Work Text:
You were sitting cross legged on your bed, back to the half open window, a gentle breeze swirling through the room. Your old laptop rested in your lap, heat scorching your leg as the fans whirred heavily.
You felt it as the wind caressed your nose, neck and arms. You were half- listening to the sounds of the city in the late evening, the dimming lights casting horizontal shadows across your room. The occasional clang of metal and the motor of a car echoed throughout the city. Thick clouds covered the sky, clear drops of water falling from the sky and splattering to the ground, making the city seem darker and more subdued.
You knew you weren’t the most attractive person in the world. You were taller than average, standing at 5’9, making you feel awkward and gangly, like there was too much of you and a little on the heavier side. You read article on article about loving yourself despite being imperfect, despite your cellulite and stretch marks.
However, you couldn’t drive the thoughts from your head tonight. The thoughts rained down upon you, mimicking the weather outside. The waistband on your trousers seemed to dig in more than normal, and even your face felt heavy.
You knew it was dumb, you knew you weren’t hideous. But in this moment that was how you felt. It didn’t help that everyone around your apartment was slim and beautiful and seemed full of energy for life.
That doesn’t mean you didn’t love life or have any energy for it, you just found on days like this it could be exhausting. It was draining and made you feel tired, even though you had a more than sufficient amount of sleep.
Sighing, you closed the blank document on your laptop. You just couldn’t motivate yourself to get any work done this evening.
You decided instead, to go for a drink. You didn’t do that often, but you really felt like a drink tonight. You took a quick shower, to wash away the sweat and bad thoughts of the day. You emerged feeling cleaner and a little better. You grabbed some casual clothes, a grey t-shirt, green hoodie and a pair of jeans and pulled on some boots. You headed for the door, hearing the voices of the other people in your flat block laughing and singing, and a burst of laughter as someone dropped something on the kitchen floor.
You sighed again, your shoulders sinking. You would love to be hanging out with other people, but unfortunately had the social graces of a beached whale. You shook your head and tugged open the stiff blue door and headed out on to the street.
You walked aimlessly down the street, stray raindrops plopping on your head and leaving clear beads on your hair. You tugged your phone from your pocket where it fit far too snugly, they really needed to make pockets bigger, and unlocked the black rectangle. The screen displayed the time, and an additional message in white.
No new messages.
Yeah. That seemed about right.
You headed into the nearest bar that looked reasonably quiet. It was a dark building with glowing yellow lamps, hard to make out in the light of the evening, but you were sure they would be brighter as it got darker.
You pushed on the big wooden door. It didn’t shift.
Typical.
You grabbed the brass handle and gave it a pull. The door swung open easily, without so much as a creek. The smell of burgers and onions hit you as you opened the door, swirling upwards into the night air.
You slipped inside, pulling the door behind you slowly. The pub was small but seemed cosy. There was a deep red carpet, which looked brand new, but seemed to have a path scorched or worn through the carpet. There was a big mahogany bar on the left, and several sets of tables alongside the rest of the bar.
You made your way to the bar, avoiding the scorch trail.
You swung yourself up onto one of the bar tools. They were beautifully carved and solid wood.
You looked down at the bar. It was polished and spotless, with a few scattered coasters, with dog eared corners from the moisture of hundreds of pint glasses.
“Can I help you?” A warm voice asked. You glanced up and made brief eye contact with a monster who seemed to be made entirely of flames. He was dressed in a shirt, bow tie and trousers, with a pair of glasses perched on the bridge of a golden orange nose. You could tell where his eyes were due to the location of his mouth and glasses.
He seemed a little bit on edge, and you couldn’t blame him. Monster human relations were not the best, due to the fact humans could be terrible racist people, and the monsters only real relation with humans was a small child named Frisk.
Then again it had only been 6 months since monsters emerged. There was hope that the humans and monsters would eventually learn to live together.
You strongly hoped this wasn’t a monster only bar, as it was quiet, and you didn’t want to deal with a lot of loud obnoxious humans. There weren’t many quiet bars in this city, and there weren’t many monsters around here. Although monsters tended to be more private. Your only contact with one had been working in a supermarket near you.
Looking around however, all you could see was a few monsters, a few dog monsters, a mouse, a horse looking monster by the juke box and a skeleton.
The monster cleared his throat, shifting awkwardly. His flames seemed to be a little bit small and soft, not as bright as you expected from a flame monster. Still, you supposed, there was no expectation for what a monster composed entirely of fire would look like.
You flushed with embarrassment at looking as though you ignored him. “Oh, I’m sorry, could I get a drink? Or am I not allowed in here? I’m sorry I had no idea. I’ll just…” You
eased yourself off the stool.
The monster seemed to think for a second. “No, you can stay.” His voice crackled.
You paused. “Really? Are you sure? I can go.”
The monster nodded. “Yeah. You don’t seem like a troublemaker. If you’re looking for a drink, I can help. What would you like?”
“Um…” You hoisted yourself back onto the stool. “What do you recommend?” You asked.
The monster tilted his head to one side as he considered. “If you’re looking for a shot I’d recommend a golden flower, and if you’re looking for a cocktail I’d recommend the mystic blue.”
“Uh, I’ll take one of each please!” You smiled, excited to try something new. The monster smiled back, a little uncertainly, but his flames seemed to burn a little brighter.
He turned from you and began to retrieve various bottles and glasses.
Whilst he was busy you took a moment to look around the bar.
The music box in the corner was playing a gentle music. There was a small platform with a microphone stand that seemed to be set up with a karaoke machine. The dogs in the corner were howling in laughter over a card game and several pint glasses. The mouse seemed to be gathering the courage to do something, sipping a shimmery purple drink in a martini glass.
The person next to you at the bar seemed to be a skeleton, clad in a blue hoodie with a grey lining to the hood, and black sports shorts with a white stripe down the side. In his hand was a red bottle of some kind.
You turned your attention back to the flame monster, who placed two glasses down in front of you.
The shot was a creamy buttercup yellow liquid with a light brown powder on the top, it looked like cinnamon. The taller glass had a light blue liquid mixed with dark blue shimmery glitter.
You smiled at the monster as he placed them before you. “Thank you.” You murmured.
“You’re welcome.” The monster said softly.
You reached for the shot glass and raised it. “To monsters” You toasted, before throwing the drink back. It was creamy and soft, and made your whole throat tingle. Then a strong taste of alcohol hit you. Your face reflexively screwed up and then you huffed out.
“Hoo. Shots.”
You then reached for the stem of the other glass, your thumb contacting the cold condensation, as it dribbled down the glass and onto your fingers. You raised it to your face and felt the bubbles tickle your nose and cheeks and were faced with the scent of blueberry and jasmine. You cautiously took a sip. It was sweet and floral and tickled your tongue. There was no strong alcohol taste, but it was delicious and in no time, you had finished your glass.
“Um, hey excuse me?” You attempted to get the bartenders attention.
“Yes?”
“Could I get another one of these please? Also, um, what’s your name? I kind of feel bad just being like…hey you.” You asked.
“Of course. My name is Grillby.” He replied courteously.
You grin at him and thank him.
A few drinks later you were joking and laughing with Grillby. The stiff flame man seemed to have loosened up and seemed to be comfortable with the fact you really had just been looking for a place to drink.
“Hey Grillbyyyyyyy!” You singsonged.
“Yes, Y/N?” The monster responded.
“I wanna sing. Do you have a karaoke?”
“Karaoke??” The skeleton monster next to you joined in. “Yeah there is one. Hey wait, I wanna sing. Grillbz! 2 shots, and whichever of us finishes fastest goes first.”
“Woo! You’re going down bone boy!” You whooped.
“Sans.” He stuck his hand out for you to shake. His face was covered with a blue colour. Like a magical skeleton blush?
“Y/N.” You grabbed his hand and shook. What was the rule for shaking hands again? 2 seconds or 20? Wait. No. 20 seconds was way too long.
His hand was hard and warm, you could feel the intricate joints between his fingers and little blue zips of magic flickered across his hand.
“Woah. Your hand is like, so soft.” Sans gasped.
“Yeah that’s because I have, like, skin and stuff.” You grinned.
“Rad.” Sans grinned back. Well maybe, he had no skin, so it was hard to tell.
“Here, 2 shots each.” Grillby set down the shots with a clack.
“Ready?” Sans asked.
You nodded. “Ready.”
“3…2…1…. go!” Sans counted.
Both of you grabbed the glasses and chucked the clear liquid down your throats. Sans beat you by a good few seconds.
“HA! Yes!” Sans cheered.
“Whaaa? Dude that’s no fair, I’d already been drinking!” You protested jokily. But like, he had an advantage on you so…
“So’ve I!” Sans flashed a ketchup bottle at you.
“Ketchup?! First, that isn’t an alcoholic drink, second who drinks ketchup?! Oh. Wait a moment no, my cousin does.” You admitted, still slightly grossed out.
“Yea but the ketchup here is special.” Sans winked at you. “Anyway, that puts me in first!” He hopped off the stool, and instantly fell over.
You burst out laughing. “Oh my god, I take it back! You’re wasted man!”
“Hey! Ya ain’t sposed to laugh at me.” Sans pouted.
You hopped down from your stool and offered him a hand up, which he gladly took.
“Thanks.” You noticed he stood around the same height as you on his feet. You also noticed he was wearing pink fluffy slippers.
He headed up towards the stage where he pulled out a seat from thin air. He took a seat and turned to smile at you. “Tibia honest, ’m not sure what song to pick.”
You sniggered at his bad pun. He tapped on the screen a few more times before the music started up.
“wise men say…only fools rush in…” Sans was…surprisingly good at singing. His voice was deep and mellifluous and made you feel incredibly emotional. When he finished, you gave him a loud round of applause
“That, was Sansational!” You grinned.
“Heh. Good one.” He said giving you double finger guns. “I relish your wit, but its time for you to ketchup.” He joked, stepping down.
You made your way onto the stage and scrolled through the songs until you found the perfect one and tapped the screen.
The music started to play and then, you started to sing.
“I’ve got shackles round my feet that tie me to this place…”
When it finished Sans gave you a round of applause with about the same amount of enthusiasm you gave him.
“Thanks.” You grinned at him. “Oh, wait what time is it? Oh stars, I’ve gotta go. Thanks for a great time Gans and Sillby. Wait. No. Sans and Grillby. Yeah.”
“C’mon, I’m leavin’ too, I’ll walk ya out.” Sans slung his arm around your shoulders. His arm was heavier than you were expecting, but felt comforting.
The two of you headed out the big door giggling and made your way up the pavement towards you apartment.
“Hey, hey, hey, Y/N.” Sans whisper-yelled.
“Whaaat?” You asked him
“Ya smell really nice. Like…blueberry ‘nd jasmine.” He exclaimed.
“Ohhh that was my drink!” You remembered. You talked a bit more until you reached your front door.
“Thanks for walking me home Snas.” You mumbled.
“No problem, Y/N.” He grinned and gave you a peck on the cheek, which was essentially just pressing his teeth to your cheek. “See ya ‘round.”
He headed off down the road and you struggled with your door for a few seconds before getting it open. You flopped down on your bed and before you knew it you were asleep.
When you awoke the following morning, you head was killing you.
“Ow.” You moaned as you cracked your eyes open.
Your phone was flashing a blue LED in your eyes.
“Ow.” You reached for it and unlocked it.
One new message.
Hey, hope ya hangover ain’t too bad. We should get a drink again sometime. -Sans.
You smiled as you realised last night you had really enjoyed yourself and not had any negative thought about yourself last night. And also, you got the number of a very cute skeleton. Maybe life would be a bit better from now on.