Work Text:
I was typing out a poem I'd been writing into the document app on my computer, trying to decide to use one of two different wordings of a phrase that were equally pleasing. Now, when I'm that focused on my work, I don't usually look up when I hear someone enter Starbucks. Yet, as soon as I heard someone enter at that moment, I could hear a lot of poorly concealed whispers among the other customers. So I looked up.
A couple of monsters, skeleton monsters by the looks of them, had just walked in and were heading to the counter for coffee, seeming uncomfortable with the amount of judgmental gazes on them. When I was also caught staring, I gave them a little genuine smile and wave before returning to writing my poem.
A short while later, when they had gotten their coffees, they apparently made their way over to me, because I heard a soft and unsure, “excuse me, miss, um...” and looked up to see the shorter one trying to back out of the conversation he'd just started.
“You boys are welcome to sit with me, if you want. Ignore the stares, humans will stare at anything. Just keep quiet while I'm writing, unless you want to ask me something or give constructive criticism on my work.”
“Wait, You're... Letting Us Sit With You?” the taller one asked.
“Yeah, I thought that was obvious, dude.”
They, still uncertain, sat down next to me, the short one to my right and the tall one to my left.
“what are you writing?” the shorter one asked.
“Poems,” I said. “I do it in my spare time when I have inspiration. I'm having particular trouble with this stanza because the third line could be written in two ways, both of which I like equally. I can't decide which to pick. One sounds smooth while the other is slightly clunkier but conveys my meaning better.”
They seemed invested as I explained my dilemma, which made me even more angry when I was interrupted by a barista.
“Ma'am, are you okay? Do you need us to remove the monst-”
“No, sir, if you had been paying attention you'd realize that these are my friends, I know them, and I do not appreciate being interrupted in the middle of my train of thought.”
“You just seemed like you were in distress, they're on either side of you and I thought-”
“Thought what? That you'd rescue me from my friends? Friends who are minding their own business, by the way, like every other patron in this establishment? They literally paid for coffee and are drinking it, according to law they are allowed on the premises, am I correct?”
“Well, yes, but—”
“Their monarch may have passed a nonviolence law for the Surface to prevent violence between humans and monsters, but I, your fellow human, am not breaking it in the slightest by having the urge to twist your neck. Politely fuck off before I vacate the premises with my friends and start a monster-friendly coffee business out of spite.”
“What the fuck, jeez, okay. Backing off,” the barista said, literally taking steps backward before turning tail and leaving to the back of the store.
“So anyway,” I continued, turning back to my half-finished poem as if I hadn't been interrupted at all, “what do you think about the two ways of wording this thought?”
“You... Defended Us...”
“Of... course?” It was the most natural thing in the world to treat people as if they were people, it's a wonder more people didn't do it.
“you called us your friends and you don't even know our names.”
“Care to remedy that?” I asked with a soft, encouraging smile.
“i'm sans.”
“And I'm Papyrus.”
“Well, Sans and Papyrus, congrats, you've been adopted into friendship. I am now your friend and there isn't anything you can do about it,” I grinned.
“i like this arrangement already.”
He turned to my poem. “so, how important is the meaning you wanna convey here? is the idea presented anywhere else in the poem, and, if so, can it be stated less clearly here for the sake of aesthetic beauty?”
“Good point. What do you think, Papyrus?” I asked, turning to tolboi.
“I Think You Should Put Whatever You Like!”
“Now, Pap, what I mean by ‘what do you think’ is actually which of the two wordings you like better, not what you think I like or leaving the decision up to me. I genuinely want to know which of these two you prefer.”
“Well, Obviously The One That Conveys The Meaning The Best, Because Meaning Is Extremely Important. You Don't Want To Be Misunderstood If Your Point Is To Express Yourself Through Your Poetry.”
“Excellent, and exactly what I was looking for. You even gave a reason behind your choice, which I really appreciate. So I want to get my meaning across but maybe I need to smooth it out a little or state my meaning on a different line.”