that it would be weird for the others if you started crying right then and there.

“See you tonight, kiddo. I’ll ask Grillby to make an extra special dinner for you,” you smiled.

The kid cheered again as Toriel and Muffet watched the sight with smiles on their faces. The queen and ambassador made their way out the store, with Frisk waving bye enthusiastically at you. You waved back, and when the door closed Muffet nudged you with an elbow.

“Look at you, deary! Making connections in high places!” she teased.

“It’s not like I want to climb the social ladder or anything. I’ve always wanted to meet the Monster Ambassador,” you said. “You couldn’t believe my reaction when I heard a kid of all people discovered monsterkind.”

“Frisk has done a lot for us. All of us are eternally grateful for what they did,” Muffet said softly. “And it all started when they tripped down a hole in Mt. Ebott.”

You smiled gently. “Grillby and the others told me they were a sweet kid and I totally agree.”

It surely must have been written in the stars for one of Robin’s descendants to help monsterkind. You giggled softly. Were he and his descendants always destined to be found on Mt. Ebott after tripping? That was how Alaic had found Robin as well.

Muffet stretched her arms. “Alright! Back to work, deary! Gotta get a couple more cakes and croissants out!”

“You got it, boss.”

Muffet went back into the kitchen while you continued to man the register. You propped your elbows on the counter and cradled your chin in your hands, a soft smile on your face.

Ah…Grillby and Robin…

Though Alaic and Gaster were not here, it was wonderful having a familiar presences in this new life of yours.

Chapter Text

During your break, you texted Grillby about Frisk visiting the bar tonight and asking if he could make them a special dinner. A few seconds passed before you got a text back.

Grillby: “Got it. It’s been a while since they last visited, so I’ll make sure to make it extra special.”

You smiled and were about to send him a thumbs up emoji when you got notifications from the group chat that Swirlby created for you and his cousins.

Swirlby: “(Y/N)! Grillby told me that Frisk is visiting tonight!”

Fellby: “Ugh, the brat is really coming over? Did you really have to invite them?”

Flareby: “Fellby is reluctant because that means he has to behave. The last time he cursed in front of Frisk, Toriel ripped him a new one. Ahuhu!”

Grillby: “Fellby, behave.”

Fellby: “What the fuck!!! Why’re you guys piling on me!!!”

(Y/N): “They visited the bakery today, and they wanted to hear stories of my life with you guys. So I told them to come by the bar tonight.”

Fellby: “...wait. Stories?”

Swirlby: “HAHAHAHA DOES THAT MEAN YOU’RE GONNA TELL THE STORY OF WHEN FELLBY MADE THAT TERRIBLE STRAWBERRY TART?”

Fellby: “SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT THE TART YOU DAMN CANDLE!!! I WAS HALF ASLEEP!!!”

Flareby: “It was truly a horrific tart.”

Grillby: “....I’m sorry, Fellby, but they’re right.”

Fellby: “I hate all of you.”

(Y/N): “I’m sure Frisk will get a kick out of it.”

Fellby: “YOU’RE GONNA BETRAY ME, DOLLFACE?!”

(Y/N): “Oop, my break’s over. I’ll see you guys tonight!”

Fellby: “(Y/N)! C’MON, DOLL!”

Grillby: “Don’t text her while she’s working.”

Back at the bar, Fellby scowled as Swirlby and Flareby gave him shit-eating grins. Grillby just sighed.

“This house is a fucking nightmare,” he growled.

“Aw, but you love us!” Swirlby said.

“No the fuck I don’t! I barely tolerate you guys!”

Flareby held up a hand, shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head.

“And I barely tolerate a ruffian like you who creates horrors like that tart. Honestly, who puts oyster sauce in tarts?”

“I TOLD YOU THAT I WAS HALF ASLEEP!!!”

Fellby started scuffling with Flareby, with both of them trying to lock the other into a headlock. Swirlby cackled before letting out a yelp as Fellby dragged him into the fray. Grillby, as per usual, ignored his brawling cousins. Dogaressa met his eyes and gave him a sympathetic smile that he returned tiredly.

Well, at least he can concentrate on what to make for Frisk’s dinner.

To Fellby’s dismay, night soon came, but at least it was lightened up when you walked into the bar. His flames dimmed a little, however, when he recalled that you intended to tell the forbidden lore to the brat.

“Hey, guys!” you greeted them cheerfully after greeting the dogs.

“Hello, (Y/N),” Grillby greeted you back.

Swirlby hugged you. “How was work?”

“It was good, especially since I got to meet Frisk and Toriel,” you replied, and THAT made Fellby’s shoulders jump.

“The brat was with Toriel?” he asked, flames crackling a little erratically.

Stars, did that mean the queen would be the one to bring Frisk to Grillby’s? Fellby caught Flareby smirking in amusement at his cousin’s reaction and he quickly glared back, crossing his arms to show that, no, he WASN’T afraid that Toriel might be coming.

“Yeah,” you said, not noticing Fellby’s reaction. “I don’t know if she’ll be the one bringing Frisk, though. We’ll see.”

Fellby’s shoulders relaxed just a tiny bit. As long as Toriel wasn’t coming, then he for sure knows that he won’t be bench pressed by the goat monster.

Flareby’s smirk grew before he turned to you. “So, what did you think of Frisk?”

“They’re a sweet kid and a charmer,” you giggled. “It’s pretty amazing what such a small kid has accomplished.”

“They’ve certainly done something no one at that age could ever do,” Grillby said with a nod.

Fellby huffed, his mind going somewhere else as he thought of the brat. This brat and that one…he had to admit that what they’ve shown him was nothing short of remarkable. He took a seat beside you and leaned back on the bar.

“They’re still too sugary if you ask me,” he said with a scoff. “Really…too sugary…”

You tilted your head at his tone, wondering why he sounded so…far away? His cousins all glanced at each other, each of them having an inkling of just where Fellby’s mind went. Flareby hummed quietly, eyeing his purple cousin.

“Well, I think they should stay a sweet kid. I wouldn’t want them to turn out like you, a ruffian with no manners whatsoever,” he snickered.

That brought Fellby out of his thoughts and he sat up straight. “Like you can talk, fucker! I know you can be just as bad as me!”

Flareby cackled. “Ah ah ah! No cursing tonight, dear cousin. The little darling is coming over, remember? We don’t want them repeating anything to Her Majesty now do we?”

The door opened and you and the elementals turned to it. Frisk walked in accompanied yet again by a goat monster, only this time it wasn’t Toriel. Fellby let out a choked wince as he realized who was accompanying them. You, on the other hand, let out a quiet gasp.

Their escort this time around was Asgore, the King of Monsters.

The whole bar got quiet when he walked in, both monsters and humans looking at the king. The humans were looking on in wide-eyed wonder while the monsters simply looked on in curiosity. Asgore waved a hand and everyone took that as a sign to continue what they were doing. Unlike on TV, the king wasn’t all dressed up in a suit, but rather, he was dressed up very casually in a T-shirt and pants. No need for formality here.

Frisk excitedly ran up to you and hugged you, bringing you out of your stupor. You smiled and hugged back.

“Hey there, kiddo! Looks like you were super excited to hear my stories, huh?”

They nodded their head furiously as Asgore walked over.

“They couldn’t sit still at all today,” he laughed. “They were also excited to see what Grillby had made for them.”

Grillby inclined his head slightly and his cousins followed suit. “Good evening, Asgore. It’s been a while.”

Asgore rubbed the back of his head. “Forgive me for not visiting sooner, I’ve been busy.” He turned to you with a smile. “So you’re the one Tori mentioned. It’s nice to meet you, miss. My name is Asgore Dreemurr, but please, call me Asgore. No need for formalities.”

You also inclined your head. “I-It’s nice to meet you, Asgore. My name is (F/N) (L/N).”

He was much bigger in person than on TV, but your mind flashed back to a different time. Back in your world, Asgore was still a prince, a young adult. He’s certainly grown compared to the Asgore in your memories, and has become a good king. You are sure that the Alaic of this world was proud of him.

“I didn’t know such a lovely lady had moved in with you all,” Asgore said to Grillby. “I must say, it was quite the surprise when Tori told me.”

“There wasn’t really an opportunity to bring it up,” Grillby said.

Swirlby wrapped his arms around you. “Not to mention there was no way we were letting anyone take her from us!”

Flareby put a hand on his cheek and sighed. “It was unfortunate that Muffet got her hands on her, though…”

“That fuuuuudging spider had an hour long phone call with the candle and fuuuudging fake gentleman bragging about dollface here working at the bakery. I still say you should’ve worked here at the bar.”

Fellby had almost let slip some curses but a glance at the kid and Asgore’s smile reminded him that he would have a bad time if he cursed. Fuck, it was hard.

You rolled your eyes. “Again, I live with you guys. You see me every day.”

“Stiiilllll!” Swirlby whined.

Frisk laughed as you gave them a “do you see what I have to live with?” look. Asgore chuckled as he took a seat next to Swirlby; all the seats next to you were occupied and Frisk had jumped into your lap.

“It looks like her arrival has made you all quite happy,” he said. “I’m glad.”

“She’s certainly lightened up our lives,” Grillby chuckled softly and Asgore laughed.

Fellby and Flareby groaned while you, Frisk, and Swirlby snickered.

“I still cannot believe you enjoy puns, Grillby,” Flareby frowned.

“Do not make another one or else you’re gonna get it,” Fellby threatened him.

Grillby simply chuckled and shook his head. “I’d like to see you try and stop me. In any case, I’m sure you three are hungry. Let me get your food ready.”

“Oh yeah, what’ll it be, Asgore?” Fellby asked as he stood up. “Grillz has already got something planned for the kid, but what about you?”

“And you, deary,” Swirlby said to you.

“I’ll just have a cola, burger and fries,” Asgore answered.

You nodded. “Same here.”

Grillby nodded and he headed into the kitchen, leaving his cousins to watch the bar. Frisk pulled on your sleeve and you looked down at them.

“So what kind of stories do you have?” they asked.

“Ah, yes, storytime,” you giggled and Fellby stiffened at your grin. “Well, me and the others were talking about one story in particular earlier today.”

“Doll, please don’t!” Fellby begged you. He did NOT want to relive the oyster sauce strawberry tart incident again.

“Aw, Fellby, let her tell the story,” Swirlby said, smiling. “It’s a fun one!”

“Not to me it’s fuuuuudging not!”

Frisk shook in your lap excitedly while you made a show of thinking about whether or not to tell the story. In the end, you grinned and reached up to pat Fellby’s cheek

“Alright, I won’t,” you laughed.

Fellby’s shoulders visibly fell in relief and Swirlby and Flareby groaned in disappointment as did Frisk. You smiled and pat the kid’s head.

“Don’t worry, kiddo. I still got plenty of stories. Like that one time Fellby ranted on about the worst burrito he ever had the misfortune to eat.”

Frisk tilted their head. “What kind of burrito?”

Fellby’s flames crackled and shuddered at the memory of said burrito. “Oh, I’ll tell you what kind of burrito it was, alright! Who the fuuuc–dddgggeee makes a burrito with compartments?!”

You whispered to Frisk and Asgore to keep watching as he got more heated, remembering the awful experience.

“Burritos are eaten from one end to the other. So that means when you assemble a burrito with motherfuuuuc–dging ZONES of ingredients going that direction, you create a disgusting experience for the burrito’s end user. When you make a burrito, you should put the ingredients in layers lengthwise . That way, every bite has AT LEAST A FUUUDGING CHANCE of getting two types of ingredients, and there is little chance of becoming almost hopelessly trapped in a god damned cilantro cavern!”

Swirlby leaned down to whisper to Frisk and Asgore. “I told him to get a fork and eat the burrito that way and he got mad at me.”

Purple flames burned brighter as Fellby heard what he said.

“A fuc–dging fork? I DIDN’T ORDER THE FUDGING COBBURITO SALAD!” he yelled, jabbing Swirlby’s forehead hard with his index finger. “If anyone handed me a burrito with a fork, THEY WOULD BE WEARING A BRAND NEW BURRITO HAT FROM MY FALL COLLECTION TEN SECONDS LATER!”

Frisk was shaking in your lap, trying and failing to hold back their laughter as Fellby ranted once more about the guy who made his burrito. Fire seemed to spew out from his mouth with every word, accentuating just how angry he was. Swirlby, Flareby, and Asgore were outright laughing while you put a hand over your mouth trying to hide your laughter. It was when the kitchen door opened and Grillby emerged from it with the food that Fellby finally calmed down, panting heavily and smoke escaping his mouth.

“I heard Fellby from the kitchen,” he chuckled. “So you brought up the burrito, huh?”

“That was the funniest thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life!” Frisk laughed.

Asgore had to force himself to stop laughing. “I-I’m, pffft, sorry that was your experience, my friend.”

You smoothed out the flames on Fellby’s head. “Feel better, Fellby?”

The purple elemental let out an inaudible sigh at your touch, and he leaned on the bar.

“Yeah…yeah, doll, I do.” He grumbled under his breath, cursing quietly to himself so as to not get in trouble for cursing with Frisk around.

As Frisk tried to get their giggles under control, they turned their attention to the food that Grillby had made for them. Turns out, he had made them a special dish consisting of a bright yellow omelette covered in ketchup with a decorative flag that had a picture of a flame, accompanied by fried shrimp, a side of potato salad, cola for the drink, and pudding for dessert.

“Wow, Grillby! That looks good!” you said, smiling. “What do you think, kiddo? Is this a special enough dinner?”

Frisk nodded happily. “Yeah! Thank you for the food, Grillby!”

They excitedly dug into their food, an expression of bliss on their face. You and Asgore followed suit, occasionally snickering when the two of you remembered Fellby’s burrito rant.

“So, Miss (Y/N),” Asgore started. “If it is alright, may I ask how you came to live with Grillby and his cousins?”

“Ah, well…my roommates weren’t exactly…the greatest,” you said, keeping it vague to avoid explaining further. You briefly wondered what the skeletons were up to, but that thought quickly faded away. “I was talking about it with Grillby and the others and Fellby suggested that I just move in with them.”

Asgore looked surprised and turned to the purple elemental who had now moved behind the bar to join his cousins.

“Oh, come on, don’t look at me like that too. Grillby and the other two idiots already looked at me like I was growing a second head,” Fellby groaned.

“Because it just came out of the blue! And from you no less!” Swirlby defended himself.

“I only suggested it because Grillby was wondering what to do with the extra bedroom!”

Frisk waved a hand to get Fellby’s attention.

“That was very nice of you, Fellby,” they said. “I always knew there was a nice guy under all that meanness!”

Fellby looked down at them, silent for a moment before huffing and crossing his arms. A memory was brought to the forefront at their words.

“I always knew you were a nice guy.”

“I couldn’t just leave (Y/N) with those ass—I-I mean, uh, jerks after all!” he stuttered as he tried to cover up his mistake.

You smiled gratefully at him and leaned conspiratorially towards Frisk.

“He was like a hero who swooped in to save the day,” you stage whispered, making the kid giggle. “I’m so grateful he made the offer.”

Truly, you were so happy he offered. Living with your old friend and his cousins brought much joy in your new life. And, well….maybe a little frustration. Your mind flashed back to yesterday’s very fiery massacre.

Fellby’s face turned a little blue, and he quickly shook his head to get his flames back under control. Flareby smiled slyly at him.

“Aww, are you embarrassed, Fellby?” he teased.

“No the fuuuudge I’m not!”

“It’s okay, Fellby! If you didn’t offer, we wouldn’t be able to see (Y/N) everyday! You’re our hero!” Swirlby laughed.

Grillby chuckled quietly. “They’re right though. About the hero thing.”

“Not you too, Grillby!”

“A super duper hero!” Frisk only added to the fire (heh).

Fellby’s flames turned bluer. Somehow, it seemed hearing that from Frisk just made him feel even more flustered.

“Stop calling me that! Swirlby, you damn candle! This is all your fault!”

And once again, to no one’s surprise, Fellby picked up Swirlby by his lapels and started shaking him violently. You gave Frisk a “Do you see what I have to live with?” look and they grinned, snickering. Asgore shook his head in amusement at the scene before turning to you.

“I’m glad you’re with better roommates, Miss (Y/N). The elementals are good people, Grillby especially. He was my father’s best friend, so I’ve known him for a very long time. You’ll find no other man as dependable as him.”

Your expression softened slightly at the small mention of Alaic. You wished he was still alive in this world, but he was resting among the stars now.

“Grillby and the others have helped me out a lot,” you said. “Every day is enjoyable with them. Even this–” You gestured to the daily massacre. “Is fun, hehehe.”

You and the king made small talk as Frisk watched the brawl behind the bar. Soon, it was time for them to leave. Asgore paid the bill and you picked the kid up from your lap and set them back down on the ground.

“Did you have fun?” you asked them.

Frisk nodded excitedly. “Yeah! Fellby’s rant was super funny! And when he was fighting with Swirlby and Flareby! He’s really funny and makes funny faces when he’s angry.”

Fellby’s eye twitched and walked around the bar. He stooped down and put a hand on Frisk’s head.

“Oh, I’m a funny guy, huh? Maybe I should give you a reason to be scared of me.”

He grabbed them and gave them a noogie. Frisk let out a yelp before laughing, flailing in Fellby’s grasp and reaching for Asgore, pleading with their adoptive father to save them. Asgore, ever the kind and merciful king, rescued the poor child from the wicked flame.

“Thank you for inviting Frisk to dinner, Miss (Y/N),” Asgore thanked you.

You waved a hand. “It was no problem, Asgore. I usually drop by the bar in the evening, so feel free to come back and say hi.”

“We will! Thank you for the food, Grillby. Good night everyone! And good night super duper hero!”

“I told you not to call me that!” Fellby yelled.

Frisk waved goodbye and held onto Asgore’s hand as they left the bar. Fellby let out a frustrated sigh once they left.

“That brat,” he muttered, crossing his arms.

“Seems like they really like you,” you said, sitting back down.

“Keh, I’ve got no idea why they do,” he huffed.

His face, however, looked a little contemplative, and you tilted your head.

“Fellby?”

“...It’s nothing, dollface.”

Grillby glanced over at him, a knowing look in his eyes that was missed by you. He looked around at the bar and nodded to himself as he confirmed that Frisk and Asgore were the last customers.

“Swirlby, Flareby, do you mind helping me get the kitchen cleaned up and organized?” he asked.

“Sure thing, Grillby,” Swirlby nodded.

He and Flareby followed Grillby into the back, but the magenta elemental stopped and walked up to Fellby.

“Ahuhu. You know what it means if Frisk likes you,” he whispered.

Fellby glared at him, but it was half-hearted. The magenta elemental just laughed and went to the kitchen.

You watched the exchange questioningly. Were you missing something here? You looked up at Fellby to see if he would answer you.

“Is something wrong?” you asked him.

He rubbed the back of his head, uncharacteristically a little hesitant. He couldn’t, and was unable to, exactly tell you everything he was thinking about, but felt compelled to answer.

“Just thinking that the kid might like me too much. I ain’t a hero or anything,” he said. “The opposite, really.”

This brat and that one…really, they liked him too much. It was a miracle that they did.

“Oh, Fellby. You’re rough around the edges, sure, but you’re a wonderful person.”

“Nah, I wasn’t always this…tame, dollface. I wasn’t the nicest monster around.”

You put your arms on the bar and laid your head on them, looking up at him. Your face told him that you were there to listen if he wanted to talk. He stared at you before sighing.

He really has gone soft, hasn’t he? His old self would be fucking pissed if he saw him now.

“The brat just reminded me of someone else is all,” he started. “They stuck around me no matter how many times I threatened them and told them to piss off. I was the type to rule by fear, you see, and seeing someone want to genuinely stick around…”

He trailed off, but you could guess what he thought at the time. You didn’t really know much about Grillby’s cousins despite living with them, and the only reason you knew so much about Grillby is because of your past life. Even so…

“I think…” you started after collecting your thoughts. “I’m grateful to that person.”

Fellby raised an eyebrow. “You don’t even know them.”

“Yeah, but it was thanks to them that you are who you are now, right? I may not know what you’ve done in the past, but I can see that you’ve reflected on it. That alone is proof that you’ve changed.” You smiled softly. “You’re a kind man, Fellby.”

“....”

The purple elemental sat down next to you. Being told he was kind almost made him cringe back. It was an instinctual thing, but he managed to stop himself. He wasn’t sure how you’d react if he told you what he’d done and where he came from, but as you looked at him with that soft smile, something told him that maybe it’d be okay if the time ever came.

“You’re just as sugary as that brat, you know that?” he scoffed before showing you a rare, soft smile of his own. “But, well, I guess I don’t mind a little sweetness.”

You felt your heart skip a beat at his smile, and your face heated up. His smile grew when he saw that pretty blush on your face.

“You’re blushing. You fallin’ for me, dollface?” he asked, leaning in close to you.

Your blush only worsened when he got closer, and you pushed his face away from yours.

“D-Don’t get ahead of y-yourself there,” you stuttered.

“Aw, c’mon, you can admit it,” he said, moving your hand out of the way.

“F-Fellby! Kyaa!”

He pulled you out of your seat and onto his lap, wrapping his arms around your waist. He gave you a teasing smirk. This guy! He’s really pushing it!

“Admit it and I’ll let you go.”

“Just let go!”

Fellby laughed as you struggled to get out of his grip, leaning in closer to you when he suddenly let out a pained yelp as a fist landed harshly on his head.

“I believe she asked to be let go, Fellby.”

It was Grillby’s turn to be your hero it seemed, and the purple elemental glared at him as he rubbed his head. You took that chance to jump out of his lap and into Grillby’s arms, burying your blushing face in his chest. Swirlby and Flareby poked their heads out from behind Grillby.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Flareby tutted. “As I thought, you’re nothing but a brute, holding a lady captive like that.”

“How could you, Fellby?!” Swirlby cried as he stroked your hair. “Trying to keep her to yourself!”

“I was just teasing her!”

Fellby growled as Grillby tightened his hold on you, shaking his head in exasperation. He wanted to pluck you right from his cousin’s arms and back into his own.

You clutched Grillby’s vest and tried to get your racing heart to calm down. It felt like it was going as fast as a shooting star. Fellby flirted with you daily! You were supposed to be used to his antics by now. But him being vulnerable with you just now might have had some effect on you.

…

…

It was kind of nice seeing him much softer than his usual brash and loud self.

Your heart started to race again.

Chapter Text

A few days passed since Frisk’s initial visit. They had come to the bar a couple of times after that, escorted by Toriel. You and the queen had gotten along rather well, both of you exchanging baking recipes and tips. When Swirlby and Flareby asked what recipes she gave you, they were disappointed to learn that Toriel’s famed butterscotch cinnamon pie wasn’t among them. It stayed a secret recipe to their disappointment. When you told them that they should try to recreate it, they exclaimed that it never tasted the same when they tried. Toriel was truly the only one who could make the pie.

(None of the elementals questioned anything when Toriel had pulled Grillby aside on one of these visits to ask him about something. They already knew what his answer would be and that Toriel would just get more worried.)

In order to cope with not getting the pie recipe, Swirlby decided that he would spend his upcoming day off baking with you. Coincidentally, his day off also coincided with yours, so he decided to surprise you.

“Have a nice day~! And don’t put oyster sauce in today’s tart, okay, Fellby?”

Swirlby waved to his cousins as they started getting ready to leave. Fellby glared at him at his unnecessary jab.

“Shut up about the oyster sauce already! You better not do or say anything weird to (Y/N) while we’re out!” he hissed, flipping him off. “If I find out you told her something weird about me, you’ll be dust!”

“Yes, yes~!”

“Why you–!”

Grillby grabbed Fellby by his collar before he could start anything and started dragging him out of the house.

“(Y/N) is still sleeping, so be quiet,” he said. “Let’s go.”

“Don’t worry, Swirlby, I’ll be keeping an eye on this one,” Flareby snickered.

“Fuck you!” Fellby growled.

Swirlby continued to wave, smiling widely at Fellby until the door closed. He chuckled once they were gone, skipping over to the kitchen to figure out what to make you for whenever you woke up. He and the others had learned that you slept in on your days off, usually waking up around noon.

“Maybe I’ll make her a complete breakfast,” he hummed. Breakfast foods were among your favorite foods after all.

A couple hours later, he heard you groggily trudge down the stairs, yawning as you did so. He smiled at the sound of your footsteps. Perhaps the smell woke you up.

“What’s that smell–”

“Good afternoon, deary!”

You let out a scream as he popped his head out of the kitchen. He chuckled as you scrambled backwards, a hand over your heart in surprise.

“S-Swirlby! Stars, you scared me!” you cried. “W-Why are you still home?”

“It’s my day off!” he chuckled. “I wanted to keep it a surprise, so I didn’t tell you.”

“Sheesh, what would you have done if I thought you were a burglar and punched you or something?”

“You wouldn’t! Besides, even if you did, I have good reflexes.”

You rolled your eyes and grumbled as he hugged you, resting his chin on the top of your head. You hugged back with a sigh, peeking past him to look into the kitchen.

“Were you cooking something?” you asked him.

Swirlby smiled and let go of you, taking your hand and leading you into the kitchen and presenting you with his surprise. Eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, and pancakes were all piled on the kitchen counter, ready to be plated.

“I know you always make cereal on your days off, so I figured that since I’m home too, I’d make you breakfast.” Swirlby put a finger on his cheek. “Or would it be brunch now? Lunch? Anyways! Go sit at the table! I’ll bring you your food.”

“I can plate it–”

He put a finger on your lips, shushing you.

“I’ll do it, deary.”

He herded you to the table before going ahead and plating the food to bring to you. When the plate was set on the table, you gave him a grateful smile.

“Thank you, Swirlby.”

You started to eat as Swirlby took a seat across from you, cradling his cheek in his hand. Despite the scare earlier, you still looked a little sleepy and a little disheveled. He hid his smile behind his hand. Fellby openly admitted that he liked seeing you like this, saying that it was rather sexy. You had whapped him on the head for it, but Swirlby had to admit that he felt the same. The exception being that instead of thinking it was sexy, he thought it was cute. He wasn’t sure where Fellby got sexy from, considering your pajamas usually consisted of cute and sometimes frilly nightgowns of varying colors. You looked up from your pancakes, having noticed him staring.

“What is it?” you asked.

“It’s nothing,” he smiled. “So, what are your plans for today?”

“I was thinking of staying in today and playing some games. There’s this game I wanted to try out where some iconic villains are reimagined as students in a magic school.”

He smiled wider. “I was thinking of trying out recipes I never really baked before. Want to join me?”

Your eyes lit up like stars at the mention of baking. “What are you thinking?”

Swirlby let out an exaggerated sad sigh. “Since Toriel won’t give out her butterscotch cinnamon pie recipe, I figured I should try out other butterscotch recipes. Aside from trying to recreate Her Majesty’s pie, I never really made many butterscotch sweets before.”

“Butterscotch trauma?”

He nodded solemnly. “Butterscotch trauma.”

As in, traumatized from never getting the pie recipe right and thus gave up on butterscotch altogether. You laughed as he teared up comically from his butterscotch frustration.

“Alright, let me finish eating and get freshened up first before we start our baking day,” you said.

He cheered. “Yaaay! I finally get you aaaaaallll to myself!”

“Swirlby, you’re always clinging to me, so you technically always have me.”

“This is different! No one is here to steal you from me!”

You rolled your eyes and he squeaked when you flicked his forehead.

“You are a big baby, you know that?”

He pouted. “But I love you.”

“Yes, yes.”

You pat his head before finishing up your food and washing the dishes. When you went to get freshened up, Swirlby prepped up all the ingredients and equipment. You walked back into the kitchen after a moment, you saw that he had donned a pink frilly apron that said “Kiss The Flame” on it. He smiled cheekily at you when you raised an eyebrow.

“Where did you get that?” you asked.

“Muffet made it for me,” he answered before wrapping his arms around your waist. “Well?”

“Well what?”

He puckered his lips. “Are you gonna do what it says?”

You pushed his face away as he leaned down towards you.

“Nice try, Swirlby.”

“Awww, come on, deary! Just a little peck?” he whined.

You ignored his whining and took his arms off you, grabbing a cute yellow apron with lemons on it.

He pouted.

“You are cute, I will give you that, but it won’t work on me,” you said as you tied your apron.

His pout immediately turned into a grin. At least you called him cute! That was a win in his eyes.

You picked up a bag of brown sugar, looking between it, a bag of butterscotch chips, and some boxes of instant butterscotch pudding.

“So what should we make first?” you asked.

“I was thinking cookies,” he said, walking up to the counter. “And maybe a cake.”

You hummed, getting the ingredients measured out for cookies. “We also have some day-old bread we can use for bread pudding. A butterscotch bread pudding sounds amazing right now.”

The two of you got to work, and the kitchen was soon filled with the sweet smell of butterscotch.

The cookies were currently in the oven baking, so you were busy looking over the recipe for the cake while Swirlby was measuring out the ingredients. He glanced over at you as you busied yourself with the cookbook.

Baking alongside you felt very nice. Of course, this wasn’t the only time he was in the kitchen together with you since everyone took a turn cooking and helping the one on duty. But this was the first time he was alone with you, his cousins not here to interrupt.

It really was quite nice.

“Oh, hey, you got something here,” he said, just now noticing the little bit of dough on your cheek. How’d that get there? “It must’ve been from the cookies.”

“Huh? Where?”

You pat the cheek opposite the one with batter on it. He chuckled and wiped it off for you and ate it.

“Mm!” His flames crackled happily. “Hey, that’s pretty good!”

You blinked before blushing when you realized just what he did.

“T-Thanks…” you mumbled, putting a hand on your cheek.

Swirlby’s eyes narrowed in amusement as you quickly looked away, getting the cake batter prepped. You were such a precious thing.

“You know, baking with you reminds me of when I was baking for my bake sales,” he said, checking up on the cookies.

“You used to hold bake sales?” you asked.

“Mhm! In Hotland! My little embers always helped me bake stuff, so it was very lively.”

“Like Muffet, huh,” you said, remembering what your boss told you. “By embers, you mean…?”

“Exactly that. Little embers.” He held up a hand and conjured up a small flame the size of an ember elemental. “They’re flame elementals like me and my cousins, but don’t grow like we do. They’re like little ember sprites.”

You stared at the flame in wonder. “Wow, they’re that small? They’re so cute! So what were the bake sales for?”

“Getting the embers trapped in the Ruins to Hotland,” he answered, dispelling the flame. “Snowdin was much too cold for their flames to last outside there.”

“Whoa, just like Muffet and the spiders! You two must have worked together at some point then, right?”

“Er, well, yeah,” he said, quickly turning away to take the cookies out of the oven. “Not much, though, since we are competing bakers. I have a sort of rivalry with her, as you know. Flareby does too.”

You let out a huff and started pouring the batter into a cake pan. “Yeah, I know. You two were begging me not to work at her bakery after all.”

“I still say you should have worked with us! I want to be able to see your cute face everyday!” he whined.

“Why is this a repeating pattern?” you asked, giving him a deadpan look.

“Can I not wish to see you more?” Swirlby pouted as he took the cake pan and put it into the oven.

You put your hands on your hips. “The stars have already granted your wish. You’re seeing me now, right?”

“W-Well…”

Swirlby poked his index fingers together, and he seemed to get smaller under your judging gaze. Even his flames dimmed under it. He continued to poke his fingers together and shuffle his feet as you looked over the cookies.

“Oh, stop shuffling your feet there, you big baby. Come check out the cookies. They turned out great!”

Swirlby shuffled over and looked over the cookies. The cookies looked and smelled amazing, as expected of a perfect baking team like you and him. He reached out and took a not-quite-done-cooling-yet cookie and took a bite.

“Swirlby!” you gasped. “They aren't done cooling yet! They just came out of the oven!”

He chuckled at you as he munched on the cookie. “Heat is nothing to me, deary. Hot cookies? Easy.” He popped the rest of the cookie into his mouth. “That aside, these are delicious!”

He let out a yelp when you slapped his hand as he reached for another cookie. The flames on his head crackled sadly as he rubbed the back of his hand, whimpering softly.

“Wait until they cool completely,” you scolded him. “Now, I’m going to get started on the bread pudding. Since it’s easy, you can take a break. No snacking on the treats, okay?”

“Yes, deary…”

You nodded in approval before getting started on the bread pudding. Swirlby sat down at the bar separating the kitchen and dining room, watching as you flit about. He knew it was nice being with you like this, and watching you now…

“.......(Y/N).”

“Hm?”

“I wish I had you when I was in the Underground.”

You stopped mixing and turned to him. Swirlby wondered what kind of expression he had on right now. Probably contemplative, which he knew would be a rare sight for you.

“I had the embers that lived in Hotland and plenty of friends, as well as…Blue. And my cousins. But sometimes, I did feel a little lonely even with all of them around,” he said, crossing his arms on the counter and laying his head on them. “With you…I feel like I’ll never feel lonely again. You make me feel warm. Haha, pun not intended.”

Swirlby met your gaze as you continued to stare at him, bread pudding mix forgotten for the moment. The moment only broke when you turned around and grabbed a now fairly warm cookie off the cooling rack. You walked up to him and held the cookie to his lips.

“Aaahh.”

He blinked before blushing blue. “Aaahh.”

The blue stayed on his cheeks as you fed him the cookie, and you wiped the crumbs away when he was done. You smiled gently at him.

“I wish I could have chased away your loneliness back then, but now we have all the time in the world to be together. I'm so glad to know someone as wonderful as you.”

As you smoothed the flames on his head, Swirlby felt everything hit him all at once. You squeaked and pulled your hand away when his flames suddenly fwooshed up and he jumped up and ran around the bar before bringing you into a tight hug.

“S-Swirlby?!”

Ah.

“Swirlby! The cake, the cake!”

Ah!

Swirlby knew he was falling down for a while now.

“(Y/N)!”

“Swirlby! The oven! I also have to get the bread pudding in there!”

Swirlby knew he was falling down!

Swirlby just didn't know how hard he was falling and how fast until now.