Chapter Text
To say that he had met anyone else like you would be a lie. You were…special. He’d say something cheesy, like he knew it from the moment you walked in. It wasn’t true of course, your meeting was nothing like that. There was no indication the two of you were meant to be. SOULS may have been real, but even Sans who could read them in more detail than most couldn’t see a link between SOULS. But that’s the kind of man he was. He was a romantic. You, on the other hand, were real. You were the most realistic person he had ever met.
The first day you met, it had been tipping it down. The skies had opened on a whim, unpredicted by the meteorologists and many people had come scattering into the bar, dripping in water. Even the memory of it made him wince. People were soaked to the skin and sought shelter in his bar, famed for being warm, and for its limited but quality menu. He’d been mopping up water for days, a tedious task for anyone else and a potentially dangerous one for him.
Then you’d come in. You, in your black jacket, with umbrella extended towards the heavens. You, with your brisk, business-like attitude. Merely muttering a “Knew it was gonna rain.” Before shaking off the soaked fabric and depositing it in the umbrella stand. It was the only one there and stood triumphantly upright. You unbuttoned the jacket and hung it carefully on the peg, rain having saturated it and marking it with dark spots. You dusted off your trousers and took a seat at the bar. They had fared little better, the front of the covered in dark splatters like little bullets had exploded upon impact. There was a small shine of light on the pen you had tucked between your skull and your ear. He later learnt you kept it there for convenience and to keep your rampant hair away from you face, a mission which often went unrewarded.
He approached you to take your order and you watched him, almost warily, but with a sense of fascination. Like a scientist studying an insect, you seemed unsure but curious as to how he would act. It wasn’t dramatic, there was no love at first sight. You would have loved that, he speculated. You loved anything dramatic and cliché, despite being the very opposite of it. You were a human, like any other he’d seen, and yet so different. You seemed to be very observant, examining the intricate details of the bar before turning to face the menu. Your careful nature reminded him fleetingly of Sans, although his friends attention to people was an innate instinct born of his role as Judge.
Softly, he spoke, a rich voice with a vague crackle to it, as one might expect from a fire elemental, but definitely male. A pleasant sound, with a formal articulate ring to it.
“Welcome to Grillby’s. May I take your order?” You tilted you head, like a bird on one side, and he couldn’t quite decide whether it was the menu on the wall you were examining or him, your eyes seeming as though they might be examining his SOUL, holding him immobile under your gaze. For a second too long to be reading the brief menu your eyes lingered, tracing over something, as though trying to ingrain it into your memory.
Then you smiled. It changed your whole face when you did that. The critical arch to your eyebrows softened and your eyes tightened, the amusement dancing in them, making them shine. The edges of your mouth curled up, exposing a row of even teeth, your cupid’s bow flattened out and a dimple graced the side of your cheek. Grillby found himself thanking the stars he didn’t have a mouth like yours, working through muscles and skin, otherwise he was sure it would be hanging open.
You were gorgeous. He had never met a human he found attractive. He knew others did, of course. There were plenty of monster-human relationships in the area. But he’d never seen the attraction. But you. You were stunning and it took him so much by surprise, he felt his flames grow a little, as the monster equivalent to a small blush tainted him.
Taking a deep breath and clearing his throat he prepared to speak again, to apologise for staring, when a light crimson bloomed in your cheeks.
“Oh! I’m so sorry! I was lost in my own thoughts. I’ll have an order of fries please.” As you spoke, Grillby found himself transfixed by your mouth. The dramatic changes in your lips, from your slightly asymmetrical smile to the tighter circular shape which enunciated the O sounds, and the brief appearance of a soft pink tongue between your teeth, as you articulated your order.
You finished the order with another smile, the skin around your eyes creasing and you looked to him with a hopeful expression. Your voice was soft, and not the sharp annoyed tone he had associated with you when he first saw you. But then, he had never been a very good judge of character. It simply wasn’t his department.
To his embarrassment he found the only response he was capable of giving you was a rather curt nod, not because you irritated him, but because every assumption he made about you had only turned out to be contradicted by you in one way or another.
Whilst his body seemed to be screaming at him to run to the fire door, where no one could follow him, to hide his flustered face, to be able to compose himself, he instead quelled the panic of his SOUL to the best that he could, and let out a rather shaky “One moment, please.”
He then turned and stiffly but composedly and fluidly walked out of the bar to the door, passing through it easily. His apartment was located back here. This was his sanctuary, the place he could go if he needed to escape. Arguably you had done nothing to warrant such a reaction from him, and in truth he couldn’t quite explain it, even now. But something had happened out there, some revelation. Whilst it wasn’t earth shattering it took him abruptly out of his comfort zone, and into the realm of panic.
He didn’t get far before he collapsed, critically analysing his actions and the impression you must have been left with. Then he swallowed and began to calm himself. He could not have a breakdown now, he had a job to do and other obligations. Groaning internally he pushed his glasses up and set to work on your order.
The only people who could get him here were other fire elementals, who all knew of Grillby’s rather awkward nature, and Sans, who could quite often be the need for him to be in here. Luckily Sans was very good at knowing Grillby’s limits, never pushing the teasing too far, and good at changing track if the other monster clearly needed time to ‘cool down’ as he so eloquently put it. Grillby couldn’t help however, but thank the stars that Sans had not been there to witness that rather awkward encounter. He had a lingering fear in the back of his mind that the other monster would find out anyway, but for the moment he let it rest.
There had been an important meeting of monsters that day, all boss monsters and Frisk the ambassador had been called to a meeting with the government. As Grillby understood from Sans’ explanation it was to do with expanding monster rights, and so Toriel was very insistent on Sans’ presence, believing it was necessary he be present to tell them if there might be ulterior motives to the proposed laws. He had also mentioned something about timelines, a phrase which occasionally passed between Sans and Frisk but nobody else ever seemed to know about. Grillby had always decided it was better not to press the issue, as there were certain topics Sans made clear he did not like to discuss.
Initially Grillby had been somewhat hurt by this revelation, until he discovered it was part of the cause of his friends depression, after a night of heavy drinking. After consoling Sans that night he made it a rule to avoid ever bringing it up. The unspoken pact between the two still stood solidly.
Meanwhile, you had been sat at the bar, rather oblivious to what had just happened but aware that the tone of the fire monster had changed from the calm one he had been using a few moments prior. Going over your actions in your head and trying to think if you could have done anything which might have been reasonable grounds for being offended, you had concluded it must be something else which had happened, as you didn’t think it was obvious you had been staring at him and not the menu behind him.
You couldn’t deny, for a man with no technically physical features he was very hot. Ha! That was funny, and you snorted to yourself quietly. There was a sharpness to his features, to his jawline, to his nose, chin, and his cheekbones, which you couldn’t help but admire, standing in such stark contrast to your own rather soft features. The startling prominence of an Adam’s apple protruding from his throat confirmed your suspicion that he was male. You hadn’t meant to stare. Well, you had, but not for so long.
But why had he looked so…distressed? Possibly he had had a bad day, or received some unsavoury news. Or maybe he had noticed your staring.
Whatever the case, you couldn’t help the slight twinge to your heart at the rather anxious way the monster had headed for the door at the end of the bar. Pushing some hair back from your face you steeled yourself in determination. When the monster came back you were going to try your best to cheer him up.
After all, if it was your fault, then you needed to try to make amends, and no one deserved to be sad, and if he needed to laugh you would make him. Alternatively maybe he just needed someone to talk to. You couldn’t deny you were curious about his mouth. When he spoke, his head angled towards the ground, and whilst you could see the movement of his mouth you couldn’t see how it worked, or even how it looked inside. When he wasn’t speaking it seemed to disappear back into the multitude of flames that made up his face, and it didn’t appear to open very wide. It was almost as though he was purposely angling his face to avoid letting you look at him.
It had been about 20 minutes since the monster left. You felt somewhat uneasy, as though someone might be staring at you, but dismissed the feeling. Tapping you fingers along the polished wooden bar you debated retrieving your stuff and leaving. It wasn’t raining anymore and the patrons of the bar were starting to disperse back outside. You had resolved that this might be a good escape plan, if the monster took too much longer to return when you felt something large, warm and soft pat you on the shoulder.
Turning on the bar stool to face whatever it was, you were met by a large white dog. Their paw hovered in the air, as though they weren’t expecting you to turn quite so quickly.
Your eyes were wide and your mouth was slightly open in surprise. Quickly retracting their paw, they offered you a rather sheepish smile. To their left there was a smaller dog, both of them seemingly joined at the paw. You raised an eyebrow and waited for enlightenment.
“Ah, sorry. I’m Dogamy and this is Dogaressa.” They both had massive ears, whiter than snow, which drooped to their shoulders and looked like they contained more fluff than some of the fanfiction you read. Both appeared to be wearing massive black hooded jumpers, and a pair of jeans, with a hole in the denim at the back to allow their plush tails to spill out. The male dog who had initially addressed was slightly taller, his shoulders slightly broader and his stance was straighter. He also had a small curl of white fur on the top of his head. The female dog was tucked into the crevice of the males shoulder. She had wider hips than him as well as a slimmer waist, and stood with one side leaning into him, her paw peeking round his side as she held his waist.
You smiled at them, albeit hesitantly, wondering why they were talking to you and a little uncomfortable with the delay in your food making it rude to turn away, as you had nothing else to focus you own attention on, besides the two in front of you. Still, you retained your uncomfortable smile and averted your gaze from meeting their eyes by focusing on the huge white paws poking out from under their jeans.
Sensing your inherent unease Dogamy spoke again. “Sorry, I’ll get to the point. Our friend Doggo, wanted to ask what you did to make Grillby so embarrassed. He can’t see very well so he missed the exchange, and we were – distracted.” He stretched the arm that wasn’t resting on Dogaressa’s shoulders to point out a shorter but bulkier canine in the corner, only a short distance away. Huh, so Grillby must be the name of the fire elemental, and consequentially the owner.
He appeared to be permanently squinting and a pair of rimless glasses were perched on his muzzle. Two white patches of fur above his eyes seemed to be acting as eyebrows and were furrowed, the dog facing in your general direction but his eyes seemed to glance over you as though you weren’t there. Half of a dog treat seemed to be hanging from his mouth and one end looked slightly singed, and a faint white trail of smoke seemed to be curling from it. His arms were crossed and the spiked collar around his neck appeared to be very statement inducing. What exactly that statement was supposed to be, you weren’t sure.
“Can he hear me? You inquired curiously, but not entirely certain of whom you were hoping to evoke an answer, your gaze never wavering from the curious creature in the corner. You supposed afterwards it was a redundant question. Just because a person cannot see does not mean they can’t hear. As you spoke his ears twitched, alert and erect. He adjusted the position of his head to look properly in the vicinity of which you sat, although he still wasn’t focused on you.
“Yes I can. I’m not blind either. If you moved I could see you. I can only see moving things.” He spoke, and the words which might otherwise sound contemptuous, appeared merely informative, despite the curl to his lip which seemed to be less out of disgust and more of a habit, as though the monster had realised your words were spoken out of genuine curiosity. As he spoke, he revealed a row of teeth, all canines crowned with sharp tips, with four slightly longer protruding ones positioned at the traditional human location of the canines. There was a faint shine when he talked and the dim bar lighting caught the saliva coating his tongue.
His yellowish eyes narrowed vaguely at you. “I couldn’t see you, but I could see Grillby. His flames must have risen by about two inches. And he looked pretty flustered. More flustered than I’ve seen him look in a long time.” You prepared to apologise, to explain and explain you didn't know what happened at the tone of his voice. It sent inexplicable shivers through you, and was deep with a feral undertone.
When you moved your hand to flick a stray stand of hair from your peripheral his eyes fixed on you and he grinned wolfishly. It still made you shiver but in a more pleasant way.
You couldn't deny Doggo was attractive, in an odd way. He slammed his hands down on the table and stood up, leaning across the table, almost entirely in your face. "And no one loves to tease Grillby as much as me, except maybe Sans. So spill. What did you do?" His tone was lighter now, with a small tone of amusement ringing through it. Dogaressa and
Dogamy also appeared to be looking at you with something akin to interest behind their eyes. You decided not to question the introduction of an unknown party into the equation as you were already confused enough.
"I'm uh, really sorry, but I don't think I know? I don't think it was me...all I did was order some food.” You managed a rather stuttered reply to the attractive monster who was currently invading your personal space. None of the three monsters looked convinced or satisfied by your response but were prevented from pressing the issue further by the timely arrival of your food.
You were alerted to it by a soft throaty cough, with an underlying hum to it, and all three canines flicking their eyes to a figure behind you and then abruptly away again. Turning back to the bar, you saw the aforementioned Grillby standing with a plate of fries in his hand, looking rather apologetic and to a lesser degree, nervous. Raising a hand to your mouth you anxiously bit your lip as you looked up at him from under your lashes and fringe which had curled slightly due to the rain.
Grillby lifted one hand to his collar as though to loosen it, but dropped it before it got there and cleared his throat again, speaking softly, as you tried to see his mouth in action.
Due to the flickering light coming from Grillby himself and the speed of his mouth moving you were unable to make any astute observations about his mouth, other than the inside of it was a pale yellow. His eyes on the other hand were fairly easy to see, bright spots of light dancing within rather large eyes behind his thin glasses.
“I’m sorry about the delay with your food, there was a technical difficulty with the grill. Please, as an apology, they’re on the house today.” The fire elemental indicated the door he had previously entered with his free left hand. You smiled up at him, head tilted to one side to angle your view of him and hands clasped together on the top of the bar.
“That’s so nice of you! Thank you Grillby!” The elemental seemed to almost flinch when you said his name. Whilst you merely saying his name in a casual manner has long since lost quite that dramatic effect you still had a way of saying certain words which could arouse great emotions in him, his name being one that frequently topped the list.
Flushing the bartender went to place the plate on the top of the bar, murmuring a hushed “It’s no problem,” when you simultaneously reached upwards to take the plate from him.
Your fingers brushed his hand on the plate and he nearly withdrew as though he had been burned. He managed to maintain some semblance of dignity however and merely gently released the plate once he was assured it was safely within your own grip. You set the plate down gently on the bar with a soft clatter. You reached over and began to pick out fries delicately with your fingers, disregarding the cutlery gleaming sliver next to you.
Your fingers were slim, soft and smooth. They weren’t calloused like some humans had, but that didn’t mean they weren’t strong or skilled. The colour consistent from your wrist to the rounded tips of every individual digit. He appreciated that, your consistency. His skin was always flickering, always changing from one shade to another. They usually represented his emotions, something he resented as it marked him as easy to read. He would always be glad you didn’t know how to read him and his skin then like you do now, or he’s sure you would have mocked him nonstop for the mush of emotions you reduced him to that day. He watched as, like a delicate system of clockwork, your muscles and tendons operated your fingers. As your knuckles rose and sank with the motions of your hands. As your skin pulled taut and smooth over the organization of bone.
Grillby’s fingers were interesting. They were thicker than yours and longer. They didn’t feel like human fingers either. There seemed to be far less resistance to them, almost gelatinous in texture. There was also a continual warmth radiating from them as with all of him. You admired their strength despite lacking bones, muscles and tendons. You admired the faint throbbing glow of his magic you could sometimes see if you looked hard enough, pulsating beneath the changing surface.
His flames were always changing, transfixing you. You lost count of how often you would find yourself staring at a part of him, captivated by the ever changing beauty of him. It always embarrassed him, he hated being stared at, but he eventually got used to it. You were glad. It was a part of who you were and you always thought beautiful things deserved to be appreciated, and you chose to appreciate them by looking at them. You usually memorised things this way, but you couldn’t memorise Grillby, as by nature he was ever changing. Your father had once told you that that was the one true way to appreciate something was to give it your time and devoted attention, and you found Grillby to be the one thing that you could devote everything to. Besides you could never help the thought that Grillby deserved as much love as this world could give him. Plus it made him flustered and that was adorable.
Following a rather flustered apology, with assurance from you that it was fine, and a casual dismissal of the incident, Grillby picked up a glass and began to wipe it clean. There were no new patrons to serve and so he busied himself, but found his attention drawn back to you again. He marvelled at your ability to keep so composed and then pondered if maybe his own nature was causing him to worry far too much about the incident. Your head was bent over a book, one he was fairly sure you hadn’t been reading earlier. It was entitled “Teach your dog Quantum Physics.” A small half smile of bemusement played on your face as you used your thumb to turn the page, and with your free hand you picked free another fry which you placed between the edges of your teeth. Deftly you used gravity to aid you, tilting your head back to seize the food properly between your teeth and offering him full view of your neck and jaw. He almost dropped the glass he was cleaning in shock.
Your jaw was harshest next to your ear, but softened almost immediately, reaching your chin in a slimmer rounded shape. The side of your neck stood bare and open, the perfect place to grab, and bite and suck. The perfect place to please you. The angle of your head exposed the tendons in your neck, standing taut against your skin, and creating a hollow near the dip between your clavicles, and muscles standing tauter as the protrusion dipped beneath the collar of your top and travelled along your skin towards your shoulders. He could even see the exposed ridges of your oesophagus against the surface of your skin, swelling as you swallowed and falling back into place as you lowered your head.
Breaking quickly out of his trace Grillby made eye-contact with you briefly causing him to flush brightly. As if the thoughts and desires he had just had about you by looking at your neck weren’t bad enough, he’d been caught in the act by you. Thankfully you didn’t seem to notice, your ability of being horribly perceptive and then ridiculously oblivious working in his favour for once. He swallowed, his mouth unbearably dry as he clocked the nauseous tingling in the bottom of his stomach of fear and desire. He retreated carefully to the fire door, disappearing through it quickly.
You were aware of his absence as the glass he had been intently cleaning stood on the sideboard, and the cloth he had been utilising was pooled on the floor. Behind you Doggo chuckled. You turned quickly to face him. His dog treat was almost completely ashes now, a small wisp of smoke indicating it was lit. His shoulders were shaking lightly and his eyes seemed to dance with amusement. Dogaressa and Dogamy also seemed somewhat bemused by the events. Doggo lowered his hand of cards to look at you, or the vague area he knew you were in.
“I don’t know what you’re doing to him but it sure seems to be working. His face was priceless! Hey, do me a favour and try flirting with him next time?” He asked hopefully.
You rubbed the back of your neck awkwardly with your free hand. “I can’t do that! I don’t even know how!” You protested, fire igniting in your cheeks at the suggestion, although you couldn’t deny a slight curiosity in how he might react. And it could be a good tactic to break the ice.
Doggo sniggered and leaned his torso towards you, a half smirk playing down one side of his jaw. “That’s the easy part. Ol’ Grillby is pretty easy to tease. If you know any pickup lines those will work. Besides, you can’t deny he is pretty hot.” He winked a furry eyelid at you and your eyes widened and you span back to the bar, mortified.
You heard the laughing from behind you and your cheeks flamed as you brought your book closer to your face and focused on the ink laced pages. Calming yourself slightly you smoothed out the pages with your fingers and wiped the dampness of sweat from their surface.
You only noticed Grillby’s return based on the slight warmth humming through the air and the faint crackle in the air. Glancing up from your book you found your eyes meeting Grillby’s clothed midriff. Tracing up with your eyes you reached his face, hand nervously scratching the side of his neck.
An idea struck you and your eyes flickered between him and your book for a second before settling on his form, a mischievous smile twisting your lips. Hoping Doggo was listening you called out “Hey, hot stuff, you come here often?” He looked up at you, startled from the glass he had resumed cleaning after fluidly scooping the cloth from the floor where it had resided. Once he registered your words his eyes widened and he tightened his grip on the glass. His Adam’s apple bobbed gently as he swallowed and placed the glass on the shelf below the bar and approached you, hesitant and nervous, a tight smile on his face.
Indicating your now empty plate, he asked “Can I get you anything else?”
You turned and grinned directly at him, in an almost scary fashion, with so much enthusiasm, your eyes dancing with amusement. You swept your hair away from your head with one hand and tilted your onto one side, fluttering your eyelashes excessively to emphasise the joking nature of your flirting. “How about your number?” You asked, leaning forward over the bar.
Grillby froze, your words registering. He was stiff for so long you almost waved your hand in front of his face to see if he was conscious. His jaw was hanging open slightly and his eyes were huge, rounded in surprise. The pale yellow light from his mouth contrasting slightly with the darker orange of his external flame. Then slowly, a light red crept up his face, like mercury creeping up a thermometer. It reached the top of his flames and they suddenly erupted, growing almost 3 feet before the fire elemental crumpled to the floor.
There was a pause and you stared, shocked at the place behind the bar where he had disappeared. Then you heard a loud howl of laughter from behind you, and a heavy paw thumped you on the back. Your head whipped to the side in shock and you saw Doggo standing next to you, using one paw to wipe his eyes which were watering, almost doubled over in laughter.
“Oh, God! That’s the best I’ve seen in a long time! Wait till Sans hears about this! Hahaha!” He snorted, gently slapping the counter before hugging you in delight. You felt your torso being crushed against him and gasped slightly.
“Ah! Air!” You yelped out, causing him to release you, rubbing his head apologetically.
“Ah, sorry! It’s just, that’s the best reaction I’ve seen from Grillby since the Ketchup Incident. You’re a natural at this-err- sorry, what was your name?” He asked sheepishly.
“Oh, it’s Y/N, but uh….is he going to be okay?” You indicated Grillby’s dazed form on the floor, being fanned gently by Dogaressa.
He dismissed your question with a wave of his paw. “Aw, he’ll be fine! Thanks for doing that by the way, his expression was HILARIOUS! You’re obviously a natural flirt eh?”
You flushed with embarrassment. “Uh, it’s no problem. I guess it’s easier to flirt if the guys are genuinely attractive.” You giggled and Doggo gave you a suggestive look. You shoved his shoulder lightly.
“I’ve only spoken three sentences to him!”
“That doesn’t mean anything!” You rolled your eyes at him.
“Whatever. As long as you’re sure he’s going to be okay I’ve got to get going. You know how much the fries would be?” He shook his head, and indicated a receipt next to your plate.
Digging your hand into the scratchy denim of your trousers you retrieved your wallet. You forked out the required amount, depositing the shiny coins on the bar, along with a little extra for his trouble. Then an idea struck you and you retrieved the pen from your ear, signing a little note at the bottom of the receipt, before retrieving your jacket over one arm and your now dry umbrella from the bucket beside the door. Then, you waved a goodbye to the dog monsters and flickered your eyes briefly over Grillby’s form, briefly making eye contact with him, as he had just come round. You dropped him a quick wink before stealing out the door.
Grillby was stunned by your wink, but less so than your flirting, recovering on the floor, Dogaressa's muzzle obscuring his sight. Over the top it may have been but it was still super effective. He managed to pull himself back to the bar, after waving off the two dogs, insisting he was fine and collecting your money from the counter, heart fluttering slightly at the considerate gesture of leaving a tip, not something he often got from human customers.
He was about to file the receipt away, when a series of dark letters caught his eye.
‘Hey hot stuff.
Since I didn’t get your number, here’s mine.
Maybe after your nap you could drop me a text.
XXX-XXX-XXX
Y/N’
You were going to be the death of him. He couldn’t help the faint smile that played over his lips as he read your note, a slight tingle in his SOUL and an even warmer sensation in his ordinarily hot cheeks. He would definitely take you up on your offer.