Chapter Text
2
You completely balked as soon as your headphones came off. Any bit of bravery you had exited your body as your last bit of defenses left your ears.
"Who's there?" You asked, a little too late for comfort. Second nature, it just comes with working with your goofball boss. The skeleton in front of you grins, sharklike.
"I'MA."
You winced at his volume. "I'ma... Who?"
"I'm afraid you have a staring problem!" His tone never once dropped the jovial tone, blue eyes watching your face (but not YOUR eyes) intently.
You had nothing to say about that.
If Blue boy noticed your hesitant glances between him and his brother, he didn't call it out. "My brother insisted on doing his laundry here, even though we have our washer and dryer set up. Isn't that crazy? He INSISTS that it's cheaper to do his laundry here. Something about the water bill being too high with eight people in the house."
Why WAS he chatting you up like this? "Just a little weird. I mean, if you don't split the water bill eight ways, you could end up having arguments about who exactly did what."
"That's the thing! I pay the water bill each month, not him! We're not grasping at straws to make ends meet either, he's just… Stubborn! As a mute." While that was weird, you can't help but think that he didn't mean a mute person.
"You mean as a mule?" You gently correct.
"... What's a mule?"
"A crossbreed of a donkey and a horse."
"I hardly think that was called for! Women in the sex industry have it worse than you might think."
"... Did you think I said 'whore'? A horse is a large domestic animal that was bred for manual labor."
"Wait, what's a donkey, then?"
"Pretty much the same thing, but they're not as domesticated. That's why they were bred with horses to make mules!"
"Illuminating! Thank you for this information, Human, I will slot it away for future use!" Sky took this lull in conversation to mirror your posture a little bit, leaning against a washer as well.
He spoke up again, and you quickly jerked your head back up to his face instead of your shoes.
"If I'm being perfectly honest, I don't quite know what the purpose of this place is, the Laundromat. Is it common for humans to do this?"
"Well… Yeah. Not everyone can afford washing machines, but they're very convenient. Sometimes apartments don't have access to their laundry rooms covered in the rent either, like in my case. It's cheaper to go here than to spend 3 dollars a load in my building."
"3 dollars a load?" He looked just as taken aback as you were when you first heard about that.
You sheepishly laughed, before your face settled into something a bit more serious. "I haven't introduced myself, have I?" At the shake of his head, you winced, and gave him your name. "Sorry, that was rude of me!"
"Human, if the most I have to worry about with you is things slipping your mind, then I consider you safe."
The both of you talked for quite some time after that, until your laundry was done. Beanpole seemed to ignore you, but he looked at least a little relieved for some reason.
You got Skye's number, name, and the address to a coffee shop and bakery, Muffet's. He wanted to meet with you again in a week or so.
You never did find out what for, though.
-
You groaned and rubbed your eyes with a passion, almost like you weren't trying to rub sleep from them, but more the memory of your awful performance this afternoon. You can't believe you FORGOT the sign for the Delta Rune, only THE symbol that represents Monsters and their society underground!
Normally Ambrose briefs you on signs he created for Monster kind that would be relevant in the mornings, but he was busy this morning, and the question from the press was a surprise.
That still didn't make you feel any better. Once you were allowed to sit down, you allowed yourself to rethink your entire career. You normally did okay with public speaking, but once you sit down, you're free to think back and think back you do.
You sat back and closed your eyes, feeling the fluorescent lights buzzing incessantly against your eyelids despite your best efforts to keep it out. Maybe Masala would go easy on you this afternoon. He just loved to critique your form, like he could do any better.
It didn't take long for Ambrose to seek you out, you both were excused at the same time after all. A knock on the table you were sat at caused you to open one eye and look up at him.
"Who's there?"
《A FRIEND.》
"A friend who?"
《A FRIEND THAT CARES.》
The translation wasn't exact, as transitions between different languages could be sometime, but it made you smile anyways.
"Ambrose, Masala," you greeted, not really looking in his direction. He didn't like you, you tolerated him, this was strictly professional business between you both.
… Except it wasn't Masala.
A taller skeleton with the same pointy teeth and 3 scars over his left eyesocket cleared his nonexistent throat, and that was enough for you to realize your mistake. Definitely not Masala, he didn't speak to anyone but Ambrose. You let your gaze turn to him instead of Ambrose.
"Oh, sorry! Um, should I know… You?"
A ghost of a smile found itself onto his face, for reasons unknown to you, before he caught it and shoved it back down.
"OF COURSE YOU… Of course you should! I am Pine, at your service."
He makes no move to initiate a handshake, so you do so instead, giving him your name. He… Looks less than pleased.
Ambrose nudges Pine with a well-placed elbow (bottom of the Humerus?) to the ribs. It wasn't enough to move him, just enough for him to realize what his brother wanted. Pine looked at him incredulously, like he couldn't POSSIBLY be expected to shake your hand. You don't stand down.
An entire conversation plays out between the two of them using only their eyelights, before Pine grumbles and almost snatches your arm out of the air to shake it twice before he lets go.
You hiss in pain for just a second (that was unnecessarily rough!) and he immediately realizes his mistake. His eyesocket twitches, but he holds out his hand. You hesitate giving it to him, but he takes it gently.
"Honestly, stupid fucking… humans! Stars, how have you survived this long?" He murmurs under his breath as he takes off a single red glove, sitting down in the chair next to you.
He seems genuinely concerned under his dark mask, so you just. Let him do his thing. You can see the beginnings of a bruise forming around your wrist, so maybe it's good that he's checking it out.
"Breathe, idiot." He says, without a trace of guilt, but you can see it in his eyes. You hadn't even noticed you were holding your breath, but you let your chest return to the gentle rising and falling.
The little space between you is filled with Mahogany and Teakwood, and you wonder for a second what's even happening until you see the plasma around his hand turn green. You've… Never been healed by magic before, so you don't know what to expect.
You learn that it's rather warm, and it feels VERY weird. The pain melting away and being left with passive-aggressive well wishes was certainly new.
"Th-thank you?" You manage to get out. He simply gets up and stands behind Ambrose again.
《COFFEE? HE WILL BE TIRED.》
"Yeah, um… Yeah, we can go get coffee."
Pine doesn't say another word the entire outing.