Chapter Text
Today was a big day. Well not really in the grand scheme of things that had been recently happening in October's short life, 22 years wasn't really short but c'mon grand scheme here, but it was big none the less. Today she was going to go to the store on the other side of Snowdin all by herself. God when she thought it that way she really did feel childish. But in all honesty she had been doing grocery runs nearly every day before the evening rush hit and nothing even remotely threatening had happened to her so today she was given permission to brave it alone.
In reality it had been the bouncer complaining about having to go with her only to have Grillby dismiss them by saying nothing had happened so he saw no reason why she couldn't venture out on her own. But regardless it felt like a trust thing. She was trusted to get this job accomplished and not cause any issues by doing so. Plus most of the monsters in town were familiar enough with her that they were sure no one would report to either of the dickwad brothers.
October buttoned up her jacket and stashed the envelope of gold in her the pocket of her jeans. The new clothes Grillby had been nice enough to have Vis go get for her were all a little too small or a little too big, but nothing was too off to be uncomfortable really. She let her hair down in preparation for the cold outside, letting the hair tie take up residence for the time being around her left wrist. A small goodbye and a good luck from Vis and she was on her way.
The trip to the store went by relatively uneventfully, a couple monsters gave her a curt hello and one had even dared to catcall before she glared at them and found the monster to clam up immediately. As she entered the store she was left be to pick up the various groceries needed for the club. She enjoyed the peace and time to herself, wondering if with the town more used to her maybe she could do something with her time aside from simply working next to nonstop. It wasn't hard work so she didn't really mind but that didn't stop the feeling of being imprisoned from lingering.
As she began the trip home the town seemed surprisingly empty, every single monster she had seen on her journey to the store now gone. Her pace slowed as a worrisome sinking feeling crept inside of her. “HELLO, HUMAN.” The voice resonated within her skull as the loud without yelling tone brought back a memory from the first day she had fallen underground. October whirled around defiantly, a scowl already across her face before she even made eye contact with the tall skeleton in front of her.
“Hello, Papyrus.” She spat his name out, eyes narrowing. “I already told your brother a few days back, I'm employed by Grillby now. Unless you wanna try and start something with him, I'd suggest you leave me the fuck alone.”
He gave a loud scoff, placing his hands upon his hips dramatically. “I DO NOT CARE WHAT THAT ARROGANT IDIOT ATTEMPTS TO DO. THE KING HAS MORE RIGHT TO YOUR SOUL THEN THAT FOOL EVER WILL. LET HIM DO WHAT HE WANTS, I'LL DEAL WITH HIM LATER.” He paused for a moment before his eyes narrowed, the bone around the top of his left eye splitting ever so slightly with the tension, revealing the line of a rather large scar. “THOUGH, DID YOU SAY YOU HAD SPOKEN TO MY BROTHER? HE HADN'T TOLD ME HE'D SEEN YOU UNACCOMPANIED PRIOR...” Anger spread across his face rapidly before he shook his head, unsuccessfully negating the emotion as he bared his fanged teeth. “I WILL DEAL WITH HIM LATER. BUT YOU-”
He rose his hand quickly, almost before October could remember what had happened last time, and she hastily jumped back in time to narrowly avoid the flurry of bones that rose from the ground she had just stood on. A nervous laugh escaped her lips as she began to shake just a tiny bit. “Look, you're pretty cool with your magic shit but I just bought these groceries so at least let me put them up before you start trying to fucking kill me for no god damned reason alright?”
A growl rose from him as he flung his hand once more, this time a trail of femurs rose from the ground, plowing through the snow straight for the girl. She gave a small jump before she simply began running away, once again almost being hit by the relatively deadly attack. It felt a little humiliating to simply run away without a fight but she had a good thing going here, and if she could make it to the club she could at least get some kind of backup. And not die. Not dying was very important here.
As she could begin to see the faint outline of the club in the distance, the only sounds in her ears being the crunching of snow underneath as she ran and her own heart beats, a sudden shooting pain ripped through her left arm. A loud scream tore itself from her throat as she fell in to the snow face first, her vision blurring as she threatened to black out.
Almost as soon as the pain spiked it went away, a numb feeling spreading itself through her arm. She attempted to focus her eyes, her dark skin and the bright crimson that was her blood coming in to focus as a stark contrast against the bright snow. Using her other arm she pushed herself up a bit to see what had happened, causing a small squeak of surprise to leave her as she saw the damage done to her arm. It was completely broken, the bone finding itself visible after the sleeve of her jacket had been torn. It jutted straight out from the middle of her arm, brilliant white as the snow while the hole it had punctured through her muscle and skin seeped red. October paused there, perplexed as to why she wasn't sobbing, or screaming, as she was unable to register that her body had gone in to shock before her thoughts were interrupted by hearing the crunch of Papyrus' slow footsteps.
He chuckled loudly as he approached. “YOU HUMANS ARE SO FRAGILE. YOU TALK BIG BUT I KNOW I WON'T HAVE TO DO MUCH TO KILL YOU.” She sucked in a sharp breath as tears began to sting her eyes. She would never admit it but she had never been this afraid before. Though that was if she somehow managed to live.
As the monster before her laughed loud enough to droned out the sob that wracked her body his voice cut off quickly, turning into a deep growl. “I see you're looking for a fight buddy. Now you'd best be fucking off here real quick if that's not what you're looking for.” The next sob choked in October's throat as she recognized the voice that came suddenly from in front of her. She raised her head quickly, hope spread out across her face as she laid eyes upon the club's bouncer.
The growl behind her quelled, “I HAVE NO INTENTION OF FIGHTING YOU. I SIMPLY WISHED TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO ACTUALLY GET SOMETHING DONE PROPERLY. IT SEEMS I'M THE ONLY ONE IN THIS TOWN WHO REMEMBERS WHAT BEING A MONSTER MEANS.” The crunching of his footsteps started to ring through the air once again.
Despite herself October turned around to look over her shoulder, grinning at the skeleton. “That's right you stupid mother fucker.” As soon as the words left her mouth he turned on his heel, hand moving fluidly through the air to toss one more attack her way. Before she could curse her own foolishness, the bouncer ran in front of her, shoving her to the side in an effort to keep the attack from hitting her. However the impact from falling on to her broken arm was enough to allow the pain to once again seep in to her body, this time making the world go dark.
+
October found her eyes focusing against bright ceiling lights, the silhouette of the bouncer laying her down on something soft. As she began to rouse further her eyes drifted around the room, finding it unfamiliar to her. Before she could even attempt to speak the door flew open, Grillby rushing in with his flames burning bright. He snapped loudly. “What are you waiting for start healing her you idiot!”
The bouncer only nodded sharply, his hands moving towards October's broken arm. She pulled back in fear, not wanting to experience the pain of her injury being touched. He shushed her, his voice surprisingly gentle, “Don't worry, I already reset the bone while you were out. I won't actually touch you.” The girl calmed and allowed him to place his hands near her arm, a numb tingling sensation spreading throughout her throbbing limb.
Grillby placed his hands alongside his employee's, an angry scowl of a mouth ripped across his face. “What were you even thinking?! You stupid, stupid, fragile human! Don't you know how easy it is for you to die? You're incredibly fucking lucky you know that right?” He glared at the girl as she settled in to the warm feeling of her arm slowly being healed. If she weren't so hazy she would have attempted to argue with him, but now she simply focused on the concerned tone laced throughout his chastising. “I can't believe you actually had me thinking you'd be fine out on your own! It should have been obvious that something like this would happen!” He paused with a huff, his eyes going to her injury before they darted back to her once more. “From now one you are forbidden from going out without an escort. You signed the contract, you belong to me now and you are not allowed to die. Do you understand me?”
She swallowed hard before speaking. “How about you save your lecture until after I'm not super fucked up injured? I can't even fucking think straight and you're trying to yell at me?” She scoffed softly.
His mouth disappeared for a moment, his face expressionless, before he let out a let out an amused chuckle. He shook his head with a soft sigh. “That's my girl.” He withdrew his hands, along with the bouncer, the warm feeling spreading through the girl beginning to dull. “I know you're all spitfire but it's time to rest. You're not made like us so our healing magic probably won't be perfect. You need to take it easy for a while, no exceptions.” He pointed a finger at her accusingly. “I don't want to see you up and about for the rest of the day. If I find out you've been out of this bed you'll have hell to pay.” He turned his back to her swiftly before exiting the room.
October laughed softly and held up her arm, wiggling her fingers in amazement at the fast healing, before turning towards the other occupant in the room. “Man, I don't even know where I am right now. How am I supposed to get back to the club from here?”
He laughed rather loudly before patting her on the thigh. “Sweetheart you're in dear old Grillby's room. You're pretty damn lucky that you got healed, let alone being told to rest in here.” She gave him a look of confusion. “You are a human, so it's understandable that you'd be special. So just, rest on up and make sure you don't kick the bucket huh?”
She puffed out some air dramatically. “You guys just fixed me up completely. There's no way I'm dying any time soon.” She held up her right hand to the monster, asking for a high five wordlessly, to which he stared at her for a moment before complying. “Thank you. For saving me by the way. I really do mean it.”
It was his turn to act dramatic, scoffing loudly. “I'm just doing it because I'm payed to.” A laugh wafted from him. “But really, get some rest. You probably still feel pretty fucked up. I'll let everyone know you're alright.” He walked towards the door, pausing to turn around and give her a salute. “See you later, spitfire” Chuckling bounced around the room before fading away as he finally took his leave.
October rolled her eyes before finally allowing her heavy lids to close. She thought to herself about how really she wasn't very tired, she was just resting her eyes for a moment. Yeah she was gonna get up, go out to the club, and prove Grillby wrong and he could suck-
Her mind faded in to sleep.