Chapter Text
Spring, the season of color, warmth, and the regrowth of life that died during Fall and Winter. All sorts of flowers bloomed during those few months of Spring, such as tulips, cherry blossom trees, daffodils, roses, and so much more. Despite all of those beautiful flowers blooming with such vibrant colors, many people were trapped inside because of one common issue.
Allergies. Star damned allergies.
You are among those unfortunate humans, forever cursed. With allergies.
For as long as you could remember, you have had allergies so bad that you usually had to stay inside. That was as true as it was back then as it is now. You already had to be inside for your college classes, which lasted long hours every other day (mon/wed/fri). During spring, it is almost a death sentence to be outside even when class are not going on, and you aren’t even allergic to the tree pollen or flower pollen! You were allergic to a weed for crying out loud, not the wonderful flowers.
That demonic plant is called ragweed, which is a spindly plant that looks kind of like goldenrod, but it’s ugly. Really, it is such a common cause to allergies, too, and it just happens to grow in ARMIES at your campus. So, here you are, a sneezing mess that is forced to wear a flu mask to lessen the amount of pollen you inhale and sneeze out. Back in your home town, ragweed didn’t grow all that much, so you were able to get away with not wearing a flu mask unless you had the flu, but now is not the time to be cursing ragweed just for existing, you have to get to class.
You rush past several other students and professors as you make your way towards your next class from your dorm. Sadly, for you, you slept later than usual because of your allergy medicine, so now you are about to be late to your art class. Your teacher is very understanding, but it is so embarrassing to burst into the room while class is going on.
You have to slow to a walk as your breath heaves from your chest as a result of poor stamina and puffs your flu mask out slightly. A small family, with obviously obnoxious teens, walk by you and those bratty teens laugh hysterically at your rugged appearance and suffering. The halfhearted shushing from the parents/guardians did nothing to silence the children, so you simply ignore them and continue on your way.
Though, if you had time, you totally would have flipped the brats off.
As you walk over the campus bridge a monster couple glances at you in alarm, probably frightened by how red your face is.
Oh, yeah, monsters are a thing now.
Apparently, they have been trapped beneath Mount Ebott for who knows how long. They got to the surface about seven months ago. You think that was around August, since it is now April.
It’s hard to imagine that there was a civilization of monsters beneath a mountain that was just twenty miles north of your college. You heard that some human child, that had fallen underground, freed the monsters. The child, Chara, is now seen as the monster ambassador and is supported by the queen of monster-kind, Queen Toriel. If you remember correctly from what your ghost friend told you, Queen Toriel lives in Ebott city, ten miles north of your campus. Most monsters stay near the mountain, but there have been plenty who have moved elsewhere, like Mettaton, your friend.
Mettaton looks like a pink ghost and is super nice. You clicked with them immediately and became best friends with the ghost after bombarding them with a billion questions about monsters. They told you that monsters come in all sorts of different sizes, shapes, colors, etc. Monsters kind of remind you of the interesting and different flowers around in spring. So far, you have met only a few monsters, but you can already tell that they are each vastly different and are usually kind, even if a human is being a jerk to them. You are proud to say that you actually chased away a 17-year-old boy from harassing Mettaton before the two of you became friends. The boy was bullying them, and you “accidentally” bumped into him and caused him to fall into the fountain back in the colder months of autumn.
The memory makes you chuckle, and you take a short break from walking and glance over to the pond that borders the campus library, which is open to the public. Though that is just the college and the small town that is about five miles away.
You thought monsters were incredible, but you are too nervous to approach them. Unless you… you know… shove a kid into a frozen fountain, like what you did for Mettaton. The kid even tried to punch you! If Mettaton hadn’t helped you out by using magic, you’d have a huge bruise.
That’s another amazing thing about monsters! They have MAGIC! You think it is so cool, and when you found out that all monsters can do magic, you nearly lost it at how cool you thought it is. After that, you and Mettaton exchanged emails and cell numbers and continue to hang out. They are your best friend!
With an abrupt sneeze, your thoughts return to the current time and place and you immediately panic and scream, startling other students. Ignoring their confused expressions, you charge past the library and into the building next to it. As soon as you burst into the art building, you felt your phone vibrate, signaling that class began.
Several students and professors watch as you bolt around corners and up the stairs to the third floor, where your class is being held. As you run, you pray to the stars that your professor is not in the room just yet.
You soon find your classroom and run into the open door to find that your professor is, in fact, not in the room. For a brief second, you thank the stars! But your worst fears are answered when you heard your professor’s deep baritone behind you.
“Good to have you in class, Ms. (y/n) ,” Professor Glassman says with a chuckle as he motions for you to sit down. He is a professional artist who is admired by many of the female students on your campus. He is handsome, with tanned skin, bright blue eyes, and thick black hair. You personally could care less about what anyone looks like, you care about what is on the inside. You respect Glassman because he is fighting for the rights of monsters and is using his art to support that idea.
Feeling your cheeks heat up further from both exhaustion and embarrassment, you make your way over to your seat. As you sit down, you lower your eyes to your desk as hushed laughter from your ruder classmates reach your ears, but it does not last long as your professor starts his lesson.
(le time skip)
Five minutes before class ends, you feel someone poke your right shoulder and glance over to see your friend grinning at you like an idiot. Blake, with sandy blonde hair, pale white skin, dark brown eyes, and a slim build, slides a note over to you, still smiling that classic face-splitting grin which only means he wanted something from you.
You look down at the note and frown. The note is just a dumb smiley face with a heart. As soon as Glassman ends class, you look at Blake and hold up the note.
“What is this?” You deadpan behind your flu mask, your eyes betraying your suspicion.
“What? I was simply wondering if you wanted to go to the park with me?” Blake says and shrugs, still grinning.
“No,” You groan and start packing up your notes and supplies, “not unless you tell me what you actually want.”
With a dramatic gasp, Blake places his hand on his chest, “(Y/n), I thought you knew me better than that!” When his jesting did not amuse you, Blake relents and looks away from you with a blush. “Alright, fine. There’s this new sweet’s shop with a girl working there. I need your help.”
“Seriously? Why not go by yourself?” You say with a raised eyebrow and sling your bag over your shoulder. “Wouldn’t it leave the wrong impression if you take a girl to a shop to flirt with another girl?”
“Dude, no,” Blake throws up his hands and shook his head back and forth in exasperation. “It’s a sweet’s shop and we both know how much I hate sweets.”
You hum at this and walk out of the class with Blake hot on your heels. The both of you start walking down the stairs (those blasted stairs) before you finally nod.
“Alright, I’ll go, but only if you buy me something from there.” You relent and glance at your flirtatious friend, who is already vibrating with excitement, “So, what’s the excuse this time?”
“YES! YOU ARE THE BEST WING-WOMAN A GUY COULD ASK FOR!” Blake yell and runs down the rest of the stairs with his insane amount of energy. As soon as he hits the bottom, he spins around to wait for you to reach him before he explains his plan.
With a clap of his hands, Blake excitedly says, “Alright, so here’s the plan! You love sweets, which is true, but you had no way of getting to the shop from where you live on campus, which is somewhat true with all the pollen! SO! I offered to take you there and that’s it!”
In Blake’s excitement, he grabs both of your shoulders and shakes you slightly.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,” You laugh behind the flu mask and raise both of your hands, “Most of that is true and not fabricated like every other girl you wanted me to help you flirt with. Are you really that attracted to this girl?”
“Well, yeah,” Blake says and looks to the ground, a blush tinting his cheeks. The sight makes you chuckle.
“Then let’s head over there right now,” You say and shrug before a violent sneeze tore through your body. Hopefully, your body will be able to hold out for the next couple of hours.
Blake nods and muffles a laugh as yet another sneeze shakes your body. After a short walk, the two of you leave the building and head to the sweet’s shop, chatting to your hearts content. By the time you reach the shop, your stomach is growling slightly, so you are excited eat some tasty treats! You and Blake are greeted by a girl with NEON green hair (the hair is so bright you think it’s glowing?) and big grey eyes, who you assume is the girl Blake is crushing on based on how he brightens up when he sees her. While Blake chats with the green-haired girl, you take your sweet (heh) time browsing the store front, before you make your choice. Once you get your sugary treat, you leave the shop with Blake with the girl’s phone number and the goofiest grin you’ve ever seen.
“Score!” Blake fist-pumps once the two of you are in the park and on the path back to campus, “Thanks a bunch, (Y/n). You’re the best wing-woman, as always.”
“Mmm-hmm,” You hum in acknowledgement as you finished off the heavenly treat, with your flu mask pushed down to your neck. After that, the both of you went your separate ways. You are marching your way back to your pollen-free dorm when a familiar scent catches your attention.
Faintly recognizing the scent, you turn down a dirt path that branches off the concrete sidewalk and walk further into the forest near your campus. As you make your way down the soft path, the sounds of the college and the small town die down and are replaced with the songs of birds and the whistle of the wind through leaves and grass. You are intent on finding the source of the scent, but what you find is beyond your expectations.
In the small clearing in front of you, a skeleton in an orange hoodie and brown cargo shorts is leaning against a large oak tree, which is covered in honeysuckle vines. The skeleton appears to be sleeping, considering their eye sockets are closed and their chest is rising and falling steadily. You stare, in awe of the sleeping monster when a gentle breeze rustles the leaves and grass of the area and carries the warm scent of the honeysuckle to you. The soft shadows and various shades of orange, white, and yellow flowers dance across the ivory bone of the orange clad skeleton.