Archive of Our Own

 The sun set long ago in the distance. Crickets chirped outside, the time was far past closing hours; however, tonight was a special occasion, unlike most days. Grillby had made special time in his schedule just to stay open at a late time like this. The business he’d gotten so far from staying open so late for the occasion made the bar more bustling with people and conversation than it had been in months. Grillby made a headcount in his mind—almost everyone from the underground was in his very own bar, right here, this night, right now.

Now, it wasn’t like the bar was empty on other days. A certain short skeleton was a regular he could depend on seeing. Other than him, regulars and new friends come and go constantly– not just monsters, but humans as well. However, with a far wider horizon of places to explore in the vast world that monsters had been exposed to, his restaurant wasn’t as frequented as it had been in the underground. Though, he’d also made his mark as a place of nostalgia, and he could count on that reputation—along with his great service, and cooking—to keep himself and his dream afloat. And what a dream tonight was!

 The amount of customers in the bar were more than he’d ever seen. He knew how to do his job competently, but he couldn’t deny the chill of anxiety he felt when he saw the full room of monsters, and him being the only employee here– he’d not even had the thought of hiring another set of hands until this night. Hopefully, even with the small amount of anxiety and stress he felt, he still appeared composed enough on the outside.

 Grillby tugged at his shirt’s collar. He sighed softly, but nobody heard it over the laughter in the corner or the many conversation filled tables. It was time to do what he did best!

 He decided to deal with the bar orders in front of him as he thought up a work plan for the floor tables. The bar was easy—customer calls, he pours, he serves… but working that many tables? The odds were against him, missing a table or two—or perhaps forgetting to visit one for too long—was inevitable… if he were new at this.

 He placed down a few beers for a trio of friends and took out his notebook to write down not only this next customer’s order, but the order of tables. A few more notes and… he’d be ready.

 Now what was this special event? Well, it was more so a pre-celebration. One year ago, the monsters had been freed by a tiny human child. For a year they’d held peace with the humans, for a year they’ve successfully integrated themselves into the city and beyond… Today was special. What made this a pre-celebration was that tomorrow, the King was hosting a large event where it would be a little less appropriate to drink yourself blind with friends, or play poker, or… well people liked to celebrate in their own ways. 

 Grillby headed to the kitchen after serving many drinks and after having taken many many food orders. He pushed past the door, and felt relief wash over him as the loud sound of a full restaurant was blocked out—even just a little. It didn’t bother him—no, the sound was a privilege to experience in one’s own establishment—but he enjoyed quiet as well. 

 He readied several ingredients for several different meals and began to chop, fry, stir, cook… This was his happy place. This was how Grillby celebrated such an occasion. The King's event would be special, sure—but considering he’d be there by himself… it could possibly get a bit boring. Perhaps he could find his niece Fuku and catch up—but that was only if she suddenly changed her mind about the host. Grillby wasn't far off from that opinion, but Grillby didn’t think the celebration centered him enough to not go to such an important event!

 …The King's event wasn’t just something he was interested in either—nearly everyone behind the kitchen door was talking about it, and it was the talk of the town for these past few hours. All the gossip about cake, desserts and wine, dancing…

 Something—well, Grillby knew what, or really who it was flashed in his mind for a split second, whenever his mind thought of the dance. He blinked when he snapped out of the thought, then sped up his stirring. Dancing would be nice, but… not this year. Maybe not any year at all.

 Mood a bit dampened, he set down his bowl as his timer chimed, well—there were six orders done in the deep fryer. Turns out people really like onion rings… He’d never tried them even if everyone raved about them; they are not his preferred food of choice.

 He lifted them out swiftly and shook the grates to get rid of any excess oil. He evenly dumped them onto their respective paper trays and picked up the large metal serving tray underneath them to bring them out.

 He looked around the room to make sure that nothing would burn while he was gone—but his timing was on point… he hoped.

 He shook away the doubt and headed for the door to the main front area of the bar… just for it to jump out at him again as he saw the crowd once more. Their hollers and conversations filled his hearing, and the visuals of the filled tables and a few humans at the door waiting to be seated made his head…swim. Jeez, this noise is always so startling whenever he comes out of the kitchen.

 Another set of hands would be lovely… he thought to himself, but he sighed, determined—but I’ve always done it this way, and I can do it again!

 He held the tray up adjacent to his shoulder blade like he usually did. He practiced his formality in any situation regardless. Being on point was very important to him, through his uniform to his posture. He delivered the servings of onion rings to each table—not a single “I didn’t order this” to be heard. There was one success, now it was time for more!

 He went back to the bar to serve a few refills, making his way down from the kitchen door the the jukebox end—

 “hey, grillbz.”

 A familiar voice shocked Grillby out of his workflow. Within the mixture of sounds, he could’ve recognized it at any distance, and it was certainly not unwelcome!… 

 He turned his head to see Sans sitting in his stool as always, head in his crossed arms, resting on the countertop. The bar had a simple, unsaid rule. Sans’ seat was Sans’ seat—anyone new who would try would just be kindly reminded by Red before being brought to a table. 

  “…….Hello, Sans.” Grillby greeted with a smile before shaking up a drink for the before-mentioned bird. His anxiety seemed to be almost instantly eased by the skeleton’s presence… though once he got back to the floor it would certainly start to climb again, “would you like anything?” 

 Sans lazily shrugged, then sat up straight to tiredly stretch, “ah—nah, i’m just…” he sighed, and he placed his elbows back into the counter, staying upright, “paps is spending the night with big mt, you know those lovebirds.” He yapped about the lovebirds and Grillby nodded along as he poured out the drink, glancing back at Sans to signal he was still listening from time to time. Sans continued, looking left and right at his surroundings, “bar’s real full today—how’r you holding up, bud?”

 Grillby was a little caught off guard by the casual petname, but it wasn’t apparent—or he didn’t think it was, at least—so he answered honestly, “….Honestly… it’s a bit intimidating, but I’ve been handling it well………most people in here that I’ve ever seen….”

 Sans’ chill smile fell into a more concerned smile, and he turned his head to look around the room once more… Grillby watched intently at Sans’ gaze—though it shouldn’t be that distracting to him—as he grabbed a beer and handed it off…

 Oh, and another thing to keep track of—cutoffs.

 “do ya... need a hand? i can serve people pretty well- used to be a waiter in new home, y’know.” Sans offered with a grin, eyelights trained on Grillby as he worked. And Grillby did consider that it would be nice to have Sans around, it’d be one of his dreams come true.

 “you could just take care of the kitchen stuff… except for drinks—i don’t have a license for that,” he answered in a joking tone.

 It sounded delightful. A major part of the night, the most stressful part of the night…taken off his back… How could he repay Sans properly? Was money even enough?

 Not only that, but he’d be working with Sans. 

 His fire lit up a bright hot white at the thought; a thought associated with many other very personal thoughts he’d imagine in his free time about the skeleton—but he quickly changed the burning color so Sans wouldn’t question it. Could he really accept this offer pureheartedly?…

 “….Sans…. You do not have to…” He muttered, shying away from the shorter one’s eyes.

 “well i want to, so there’s that,” he softly snickered as his eyes kept contact at Grillby. “i uh… i know how you get about doin’ it yourself—but it would be perfectly reasonable to accept some help now, alrighty?” He then said, in a more serious tone that sounded more loving too in a way, or at least to Grillby. Or worse, he could’ve been completely misinterpreting the skeleton’s tone.

 Grillby paused, deeply considering the options he had and if letting Sans help was a good idea. He’d never run the bar with another in quite a long time. He considered, and he paused,

 “….Are you sure…? You’re not one to work…..this would ruin your perfect record…” He joked—referencing a small comment Sans had said back in the underground about his laziness. And also referencing the many complaints he’d hear come out of Papyrus, when they’d have a short chat in those few moments from time to time.

 “yea, you’re worth it though,” Sans said with another smile, like it was no big deal, just to help his friend. But to GRILLBY–after giving Grillby no time for his soul to short circuit at that—he hopped off the stool, “alrighty, let’s go, hotstuff.” He gave Grillby a playful thumbs up.

 Grillby gave Sans a soft chuckle. He brought him over to the start of the staircase. He’d trusted Sans enough that he could just give direct instructions to his room and where he kept all his spare attire, and he wouldn’t peek around or get lost. Trusted customer and crush privilege.

 Sans winked at him, then made his ascent on the stairs. Grillby went right back over to the bar and attended to the customers– for the most part, while Sans was gone, just refills on drinks or another order of onion rings. When he wasn’t busy with a customer, he tapped his fingers on the counter, anxiously waiting for that skeleton.

 Come to think of it, he’d never seen Sans wear anything else than his usual hoodie, black pants and slippers. He never thought that hard about it until now, but, did he even wash his clothes? Change his clothes? Grillby will ask him later, but maybe not tonight.

 Another minute passed.

 Grillby took on another order and poured a drink for a customer sitting in the front row of the bar. He sighed, hanging his head low, his full attention only on the drink he was pouring. The customer requested it to be cold, so he made more of an effort not to touch it too many times. Once he finished the order, he lifted his head back up again, he saw Sans right in front of his face, on his stool, smiling cheekily at him.

 His eyes widened in surprise. Oh, thank god Sans was ready. And he looked different; not in a bad way at all, in a way that Grillby had gotten so used to Sans in his ‘normal’ outfit. A nice, welcomed change. Though… upon closer inspection of his figure, he realized his clothes were not the most fitted to Sans’ body.

 It wasn't anything he couldn't fix though. He waved his hand, gesturing Sans to follow him and he obliged, sliding off his stool with a small rattle. When Sans stood up, his outfit looked even more unfitted on him, swallowing his entire body in clothes. Oh dear. The two went back to the staircase, out of sight from the entire bar and in complete shadows, some of the warm orange lighting from the bar was further in the distance that cannot reach the two monsters.

 Grillby bent down to Sans’ level, making eye contact with the skeleton for a mere moment before directing his eyes even more downwards to avoid the uncomfortable staring into the soul. Grillby’s flame helped to illuminate Sans in the shadowy area, to which he started to roll up his sleeves slowly.

 As he did so, he didn't enjoy the silence (well, he could still hear the bar chatter in the distance) between them. He thought of this as a good chance to make some conversation with him– possibly for the rest of the night.

 “Are you going to join the monsters in the anniversary tomorrow...?” He asked the skeleton, his voice crisp in the silence.

 “err… haven't really thought about it. sounds fun, maybe. i know papyrus is really excited about it.” He replied.

 Grillby smiled softly. “Maybe if I find someone to go with me, I'd go.” Maybe… Sans?

 “hope to see ya there.” Sans said with a smile. To Grillby, it seemed like he was completely oblivious. A part of Grillby suddenly crumbled into dust. 

 He swallowed as he rolled up Sans’ other pant leg. “Hopefully.” he muttered.

 “i think i’m gonna go just because of papyrus. to make sure he doesn't get in any real trouble.” Sans continued on saying. Grillby admired how much he cared for Papyrus constantly.

 He finished off by straightening Sans’ uniform and then lifted himself up. Sans stared directly up at Grillby and gave him a wink and a thumbs up. Grillby smiled and couldn't resist his urge to giggle. The two walked back out again to the bar and continued on with helping customers with their orders.

 Grillby started to notice more and more drunks as the night went on. The drunker they were, the louder and happier they became. By this point, a few customers started to leave but many still were enjoying their time spent here, and he was fine with that. And Sans is a really reliable employee, to Grillby’s satisfaction; he was great at memorizing orders. It most definitely helped Sans is already a daily customer and his charm is loved by everyone who frequents this bar. Plus, Grillby sometimes caught himself staring at Sans in his adorable oversized uniform several times, but he could admit, it looked really nice on him.

 How silly was it, to feel this way about him? It wasn’t as if he were interested at all, at least from what Grillby could tell. Watching him go around with glasses of water to help the much tipsier folks, setting them down and speaking with them as though he’d worked there for years… Well, Grillby wished he could’ve worked with him for years, it’d be a dream. And for years, before they even went to the surface… he hasn’t told him how he felt. He’s not sure how to, or if he ever will–

 “yo, grillbz—we’ve got an order of mozzarella sticks and another thing of fried pickles for table two. d’ya wanna close up the kitchen after that?”

 Grillby was caught off guard. He blinked and stared at Sans like an idiot. The train of thought and Sans’ question crashed into each other on the tracks and his mind stuttered tremendously. But, once he’d processed Sans’ question, he looked around the restaurant, and it was still far fuller than a regular day…

 “…I think I will keep it open a little longer. Perhaps an hour. You’ve done wonderfully, Sans. You do not have to continue if you do not want to.” Grillby replied honestly and with gratitude.

 Sans shrugged, “i dunno, if you’re not quitting then i guess i’ll just have to go along. see ya when those sticks are done,” Sans lazily grinned at him and walked towards the tables once more.

 A little stunned Grillby repeated the order in his head and left to the kitchen.

 When the kitchen door closed behind Grillby, Sans allowed himself to pause and look back.

 ….dang it.

 There were a lot of things Sans was right now. A little nervous? Sure, but he was able to play it off. A little embarrassed? Yes, because he played it off too much. 

 Back when Grillby had whisked him away to straighten up his outfit—which was rather unfitting even still, yet Sans also found himself a bit addicted to the lingering smokey scent on the collar—he’d brought up that dance. And yeah, Sans hadn’t really considered going at first. Fancy party with fancy music and fancy cake? Well, the cake seemed nice, but the rest just wasn’t his style.

 Until Grillby brought it up. 

 “Go with someone—“ gosh, he just should’ve said something. Except he hadn’t, because in reality it wasn’t him. It obviously wasn’t. 

 What made it worse were the—although very well-meaning and quite drunk—customers…hinting. Why did they need to hint at things?

 He tried very hard to hide what they were saying from Grillby, and he felt like he’d most likely succeeded…but even then… he felt flustered enough still to just crumble from the uncertainty. It had calmed down since he’d started.. but when he had?

 “Oooh, Sansyyy….. you look -hic!- …nice!” Drunk bunny giggled, “Tryna look real nice for Grilllbiee….?” She teased.

 “Oh SANS!” A rather loud drunken monster had shouted, “I didddnt know youu were goin’ to th’ daance! You and… Grillby finally work it out…?”

 “What a SURPRISE!” Another monster laughed as she took a sip of water with help from her far more sober friend, “You n Grillby got MARRIED???” She sloppily slammed her fist onto the table in…excitement, was it?

 And he’d never tell Grillby, but that had been his entire night. He had no clue as to why these guys all had this collective idea that Grillby and Sans were a thing—because even if Sans had some sort of liking for the flame, there was no way for them to know. So… why…?

 Was there a severe misunderstanding in their relationship, he wondered? Every time he got a Grillby related comment, he chuckled it off like it was no big deal. But it was. The blush he felt appear on his bones was hard to hide– thankfully those comments were all made by drunks. Some comments, it made him feel like he was being made fun of for not making an effort to ask Grillby the simple question, “do you want to go to the anniversary party with me?”.

 Unfortunately, he knew it wasn’t that simple. It never was. When Grillby mentioned wanting to ‘find someone to go with’, he was probably referring to someone closer to him, like a partner– definitely not Sans. Maybe he would go with Sans, but only as a last choice, he assumed. 

 …Maybe, if he really wanted to, he’d ask Grillby. But now? Not a good time. He was busy working, and Sans’ head started to feel foggy and the inside of the bar started to feel more stuffy, as time went on. He’d need to take a break, to clear his head, then maybe he can take a shot at asking Grillby. It might cause more miscommunication on their relationship status, but it’s not like he cared too much about what others thought about him.

 Sans walked towards the kitchen and lazily pushed the door open with one hand. Grillby turned towards the door when he heard it open. He looked down at Sans.

 “hey, grillbz. i’m gonna go on break for a bit, ok?” Sans casually said. 

 “Of course, Sans. You deserve it. Thank you for helping me.” Grillby said softly. Sans shrugged half heartedly, and made his way out of the bar.

 …

 When Sans left the kitchen, Grillby felt himself getting warmer with a blush all over his face. He really liked him. But now, the bar was all to himself for an indefinite amount of time (which is usual– so why did he feel so unprepared to do this?!). 

 Carrying on like it was no big deal, Grillby took a deep burning breath and left the kitchen to attend to the remaining and heavily drunk customers. Once he got back into his usual flow, he became more confident in himself.

 He kept refilling dozens of drinks for them. Then suddenly, one called out, “GRRRILLBYY!!~” in a shouting, slurred tone. He could barely recognize it was his name being called, but once it seemed to register as his name, he made ways over to the voice in the booth corner of the bar.

 When he approached closer, the monster was anxiously tapping on the table, its sharp claws the monster had been nearly digging into it, making small indents that thankfully weren't the most amount of damage he'd seen done to a table in this bar. If the monster was more sober, perhaps then they wouldn't be so likely to carve into a perfect fine table. Once they caught sight of Grillby out of the corner of their eye, their face just suddenly seemed to light up.

 “O-Oh!! Grillbbyy~ Can… Can I get a-another refill…!?” They spoke with a slur– but the unrecognized voice was made clearer when he'd gotten closer to it. He nodded to them, ready to make his way back over to—

 “Grriillbby!~” The customer's voice called out again as soon as he turned around. He perked his head back to look at them. “When didya hire Sans?!” they asked.

 He froze, mind rushing through a billion different things she hadn’t said—eventually landing on the actual question. He turned back, a bit antsy for whatever reason. It was an honest question, Sans had been taking care of orders—anyone would be curious!

 But…

 “Ah, I… he simply volunteered as a helping hand for tonight…” he answered, then with an anxious flicker of his flames, he added,  “I hope there are no grievances…?”

 They froze, and Grillby was almost sure that he should hold off on that refill—or maybe get them an escort—before they erupted into laughter, posh, teasing laughter. “Nnnnno—no!!!! Aha- ooh no! Youu gotta-” they hiccuped, “-keep ‘im!..” 

 Grillby simply nodded and turned around to get them a mocktail, expecting nothing more—

 “We- just be loving him round here, y’know? Heeheee… couple owned businesses are ALL the rage up ‘ere, Grillbie!!!” They cheerfully…shocked Grillby to his core. He spun around, the blue tips of his fire trailing behind his head like a halo.

 “Oh- oh, we’re not— we aren’t—“ he quickly defended, waving his hands around, the pinnacle of a bad liar.

 The customer pouted, head falling into their propped up hand—“ohh but why not! Eeeeeveryone sees it, monsters that have NO EYES can… mmh.” They gave up on speaking, and fell off of their hand right onto the table—spikes on their head making a sharp sound on the wood… “keep him…. He’s funny and gud for u.” They finished. 

 Grillby worriedly hovered over them in case they had hurt themselves, but they seemed… okay, at the least. The horrific part was that other drunks who had heard were now agreeing in their own, blissful ways. 

 Goodness, what was he even supposed to say?! Oh, “I wish”? Or what, “probably never, I suppose” ?

 Such a busy night to have such an absent mind… yet, and yet…

 The door chimed, and Grillby’s head turned while still in thought—until he realized he was looking at exactly who he’d been thinking of.

 Sans walked through the door, holding it a bit open as he stared at the scene with some confusion.

 It could be… platonic. They could keep their friendship and Grillby could still try—

 Sans shut the door behind him and dusted off the

now once again unkempt uniform they’d almost just fixed. It was endearing, and that urged Grillby forward. He told the customer he’d be back with their refill and started for the bar, where Sans sat waiting.

 He got behind the counter and started mixing the mock-version of the drink. He carefully poured the amounts, and spritzed in some grenadine.

 “‘m back, and ready for duty, sir.” Sans joked as he gave Grillby a lazy salute. Now or never… possibly? He could have another chance—

 “Sans,” he spoke without thinking, “we… ah,” he hesitated.

 Okay, now it was now or never.

 “Why don’t we go to the Kings celebration together?…….Fuku is… busy, so I would be going alone…” 

 He hoped that last bit would be able to cushion such a forward question, but Sans still seemed to buffer at that. He shouldn’t have said such a thing! How stupid it was to listen to those—

 “yea, sure.” He said, but not in his usual laid-back tone… more-so.., surprised. 

 “Well, I… yes I will… I will see you tomorrow then.” Grillby said calmly, though his bright eyes remained wide with shock. 

 “…yea. yea, tomorrow.” Sans repeated his tone and phrase. 

 Grillby nodded, choosing silence for the rest of the night as he quickly hurried to the kitchen. He could feel Sans’ eyelights on him as he did so, but he didn’t turn back. He pushed past the kitchen door, waiting for it to settle and stop swinging back and forth from the force. 

 He backed up against the wall beside the door as small streaks of pink began to flare in his fire, visible as ever. He waved at his face to cool down, but that simply made the pink burn brighter.

 He’d done it…

 However he’d done it, he had. Even if Sans didn’t think of it the same way…

 He had… a date to prepare for. Kind of…

 His fire flushed pink, and flustered, he immediately brought his hands up to hide his face from nobody.

 Grillby hadn’t gone out very much that night, and not because of excessive food orders. Instead he’d decided to clean as he worked on the few small snacks that the last few customers would ask for all until 2 AM, closing time. 

 During this, he would peek out of the round, plastic window in the kitchen door to spot Sans. He still worked, as he’d said he would. Unlike before, however, where Grillby could just watch without Sans thinking to look back—it was like Sans knew exactly when Grillby’s eyes would land on him. They’d make eye contact briefly, and Grillby would duck—the slightly awkward and astonished face Sans would make in that split second replaying in his mind over and over. 

 When the clock showed 2 AM, Grillby stepped out of the kitchen with a feeling of relief, and a sigh of even more relief. What a tremendous day it had been, he thought. He'd not been under so much stress in who knows how long? He’d gotten so comfortable with the same average number of customers, he suddenly felt so unprepared for a new crowd. Quite unfortunate he felt lackluster, but he wasn't going to dwell on his unpreparedness, because he made a great sum of money now. 

 He looked around the room, ready for a heavy cleanup—just aching to get to bed… only to see it relatively well cleaned—with just a few touchups needed here and there. Well, it certainly wasn’t the blackout drunks who did this, so who—

 “hey, mind passin’ me one last beer?” 

 He was startled by the company, but eased by the voice. No… he couldn’t have-

 “…Did you…. Do all of this?” Grillby slightly gestured to the room, looking at Sans—who was sat in his usual seat, still wearing Grillby’s clothes

 “eeyup. gravity magic helps you get stuff done pretty fast…was the least i could do.” The skeleton shrugged, as if the mess had been nothing. However with the night they’d had, the rowdiness of celebrating monsters, and what was usually cleanup even after a small crowd…? Grillby was astonished—and so very relieved.

 Grillby took a deep breath, flames visibly brightening as he could see from his glow on the countertop. He stepped behind the bar, looking around until he got to Sans…

 “Thank you… You really didn’t have to do such a thing- or even offer your help tonight. I do owe you, Sans.”

 As always, Sans’ humble self just shrugged again before he crossed his arms to lay his skull, “i actually owe you—so let’s say… twelve g off the tab. waddayasay.” He smiled brightly, and Grillby’s soul eased further at that. Some nights, Sans would come in feeling awful, and the other nights he’d shine as bright as Grillby did.

 Grillby softly laughed, “twelve? Why so specific?…” he asked without expecting an honest answer—to which he got no response other than Sans’ grin mischievously deepening. “-And, Sans, you know there’s no real tab… there hasn’t been for years now.”

 “mmh, don’t let the public know—they may think you play favorites.” He playfully whispered.

 “I suppose I can, yes…” Grillby said without thinking, and instantly he went to cover up the  resulting pink flames. He decided not to look at Sans for a second and went to grab him his drink.

 There was some silence, which made Grillby’s soul thump loudly in his chest upon noticing the length— 

 “so uh… by the way, mind if i keep this for tomorrow? i kinda have nothing to wear.”

 Alleviated by the conversation starting back up, Grillby grabbed the correct bottle and turned around. What Sans said registered, and he glanced at the fixed, but still not well-fitting suit Sans wore.

 “I suppose you could, but would it not be better to wear something better fit to you? Especially for such a long period of time…” Grillby asked Sans and simultaneously wondered to himself as he cracked open the bottle with his opener from his pocket. 

 “i would, trust me, the amount of fabric bunched up just to have this shirt half tucked in is ridiculous. But i have literally no clue what i would be looking for. i’ve tried—last time i entered a Macy’s i came out in a swimsuit somehow.” Grillby placed the bottle beside Sans’ elbow, the skeleton picking up his head to stretch, then…

“Wrong… suit,” Grillby laughed because it was certainly a true story, but he grimaced at the idea of people wanting to submerge themselves in water. “Would your brother be able to help? I’d imagine he’d know a bit about formal wear?”

 Sans made a face, trying not to laugh as he brought the bottle up to his teeth, “he uh, doesn’t really get it either. thank stars big mt chose them some matching stuff for them, or he’d be a sight.”

 Grillby looked—no, studied Sans for a moment. He valued formality, it was dear to him in the way that it was a part of him. He knew enough, so why not—

 “I can take you to get one.” Grillby smiled at him. Sans did know someone who could help, Grillby! Trapped in his own headspace, Grillby thought up different color and form combinations that would look good on Sans—which if he were a liar he’d say that was the first time he’d done that—and as he did so- completely missed the soft blue rush to and fade from Sans’ face.

 “i mean, you would do that? really?” Sans asked sincerely, and Grillby, sincere as always, nodded.

 “It would be no trouble at all, I enjoy such shopping.”

 Sans snorted, “yea, says every psycho that ever lived. or…something, i dunno, you got any bodies back there, grillbz?” 

 The two laughed for a while as Sans got to drink his only drink for the night and as Grillby got to revel in the fact that he didn’t need to clean both tonight and all the next day. The bar would be closed tomorrow for the event, of course. When the bottle was finished and it was far too late yet earlier than Grillby usually saw himself head upstairs—Sans went to leave. 

 “i’ll see you tomorrow… uh, text me when we’re gonna go shoppin i guess?”

 Grillby nodded, “I will. Goodnight, Sans. Get home safely, alright?” 

 “got it, boss.” Sans gave him one last big smile before he poofed—and he was gone like he’d never been there at all. Something to expect considering how long he’s been doing it, yet it always caught Grillby easily off guard.

 He was able to settle in quite nicely, mind still fuzzy with warmth—not referring to his temperature—from their last conversation. He quickly shot Sans the address for a pretty okay shop to get what they were looking for, then sent a time—10 AM—for Sans to meet him there. 

 Sans replied with a few thumbs ups and a random gif. Grillby chuckled softly and closed his phone.

 He did everything, ate a sustainable dinner of toasted log and rose scented paper shreds, took care of his fire levels and hygiene, and headed to bed.

 It was when he’d been comfortable and ready to sleep that he’d realized.

 He’d asked Sans out to a pre-date, pretty much. He’d asked with his usual tone as if it had been nothing. Calmly, like offering to get someone a glass of water. Except this was not a glass of water, he’d just casually asked to take Sans out on a pre date to get him dressed to go out to a giant event and oh goodness it was like he was in highschool again!-

 …

 …Sans surely didn’t notice. They’d be fine. 

 And with that worry relatively off of his shoulders, he went to sleep just a bit excited to see Sans tomorrow….

 …..

 Today is the day. Grillby woke up and immediately did his normal routine of having some breakfast and other preparations in his bar. Today, the bar would be closed, for obvious reasons. Time surely flies by quickly when you have a date to be at. It was the first thing— and possibly only thing— floating around his mind the entire day. He felt distracted, but so aware at the same time, feeling himself bouncing between his mind and staying in the moment.

 Today, he overthought everything. What to wear, what to eat, what to say… And he couldn’t get the vivid idea of Sans wearing a classy tuxedo out of his head. If he looked pretty in his extremely oversized work uniform, then how would Sans look in a tightly-fitted tuxedo that he could easily remove from Sans—He slapped his hand on his mouth, as if he’d said something terribly offensive– but no, he was starting to think odd things about his valued friend and customer. Butterflies were making a damn near tornado in his stomach. His entire body felt even hotter, and that’s saying a lot.

 Well, continuing on, it was almost time to arrive at the boutique that they said they would be at. Grillby shouldn’t feel as anxious as he did, but with how his train of thought had been all this morning, it was really hard to not feel a tiny ounce of anxiety. He threw on a bronze colored coat he owned and headed down to the boutique where Sans would be.

 On the way there, he made multiple attempts to not constantly overthink. He turned his head, admiring the nearby scenery around him. Trees, houses, sidewalks, the blue sky, and everything else that was so small but meaningful to him. Even though he’d been living in the real, vast, outside world for an entire year now, the environment still felt fresh and new to him– everyday, it still amazed him. 

 Grillby– and all the other monsters, and sans– had been living in this paradise for a year. What a thought to wrap his head around. And even more weird, that this was his first and sort of official date (!!!!) with Sans. Could things go any better?

 He arrived at the boutique. A cozy, smaller shop not far from his own bar. It was a bit more expensive than other places he could’ve brought them instead, but with the money from the overtime at the bar last night, they’d have more than enough– and, he thought, maybe they both deserved something nice to own after last night. 

 It felt like electricity was running through him. His heart pounded, and he only got more anxious the longer he stood outside, waiting in the more chilly weather (not ideal, but manageable), with Sans nowhere to be seen. Was he being lazy, or was Grillby… abandoned?

 …Did Sans decide to not come? Was he never planning on coming at all? Should he leave, should he wait longer? Grillby checked the time again, it was 10:20, and with Sans’ ability he would’ve expected him soon, or so. Suddenly, he felt his heart start to sink, a frown appeared on his face–

 “hey.” a voice called out unexpectedly from behind him, pulling him out of his thoughts and sending a spike of fear in his body.

 Grillby, expectedly, squealed. A fiery squeal, crackling and burning. He whipped his entire body around in a flash, only to see a small Sans-shaped skeleton below him with his hands in his pockets and his bones a smile. Suddenly, reality hit him. Fuck, he squealed, and Sans heard him squeal over nothing, how embarrasing…

 Grillby composed himself and cleared his throat, a visible embarrassed blush on his face. However, now that he saw Sans in person, he wasn’t as afraid anymore. Suddenly, the sight of the skeleton eased his nerves. “Oh, hello Sans.” he casually said.

 “sup, grillbz. are you ready? must not be fun to be cold out here.” Sans said.

 Grillby nodded, still a bit surprised. He jerked his head towards the door without a word, anxiety falling off his shoulders. Sans followed him in, as chill as ever. Grillby wondered how he could always be so calm when… when all of this looked like a literal date. God, his heart even raced thinking about that damn word. A date. With Sans. 

 Grillby kept the door open for him, letting him in. The nice interior was familiar to Grillby, and there was a poignant iron burning scent as soon as they walked through the doors that he strongly enjoyed, but he could immediately sense Sans’ slight apprehension. He looked down at the skeleton, wondering what it could be… he still seemed calm, but slightly uncomfortable. Grillby frowned at his discomfort.

 “It’s alright, I know my way around.” Grillby reassured the skeleton with a smile and his eyes closed. 

 Sans stared at him. “that makes one of us, fancy flame.” 

 Grillby felt pink rush to his flames and immediately had to shut it down—absolutely NOT wanting to start another lude train of thought. Nodding again to the worker by the door that waved them when the bell on the door chimed. He brought Sans by the hand to the men’s section. Sans lagged behind just by a bit, uncertainty certainly hitting the shorter as he constantly looked around in every possible direction except forward. Grillby matched Sans’ anxious energy—struggling to think of any possible way to help his date with the tension. 

 They looked through the countless suits in the main section of the store– colors such as black, black, black, gray, black… and white. Huh. However, they were nice suits, some wore a bow and others a tie. Most of them were Grillby’s size, but, he couldn’t say the same for Sans. Would they even be able to find a suit that fit him, he wondered? Oh god. Did he forget to account for Sans’ size when picking a store to go to? 

 Generally freaking out now, he searched his mind for a way to bring up the mood. Stressing, he blurted out, “we’re… ah… going to have a blaze-t?” his tone was… not the most fitting.

 …Sans blinked at him, dead eye stared at him. and for a second Grillby’s mind flashed with the worry he’d made it worse… Shit. He is terrible at puns, unlike Sans. If Sans wasn’t thinking about disappearing before, he sure would now in a blink of an eye.

 Until Sans burst out laughing…!!

 Grillby now watched him as hysterical laughter racked his body and rattled all of his bones, and the skeleton leaned over. 

 “hhh… holy shit is that—“ Sans wheezed, barely managing to breathe. “is that the best you can do, bud?” Sans smiled wide, and of course Grillby’s face heated up… but he couldn’t suppress it this time… the embarrassment was too great. 

 “...” was all Grillby could answer with– which wasn’t even a real answer, coming out as a small crackle of fire which Sans laughed harder at, his bones rattled even louder.

 Desperate to ignore his awful attempt, a very tense Grillby pulled Sans towards a few random suits, “Ah–how about…these??” Grillby quickly mumbled… before he realized this was a woman's rack, and would fit neither of them.

 Sans laughed louder, holding onto Grillby’s sleeve to steady himself. He— again— unintentionally got Sans to laugh. He liked the sound of his laugh. Grillby’s soul fluttered, and he finally thought to himself, this is nice…

 The anxiety faded, though the embarrassment still lingered. No longer caught up in a panic, he could focus on Sans’ laughter. Warmth unlike his fire but just as nice flooded Grillby’s soul at the sound, and the touch. Grillby softly laughed as well, catching Sans’ attention, still hysterical as he was. They held nice eye contact for a while as Sans laughter slowed to a soft chuckle.

 An idea showed itself in Grillby’s mind, as odd as it could seem to the skeleton. “Come,” he told Sans, taking his hand again to bring them somewhere they’d have more luck… silly as it was….

 …….The children’s section. 

 They paused in front of the racks, hand in hand, and Grillby heard Sans choke on a laugh as he stared up at the more brightly colored, small-fitted suits.

 “Yes….. I know…” Grillby smiled with his eyes pointed away from Sans, finding Sans easy laughter humorous in itself. He covered his face in embarrassment, though this time the situation was endearing. He paid more attention to Sans’ amusement than his own embarrassment, and that was for the best. 

 Sans calmed down quickly, sighing, “well then, time to suit up.” Sans joked. Grillby smiled at that and led Sans to some choices he might like.

 “So… It really isn’t very hard,” Grillby started, “what color would you like?” He gestured his hand toward the rack, allowing Sans to pick whatever he desired, no matter the price; he’d pay for it, anyway.

 Sans was quiet for a second  in thought, “uhhhhh…. i don’t know.” Sans shrugged, eyelights scanning the rack. He hummed, like he was just stumped by the amount. Or was he confused by the colors? It all seemed rather simple for Grillby, so the flame couldn’t   “....blue?????”

 Grillby immediately pulled one out– a simple navy blue colored suit. It seemed like it would fit Sans rather well, with its color and size. He handed it to the skeleton absentmindedly, going to look for another one. 

 He looked through the countless racks. He picked some other colors he’d thought would look good on Sans, all in the blue range. Grillby knew that whatever suit that Sans decided to buy would look perfect. And yes, he can admit that he couldn’t wait to see the suits on Sans. His air suddenly gets taken from him when he thinks of it. Moving on, once he chose more suits, he then gave them to Sans to review to which he’d decide if he was going to try it on. And once they’d gone through all options, which took quite awhile, unexpectedly. Sans had his choices of suits.

 The two kindly asked the person at the desk for the location of the dressing rooms, then they made their way over to the back part of the store to the dressing rooms. Grillby moved the curtain out of the way for Sans, since his hands were full with blue suits of various shades– seven, if Grillby counted correctly. But before Sans entered, he turned his head around to look at the taller fire monster.

 “...arent ya going to try something on, grillbz?” Sans asked in confusion, staring up at him.

 Grillby was taken aback. He hadn’t even thought about a suit for himself, did he? Well, he didn’t need a suit– he could probably substitute one of his work uniforms as formal wear, couldn’t he?

 “I don’t need to, right?” Grillby asked Sans. To which Sans shrugged.

 “we’ll probably be here for awhile. you should try one on in the meantime.” Sans stated, which was true. Sans had seven suits he needed to try on, since Grillby went a bit mayhem with choosing options for him…

 Oh, alright. He’ll go and find one that he likes.

 Sans entered the dressing room, and Grillby closed the curtain again for him to give him privacy. Grillby walked back towards the front of the store and looked through the men’s section for a suit that he liked– and definitely something not black, just to try something new for the fun of it.

 Coincidentally, within all the dull black, grays, and whites, he’d found a suit that was also the same color as all of Sans’ suits. And obviously, that’d be the one he was drawn to the most. He hadn’t been a fan of the more colorful options in the past, but today… There was something about Sans choosing the blue colored suit made him all the more willing to try it. With his worldview changed, he took it off the rack, put the hanger and suit on his arm and walked back to the changing room and entered the one right next to Sans.

 He started to take his casual clothes off–making sure to avoid looking at himself in the mirror as much as possible—and then put on his new suit he’d found. From the other side of the wall– Sans’ side– he’d heard the occasional rattle and rustling. An expected sound yet… the rustling started to sound like… struggling.

 “Sans?” Grillby called out as he was putting on his tie.

 “yup?” he replied.

 “Are you okay..?”

 “uh….” 

 “Hold on, I’ll be right there.” Grillby said as a warning before Sans could get another word out, now hastily working on his tie. Sans stayed quiet.

 He left his own dressing room and stood outside the one Sans was in. “Can I come in?” He asked.

 “.... sure.” Sans simply replied.

 Grillby slowly opened the curtain between them. He was definitely nervous and felt his fingers tremble on the thin curtain and he knew why. As his dirtier thoughts began to race around his head once more and oh god, what if Sans was shirtless—!

. . .

…But then once it was opened enough that he got a good look at Sans– he realized what was going on.

 Sans stood in the middle of the stall, his gaze fixated on the mirror and desperately looking to try to fix the mess he created– which was a lot. A vest on… upside down? The dress shirt, the buttons were done out of order, but completely understandable. It was a simple mistake even Grillby makes every now and then if he doesn’t do his collar first. 

 He raised his arms lazily in the air, trapped in his sleeves, Sans smiled anxiously at himself in the mirror, then to Grillby, then back to the mirror. To top it all off, it looked as if he managed to force it tightly around the torso and trapping him inside the top half. How do you manage to do that…?

 “Well… I suppose you got the trousers right.” Grillby commented, trying to find something to compliment him on.

 Sans head turned to look at Grillby. A look of surprise flashed on his face as he looked Grillby up and down, but it faded after he cleared his throat, “trousers?? where are we… harry potter?”

 “You mean Hogwarts–?”

 Sans hummed, teasingly. “of course you’ve watched it. Anyways, help.” Sans urged him airly, like he was about to laugh himself, as Grillby was already crackling with his own laughter, covering his mouth with his hand to try to suppress it.

 “Alright… Lets… Fix– Um, how exactly did you do this to yourself?”

 “grillbz, i haven't worn anything but two tee shirts and my jacket collectively since highschool.” He said. And Grillby fully believed him. So, did that imply that he does wash and change his clothes…?

 Grillby stepped further into the dressing room before closing the curtain and the space between them. He bent down to Sans’ level, with his flame lighting up Sans’ figure in a warm hue. He’d gotten so close to Sans, he could hear the faint click and rattle of his bones, and he’d realized he’d never been so close to his body before. But, trying to ignore that, he inspected the absolute–but awfully endearing in his mind– mess before him. He found one of the two vest armholes down by Sans’ hip and tugged on it absentmindedly–not noticing the soft blue that flashed on Sans’ cheeks for a moment.

 “How did you even manage this? I feel like this was the easiest part… almost like your jacket.”

 “...dunno.” Sans said, a hitch of embarrassment in his voice that wasn’t there before. Grillby glanced up to see his face, but there was no trace of the emotion. Grillby let the curious sound go to the back of his mind as he began to fix the nearly impossible situation. Feeling Sans’ eyes on him as he worked, he removed the vest for Sans and neatly put it aside. Staring at the wildly put together undershirt with hesitation, unaware of how close he was to the other, he failed to hold back a snort of laughter—or more accurately a puff of smoke.

 “oh come on.” Sans said, face deadpan yet clearly fighting a snicker of his own. Grillby smiled, tension from earlier completely forgotten as he was simply comfortable with Sans. He began to unbutton the shirt, gently unbuttoning the first one he managed to find. He asked Sans to be as still as possible.

 Suddenly things were quiet, Grillby focused on the buttons and Sans silently focused on him. He found a few more, pulling them apart… not much left to go…

 “Sans……you’re staring.” Grillby said without looking up from his work.

 Sans hummed calmly, but spoke airily, and a bit awkwardly. “it’s a bit mesmerizing, I guess… and i’m… not sure what else there is to focus on. you also-” he paused to look away now and at the stall wall, “your suit really suits ya.”

 Grillby’s face glowed a bright white rather than pink this time, less flustered and moreso… excited by the attention. However the thought of being excited by Sans’ words created small sparks of pink fly and die out as quickly as they came. He continued unbuttoning the wild shirt, liking and hating the closeness now that he was aware of it. 

 He unbuttoned the last one, Sans’ arms already at his sides from a few buttons he’d undone before. He nodded to himself, glad he was finished. He stood up straight to look at Sans, before white took over his face again…

 He could…see Sans’ ribs. 

 He quickly looked away respectfully, not wanting to make Sans uncomfortable with the eyes on his chest. Sans huffed a laugh, “grillbz, they’re just bones.”

 Crackles of fire obscuring his voice just a bit, “They’re your bones.” he mumbled, looking up again. Might as well be helping cover those bones instead of standing there like a flustered idiot. 

 As respectfully as he could, Grillby took the two sides of the collar and put the button together, trying not to focus on the sweet eyelights still watching him work, trying not to think about bones and such. He buttoned the shirt all the way down.

 And now, it was onto the tie. A tie that was the same color as his suit. He grabbed it and made an immediate move to untie it. He narrowed his eyes and used his hands gently–to not accidentally choke him, or pull too hard. 

 The distance between them felt even smaller now. Grillby’s face was inches away from Sans’ neck. He’d probably exhaled quite a bit of hot air onto him. However, he was going to finish his tie quickly. Maybe this was just all Grillby’s overthinking, but he felt himself burning up like he'd been thrown right back into hotland. 

 When he would finish Sans’ tie, he could just imagine himself adjusting it ever so slightly, then pulling on it aggressively towards him, pulling Sans into a divine first kiss–

 Shit. Grillby is burning up. His flames started to get whiter. 

 “er… you ok, grillbz? Sans asked. It wasn't surprising he noticed the obvious trait.

 Grillby huffed. “Y-Yes. I'm almost done.” He stated, finishing off Sans’ tie.

 Grillby stood up. He took a step back to appreciate the way the correctly fitted suit looked on Sans. And oh my god, fuck, he was… sexy. Grillby couldn't think of a better word.

 Unlike his oversized black uniform, this suit was perfect for Sans’ body and looked amazing on the shorter one. Sans was just… perfect. Grillby stared at him, wide eyed and flustered while Sans stared back at Grillby. Grillby swallowed nervously, and tried his best to compose himself.

 Then, they both turned to look at themselves in the mirror facing right next to them on Grillby’s right.

 They stood confidently next to each other. Sans smiled, and looked at himself from every angle he could muster. Their suits—which Grillby from this point hadn't seen himself in it yet— matched the others perfectly like a couples matching set; deep blue with a blue tie to match, and white accents.

 Grillby took a good, long look at himself and Sans in the mirror, cherishing every little new and old detail about Sans he saw as he seemingly fell deeper in love with the one beside him, and admiring every new detail he appreciated about himself. It was as if he saw himself in a new light; he felt a weight off his shoulders and a new era of himself just begun– the one that gets to have a life with Sans like he'd dreamed. 

 “damn, we look good.” Sans winked flirtatiously to himself in the mirror as a joke. Grillby stared down at him in the mirror and crackled softly. 

 “You’ve seriously never worn formal clothing?” Grillby asked, the concept seemingly unfamiliar to him… and rather impossible to him as well. However, he quickly reminded himself this was Sans.

 “i didn’t say that.” Sans didn’t look at him, but instead his reflection as Grillby was doing to himself. Sans put his hands in the pockets of the suit. “junior prom, i wore a getup kinda like this…” he said, now inspecting himself in the mirror, “i wasn’t as happy as i am with wearing this now as i was back then. i feel comfortable, thanks for that.” He glanced at Grillby. “do i look good??” He shrugged, a little awkward.

 Gazing down at Sans, seeing him—here, with him right now?

 “…….You do.” He honestly answered, “Was……the least I could do, Sans.” Grillby smiled proudly, internally beaming. 

 Sans snickered, “‘kay, i trust ya. don’t expect me to do this all the time like you do though.”

 “Never would’ve imagined it… I would miss your iconic, quite stained, quite dirty jacket.” As unrealistic as it seemed…Grillby wouldn’t mind seeing Sans like this again and again—perhaps with it off, or halfway on as he—

 He sharply inhaled, trying to calm his thoughts—waiting for the images to leave his mind. Sans laughed at his last comment, bringing Grillby further back down to earth. He brushed off Sans’ shoulder teasingly, and turned to walk out of the changing room.

 “uh, so.. what now…?” Sans asked, and Grillby turned his head back down to look at him.

 “Well… if you’re decided, then we simply take these off and bring them to the receptionist.”

 “i… yeah i’m decided. this is gonna take forever.” Sans sighed, and he’d already gone to his vest buttons to begin, yes, what would be a long process.

 “Do you want me to help you again..?” Grillby asked as Sans started to struggle with the first button. He gently outstretched his hands and placed them onto Sans’ own—yes, he was freaking out internally!!—and guided them to help them undo all his buttons. Sans’ cheek bones turned softly blue.

 “er, thanks.” Sans muttered, as he took the rest off by himself, slowly gaining the new muscle memory of doing buttons. Grillby took his hands off Sans' and proceeded to take off his own suit. 

 He looked at himself one last time in the mirror, posture straight and proud (however that is the only straight thing about him). He could see how white he was starting to burn, too, and it was really obvious. Maybe he'd been a bit too bold..?

 He took his clothes off, put back on his casual jeans, top and warm coat. He folded up his suit nicely and proceeded to bring it over to the front desk to pay for. When he reached it, the cashier was smiling at Sans, who was cracking jokes with the human.

 “Okay… That'll be $232!” The cashier said. Grillby paid for it all with the money he'd made yesterday.

 She smiled. “Have a great day.” She said. Grillby replied with ‘you too’ and she waved them goodbye as they left the boutique with a tiny and bigger bag in hand for each of them. 

 Right outside the store, the two waved goodbye and promised to see each other at the party. When they turned around and left their separate ways, Grillby couldn't stop the constant fluttering in his heart. A smile slipped onto his lips. 

…..

 It was an hour before the party started. The time just now passed 7:00 PM, and Grillby was feeling more confident, and quite nervous as it came closer and closer.

 Grillby sat quietly on his bed, the suit he’d bought with Sans earlier that day on, and his phone beside him. The phone was just as silent–though Grillby wished to hear the ding of a message, perhaps from Sans, no, he hoped for it to be Sans. Watching the flames that made up his hands flicker and dance to look like small hearts, he felt dejected. 

 Now that the event was close, he wondered to himself—What are we supposed to even do? Was he supposed to, what, dance with him? Simply sit by him? Try to kiss him?— wait, that might be too far. And, did any of this mean… anything at all? 

 Breaking apart the heart patterns, he tiredly scrubbed at his face to rub the thoughts and last-minute anxiety far away to the back of his suddenly hyperactive mind. If it were ever possible—this was his one chance to say the things he wanted to say…

 And… that proceeded to make him more anxious. It was so silly, how he thinks that Sans would ever like him back. He crackled in annoyance at his fragile feelings, then sighed. 

 He’d better get driving. As much as the anxiety pained him inside, what pained him even more was the thought of not showing up and disappointing Sans just because his anxiety was at an all time high.

 He stood up from the bed, dragging his phone along with him as he did so, still in hopes of a message. Then, the phone lit up in the way it did somehow when he didn't even tap the screen—confirming the thoughts Grillby had been ignoring of whether Sans had texted him. 

 Though… it turned out to be a bit later than he’d thought, with around thirty minutes to the time of the party. Another shock hit his heart rapidly. Oh no…

 He firmly pressed the off button and slid the device into his pants pocket, quickly scanned the room to make sure he wouldn’t forget anything important, grabbed his keys, and headed out his bedroom door. He rushed down the stairs without missing a step, and ended up in his empty bar, which felt lonely at this time of day. He instinctively glanced at Sans’ stool on the way out—the events from the day before and earlier that day flashed in his mind like a sequence before death. Nothing but pleasant, and nothing but Sans and him having fun. 

 He didn’t want to stall himself, but he smiled at the sweet memories, and fully left the building.

…..

 On the sidewalk, large spotlights lit up the sky around the venue, circling and dancing in an inviting and exciting way—despite how mostly everyone was already inside and partying. There were a few other more New Home-ish decorative ideas around that Grillby could recognize, of course, but these stuck out to him… As they were a bit more intimidating and new.

 He took a deep breath to try to tame his pounding heart. This wasn’t his first large event—he could handle himself, and he knew that. Even if he wasn’t a very conversational person, he had the advantage of that fact of his being rather known in the community. What was intimidating was still Sans. He wished he could be a bit more mature about this—however, nobody had ever made him feel like this before. Every ex or fleeting crush he’d ever had couldn’t amount to this giddiness he experienced. And especially since he and Sans were good, longtime friends, everything could fall apart or into place—

 “Ah, Uncle Grillby!” He heard a familiar cheery voice from nearby. He looked around his surroundings to find her, but she had beaten him in finding him before he even could lay an eye on her. Fuku nearly appeared magically by Grillby’s side, relaxed and smiling calmly. More relaxed than he could ever be…

 “Ah, Fuku….” Grillby smiled and nodded, “I thought you were still too……angry at the King to possibly come…” he asked, wondering. She lazily shrugged.

 “Mm—yeah, I still hate that douche. But it’s also still free deserts plus Ember and I get to go on a little date!” She gestured to her girlfriend with a beaming smile, who was currently taking care of their entrance fees. Grillby genuinely smiled and felt for her happiness. These two were great for each other—really.

 “……very sweet,” Grillby nodded, pleasantly surprised to see her but very glad she’d come. It was nice to be able to know someone else here, and he definitely felt more calmed, if only a little bit.

 “Why are you out here? Why not head inside?” She asked, catching Grillby off guard. He didn’t even know he didn’t want to hear that question until it was said out loud.

 “I’m just…waiting.” Grillby answered honestly. He didn’t want to say anything about Sans, considering Fuku was the type to-

 “Oooh…! You got a date? You?” She teased, and his flames lit up. He looked at the large building beside them to avoid eye contact with her, and allowed him to see a couple walk in, arms linked, smiling and blushing with each other. Seeing them and her teasing just made him think about him- and well, this was just embarrassing. He couldn’t hide how pale his flames had gotten, and now she is going to ask.

 “You do! Gosh, didn’t think I’d ever see the day.” She joked, “Who is it?” 

 Grillby said nothing. Because he…didn’t. Sans wasn’t a date, no matter how much Grillby wanted him to be. It was also hardly her business.., though he supposed this could be some sort of revenge for joining her mother—his sister—in teasing her about Ember when they’d started talking.

 “We’re all set, Fuku!…What’s going on?” Grillby heard Ember’s voice come up to them, and he turned back to the two girls. The double horn of a car locking briefly caught his attention, and he looked up and behind the girls instinctively to see who it was. Without thinking, he looked back to them again, then… did a double take.

 Sans. 

 The skeleton was already on the sidewalk wearing the suit they’d picked out together as his brother came around the front of the car. Grillby’s nervousness spiked suddenly into panic. He couldn’t decide, should he run or should he freeze in place? Did he look too pale? Oh god, oh god..!!! He looks so damn cute in that suit, he can’t look away, no matter how hard he wants to try…!!

 “Ember! Grillby has a—“

 “Fuku…!” Grillby quietly and urgently interrupted her with an irritated tone–finally taking his eyes off Sans. She looked up to him with a mix of confusion and suspicion the more flustered his face became. He awkwardly stepped aside to meet Sans halfway—as he was already walking towards him. He heard a soft “ohhhhh…” and a few giggles behind him, but he ignored them…

 As he made his way over, his flames lighting up the dark sidewalk and grass around him with a soft, orange glow, he noticed Papyrus whisper something to Sans as he looked right at him. Unsure of what it was about, that whisper lingered in Grillby’s mind. Not out of nervousness, but because there was something clear in Papyrus’ eyes. He knew, even if Sans didn’t, and that made Grillby… flustered. 

 “Hello, Sans…” he smiled warmly.

 “yo. looking pretty hot there grillbz,” he calmly said, then his eyelights shrank just noticeably, and he continued, “like, you’re on fire tonight… flaming. burning me up over here.”

 “Fire puns…” Grillby softly laughed. The first one… caught him off guard— and the bright white that had taken over his face began to fade back into that reddish orange. Just puns…

 Sans laughed too, but it seemed a little nervous as the skeleton looked away, “yyyyup. uh— paps, i think i see mt over there…” Sans pointed somewhere behind Grillby, and when the flame turned to look, there was Mettaton waving… rather flirtatiously at Papyrus, with a paper white smile and winking.

 “OH!!!! ALRIGHTY!! I WILL SEE YOU LATER, YOU TWO!!! NEYEHE-HEH!“ He laughed a bit mischievously, then scampered over to meet Mettaton. Then Sans and Grillby turned to look at each other.

 It was just Grillby and Sans.

 “Shall we… head in…?” Grillby asked, stopping an awkward silence before it could happen.

 “oh, uh, yea.” Sans nodded. Grillby took his hand, and warmed it up. He didn’t even mean to initiate it at first, it just felt natural to do so. When the realization did kick in, he tried ignoring that  fact he was holding his hand as they left the sidewalk. He wondered, was it extremely odd he did that naturally?

 Sans looked as if he was trying his best to not blush, but there was no hiding the immense amount of blue on him. He kept darting his eyes around, and Grillby was doing the exact same as they walked into the front door of King Asgore’s house to the party, as they felt like everyone started to have their eyes on them– and which yes, King Asgore is not their king any longer, but it’s a force of habit to refer to him as such.

 Entering the door together, the party was bustling inside. The mansion house Asgore resided in was the perfect place for a party. It was the combination of a modern house and warm-lit home with furnishings and other objects from the underground that meshed together in a unique way, to say the least. And the modern chandelier above them that

Grillby–and maybe even Sans– hadn't had the pleasure of seeing from such a close distance felt like an extra special treat already adding onto, what seemed to be, the start of a perfect night. Hopefully, he wouldn’t mess it up. 

 The large mansion that had even more space than Grillby’s own bar felt packed. There were monsters and few new faces of humans alike here, all wearing sparkling dresses and gowns or dashing suits that looked so fancy, it made Grillby feel a pit of unpreparedness in his stomach. Not to mention, swerving around what seemed to be hundreds of people as they were all chatting with each other, with no stop to the never ending conversations while trying to escape and find a place to relax  was a nightmare to him that he didn't even know he had to deal with. Never had he been to a party on such a large scale.

 He tightly gripped onto Sans’ hand and dragged Sans through the crowd of people, to which he heard a ton of “ouch”, “ow!” or a variation of that whenever Grillby accidentally touched a monster or human's bare skin, which also got him some weird looks that made him feel overly self conscious of the surroundings. He climbed up the stairs and that's when they found a less compressed space to chill around, located near the mansion's master bathroom upstairs. Compared to downstairs, he felt like he could expand his flames and breathe. Nobody batted an eye towards them.

 Grillby leaned against the wall, letting out a deep sigh, with Sans joining him on the wall. He peeked his head downstairs to look at the state of it– and it was still very packed. No room to dance, only room for idle conversation. The party had only really begun about twenty minutes ago, so everyone must’ve also still been settling in to it. He then slid down the wall and curled into a ball, his head buried in his knees, so… so severely overwhelmed. Sans scooted closer to him, and their shoulders rested against the other. 

 He then lifted his head. He looked over at Sans; the skeleton was absentmindedly staring, or maybe he was admiring the modern architecture of the house.

 “you alright?” Sans said, breaking the quiet concentration it had taken to get into the building safely, he turned his head to look at Grillby, who tilted his head as an unsure response.

 “I….. suppose I was less prepared for this than I’d thought,” Grillby mumbled, his intelligible voice being mostly obscured by popping and crackling. Grillby already wasn’t very vocal with others, as is known—and these anxious bouts of panic would make communicating even harder. Most people tried to understand his signing and such, and some would just leave- and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Though…Sans wasn’t most people, of course he’d be the one to understand.

 “i think you’re real prepared. we can just sit here until you’re ready to do that out there,” he said, tense in his body language but his voice just as peaceful and relaxing as always… 

 “Sans, that… doesn’t make any sense.”

 “i think it does…” he shrugged as if it were a real answer—and Grillby would proceed to take it as a real answer, “why don’tcha think you’re prepared?”

 Grillby’s bright eyes softened, and he honestly answered, “I… I am ready for the dress code, the mannerisms of some… casual business speech. I’m ready to clap and cheer when the time is right, yet… It’s…people that seem to always catch me off guard. The tight crowd down there, or the epic volume of that crowd, and… Especially those who are quite…” he paused, looking over to the stairwell they’d climbed to get here, “Flammable.”

 Sans nodded, soaking it all in. Grillby looked away, beginning to wonder why he’d even shared that. It’s not something he was very open about, not even something… he’d allowed anyone to know before. He waited for that quick dread to settle in, for this space he’d gone to so he could relax to become tense or awkward—but instead he felt… safe. Which was strange… and nice. 

 “well,” Sans began, still sat beside Grillby, counteracting Grillby’s unease with his radiating calm, “good news, your pal sans here is pretty good at all that. And… he’s offering to handle all that for you, if ya want.”

 “Sans, you do not need to-”

 “would you like me to?...” Sans’ voice softened, gentle, “you helped me… gosh, a lot, Grillbz. i owe it to ya. it’d be no problem, trust me, but only if ya want.”

 Grillby didn’t know how to respond. An enthusiastic ‘yes yes please that would be great’ came to mind, but temptingly on his other shoulder sat the demon of ‘oh no, that’s alright, I will be fine.” Both options were… not all that great. So… he settled for his real answer. 

“If you’d like… and I may direct you in the cues.” he said… more awkwardly than he imagined it to come out.

 Sans smiled, then… a small huff of laughter escaped him, and suddenly he was laughing to himself,  “ah yes,” he said between breaths, and he took on an exaggerated accent slightly close to Grillby’s own, “the cuues.”  

 The flame froze, before he also began to try and stifle some laughter, “quite awkward…” he snickered, “wasn’t it…” he turned his head to look at Sans with a smile. 

 “a bit, yea, but it’s crackling me up over here, so, joke point for you.” He said, coming down from the flash of laughter, “you… think you’re ready? you don’t gotta be, you know. i’ll gladly stay up here with you the whole…" The flow of his sentence broke as he seemed to realize something, but the look left as soon as it had come, and he continued, “the whole night, if ya need.”

 Grillby took in a deep breath. Was he ready…? Was this okay?

 And was he still getting too excited about having Sans around…?

 Grillby nodded hesitantly, before becoming more confident, “I… think so, yes.”

“then let’s go eat a bunch of food and listen to some prime standard party music—” And he smiled a bit brighter as he stood, then held out his hand to Grillby, “it’s the anniversary.”

 Grillby hesitated with a glimmer in his eye, looking up at Sans and his kind outstretched hand. Trying to hide his small sparks of excitement—a stark difference to the fear he’d felt before. He gently extended his own hand to take Sans’ hand and… well, mostly stood up himself since Sans wasn’t all that strong. Damn, he couldn't think of a way to repay Sans after all of this. He blushed.

 “c’mon, we’ll go back downstairs together, ‘kay?” Sans said. Grillby nodded slowly. He was a bit fearful of the party downstairs, but from what he could see, it cleared up just a bit so wherever they wanted to walk wouldn't be a burden on anyone else. 

 The two ventured downstairs together. Since they could both clearly see where they walked, they both took some time to walk wherever the hell they wanted and enjoyed the party around them. The bright lights of the party and the loud cheers of the partygoers began to filter in, but as Grillby felt embarrassingly nervous again, Sans squeezed his hand as if he could sense it from the flame. Once they’d stepped onto the floor, people began to notice—and look away from their friends or partners to wave or simply smile as a greeting.

 They both ran into Alphys and Undyne at the tables of food that were laid out. The two were on a date together. Grillby smiled as Sans effortlessly made conversation with Alphys, and he wondered to himself, “are Sans and I on a date….?” He considered it so, did Sans think the same?

 They didn't stay near the food for too long, that place got crowded pretty quickly after the conversation started, so they said their goodbyes to the couple and made their way to the dance floor—however, they all hoped to run into each other again. They passed by the dance floor on their way over to the food. It caught Sans’ interest.

 A crowd was formed around the entire dance floor. In the middle of it all was, obviously, the one and only Mettaton. The two pushed through the small crowd to watch him, as they were intrigued immediately.

 Mettaton danced effortlessly. Fast paced movements with flashing lights coming from his body that looked easy, it looked fluid, and it was so mesmerizing to watch. He must be a natural…!

 At the end of his performance, Papyrus—who was at the front of the crowd, watching him with stars in his eyes— was suddenly pulled to the middle of the dancefloor in a swift movement of Mettaton grabbing onto his waist. Suddenly, the solo dance became a duet. Sans interest piqued a bit more, to see his own brother dancing with Mettaton. He seemed almost as natural as Mettaton—did Mettaton teach Papyrus? Grillby didn't know.

 The couple stopped dramatically. Mettaton dipped Papyrus down and held him dearly, looking at him with pure love. Papyrus had a very, VERY visible red blush. And then suddenly out of nowhere, Mettaton pulled a rose seemingly out of thin air for Papyrus, which the skeleton gladly held onto. 

 “NYEEHEHEHEHH!!! T-THANK YOU!!!!” He intensely blushed. The crowd bursted into loud clapping, Grillby and Sans included. Mettaton bowed, then the couple went off the dance floor and everyone continued on as normal. The DJ began to play some fun, upbeat tracks, clearly to get people to follow after MT and Papyrus and dance. Most did dance, especially the humans there, joining with their friends or partners, closely together. The whole room was filled with dancing, so…

 Grillby gulped. He knew exactly what he wanted to do. He looked down at Sans, who was watching his brother as he walked away with a proud look on his face. 

 Grillby was god awful at dancing—well, compared to Mettaton. He didn't care that he was awful at dancing, and it barely mattered…. he just wanted to have a nice moment with Sans. Dancing slowly together, smiling, and then maybe they'll move slowly into a sweet, loving kiss—

 Agh! He needs to stop getting ahead of himself!

 “Sans,” he forced himself to blurt out with a lump in his throat. The skeleton blinked in surprise, and looked up at him with widened eyes awaiting Grillby's next words. “Would you…”

 He hesitated, because how do you ask this? How do you ask for such a dream without… the implications? Sans was still looking at him, confusion slowly growing on his features as Grillby stayed silent. He looked back at the dance floors, then to Sans. There was no time like the present, and he knew that. He knew he must ask, or this night would eat at him forever. They would just be dancing… as good, very platonic, very close friends, clearly.

 “wanna give it a shot?” 

 Grillby’s eyes widened in surprise as Sans said the words he’d been trying to get out for near minutes, and so easily with a smile—though in different phrasing than Grillby would’ve used. Grillby felt fireworks—or even real sparks of fire—go off in his soul. 

 “........Well…Why not, I suppose?” He smiled, still feeling sheepish. But as Sans took his hand, that feeling began to melt away. It wouldn’t be a scene, in fact, with all the people around the two they may as well be all alone. Just them…

 The fire monster offered his hand out to Sans. It crackled anxiously, as that one moment Grillby waited for Sans to take his hand felt like eternity, and like he was frozen in time. The lights all around them, the other guests, nobody was moving anymore—and nobody could ever be as important as the skeleton right in front of Grillby. 

 Sans reached out for his hand, clasping them together as Grillby felt a cold shudder strike down himself when they clicked together. He went pale, blush all over, and Sans was right there witnessing his immediate (gay) panic, staring at him with wide eyes and patiently waiting. Once Grillby felt more a hold of himself and not wanting to leave Sans waiting for too long, he continued on, walking the other right onto the dance floor with whatever false confidence he could use. Internally, his fiery soul pounded.

 In the middle of the dance floor they stood, the lights flashing in Grillby’s eyes and the close proximity of everyone on the floor was a bit anxiety inducing, but all of it suddenly extinguished away when he looked his way at Sans, their hands locked together. With his other hand he adjusted his collar when he felt himself getting tense.

 As he adjusted, he felt his hand feel a touch colder as Sans slipped his own out of Grillby's. He turned over to Sans, confused and raising his eyebrow, until he saw the young skeleton unashamedly moving his body to the rhythm. Grillby blinked, and then he blinked again, making double sure his eyes were still working. He looked so energetic, he was so eyecatching. Grillby couldn’t help but idly stare at him, forgetting himself, forgetting others, only focusing on Sans’ moves.

 He shook his hips, then spun, then snapped his fingers to the beat, and so on in a rhythm and shamelessly so. Where did he learn to do this? He was more skilled compared to Grillby, and if Grillby were to start dancing now, he’d look like a complete idiot in front of Sans. All he’d been doing for the past few years of his life was working at his bar; he had no time to learn to dance! And suddenly, in this moment, he was going to regret it!

 Sans stopped. He looked at Grillby, and when Sans looked in his direction he froze.

 “ya gonna dance?” Sans asked.

 “Oh, well, maybe. I'm not sure how.” Grillby responded.

 “i dunno how to dance either. do i look like i know what im doing?” Sans said, pointing at himself with a surprised smile as he continued on shaking his hips. Grillby slowly nodded in response to his question.

 “heh. i'll take that as a compliment.” Sans said. “i’ll give you a tip from one dance buddy to another— i think if you gave it a try, you could do it too.” Sans continued saying. He gave Grillby new encouragement that he didn't realize he needed or wanted.

 Even if he felt a bit uncomfortable doing so, he still tried to give dancing a shot. Grillby tried to copy what Sans was doing. It was out of sync and he could have sworn he twisted a joint he didn't have, but after about a minute of trying to copy Sans, he obtained his own flow that was his attempt at Sans’ dance but not quite it. Like at all. However, Grillby felt himself absorbed in the rhythm and felt confident and proud of himself. Sans chuckled at him, staring with stars in his eyes.

 “hey, grillbz, you're doing great.” He said while twisting his body. Grillby gave a very pleased smile at him and continued to shake his body unashamedly, like Sans. He could feel his heart racing in delight and he cherished this moment. Nothing could stop him at this very moment. He couldn't focus on anything other than him and Sans in their own little bubble of shared joy. What else was better than this bubble, anyway?

 “c’mere,” Sans then spoke, and Grillby’s eyes widened in a bit of confusion as he slowly, but gently took his hand. Small sparks went off in Grillby’s soul with the touch—a crackling sense deep in his spirit and lingering on the touch of his fingers, just adding onto everything he’s been feeling with that last bit of excitement racing in him. Sans tugged Grillby a bit closer to him, smiling giddily and a bit mischievously. Grillby couldn’t help but feel a curl on his lips from Sans’ contagious emotion.

 “Ah………what?” Grillby tried to seem not too unexpectedly and outwardly emotional about it, however Sans didn’t seem to notice. The skeleton softly laughed to himself. 

 “trust me, alright?” Sans glanced up from their two interlocked hands to look right at Grillby, right at him, and he raised their hands as high as it seemed he could—

 “Uh-“ . Grillby stuttered.

 “Sans, are you trying to…” a soft chuckle forced itself into Grillby’s words. “-are you trying to spin me?”

 “shh, wait... hold on…”  Sans hushed him as he went on his toes to reach above Grillby’s head. His fire white and his feelings warm, Grillby took the initiative to duck down and let Sans spin him around. When he could stand straight again, he took a look at Sans’ face and saw the blue all around his cheek bones. It was an honestly adorable look on him, and his embarrassed face would make Grillby laugh, Sans soon joining him.

 In their joyful moment, the music faded away all so suddenly without a warning, making the entire moment and party feel more soulless. He never realized how the blaring music actually did so much to make a party feel alive until now. Everyone around them— Sans and Grillby included— looked up at their surroundings in the same confusion until they heard the King. 

 “Ah-hello? Yes, hello there, everyone.” 

Asgore’s hesitant voice rang out through the venue. Grillby looked around, then spotted him at a podium a bit too small for him, tapping the microphone a few times to check it. “I hope you’re enjoying yourselves tonight… Many of us, before, had thought they’d never see the surface, and yet today we celebrate a year of freedom.” He nervously smiled staring down at the crowd, but he also was quite proud of how far they have come. He cleared his throat,

 “In a few more minutes, we’ll have a few speeches from a few of monsterkind’s heroes, our human friends, and more. Enjoy your night everyone, and thank you all for attending.” He nodded, before stepping off the podium.

 The room broke out into some thrilling cheers and lots of applause. The sound of pop music began to fade back in, resuming the last song as it was. Grillby gave a less enthusiastic clap as compared to others mostly because he was not one to clap at events like this, though he could understand the real reason most people were clapping so loudly—their achieved freedom, rather than Asgore himself—he kept it short out of respect for his niece. 

 It didn’t take long for people to start dancing again, or for some to sit down and talk, or get another drink or snack. With the interruption, clarity began to catch up to Grillby. Especially as he noticed the gaze of his aforementioned niece smirking at him knowingly from not too far away, peeking behind a wall, like she was spying playfully on him. So he’d outrun that external embarrassment, and save it for tonight when he crashed in his bed. 

 “Hungry?” He turned to Sans, and also turning his back to his sister’s slightly insufferable daughter. Sans blinked once, and looked to him like he’d been asleep for the entire party since. Was it too far fetched? Probably not. Ever since he stepped into this loud house, he felt mentally shut off.

 “oh uh, yea. i could go for some snacks.” He shrugged. 

 “Oh I mean like, food. There’s a buffet,” he gestured to the far back of the room at the food stand. “Many options. You’ll surely find something.” He smiled with a caring aura. The other didn’t express much, but nodded.

 “sure, yea.” 

 Considering the crowd was far more spread out than before, Grillby felt more comfortable, and didn’t see the need to take Sans’ hand, as much as he wanted to. But then, it didn’t seem like it was his call, considering a very mentally occupied Sans automatically took Grillby’s hand anyways for security. Looking down at the skeleton’s face, he didn’t seem to take as much note of it, like it was just an automatic action to him.

 Grillby wasn’t going to ruin it, in fact he loved holding his hand and he wasn’t afraid to admit that, so he led him away to the food. 

 As they walked through the crowd, Grillby could feel a few people staring, now that they were more exposed. As he tried to make his flame small so as to not cause any accidents, Sans made his presence bigger, waving and calling out to friends.

 He let go of Sans’ hand when they got to the tables of food, and goodness there was a lot available. It was a big party, but the amount of food he was familiar with and unfamiliar with was staggering. He was very intrigued with the food he’d never seen. It was like Fuku’s sweet sixteen all over again; plenty of different celebratory dishes from Snowdin, Waterfall, Hotland, and The Surface were just everywhere. Grillby spotted the plates, and walked over to grab them. Two plates… and utensils were grabbed after they were done choosing.

 “Here,” Grillby brought one to Sans, filled with tons of new foods and familiar ones, all topped with ketchup. Sans took it with a very blank look on his face, “…..so much to choose from, right…?” 

 Sans blinked absentmindedly, then nodded. “…yeah, yup. lots. i don't even know where to start, honestly. i don't really recognize… anything.” He huffed a laugh, and brought a hand up to the back of his neck. “really? not any ‘dogs? seems like something you’d have at a party…” He formed a small joking smile on his face.

 Grillby didn’t need him to say much more, and he asked for Sans’ plate. The other handed it over, and Grillby walked over to the Waterfall foods that he recognized in an instant. 

 Years back, way back when he was in college, he’d been tasked with making a few dishes foreign to Hotland and he was successful in doing so. This one seemed like something Sans would like, knowing his preferences. The ingredients were native to Waterfall; three of the vegetable itself—which was highly akin to shrimp—on top of its leaves. It was a bit of a sweet flavor that everyone agreed on was pleasant on your taste buds, but hopefully not too sweet for dinner. Perhaps Sans would like it… he hoped so. If not, he can always just give him a plate of ketchup if all else fails. 

 Walking back over to the skeleton, he then handed it to Sans, giving him a smile. The skeleton stared down at the food. Real Hotland dishes were hard to come by these days, and even Grillby couldn’t really make them taste just right. Hopefully these could satisfy his cravings… 

 “what’s this?” Sans asked, pointing at the food like a child.

 “It’s from Waterfall…… I recommend to try it, perhaps you’ll like it even more than hotdogs?” Grillby replied calmly.

 Sans chuckled, a lot less awkward now that he had his food, like the weight he had on his shoulders was lifted. “eh, i dunno—nothing’s better than a ‘dog from grillby’s. or a ‘burg from grillby’s…” he paused, “hm, maybe i should stop by there sometime…” He pondered.

 Grillby softly laughed at that, and Sans looked quite happy with the joke he’d made. Then he jabbed his hand towards the utensils. The two left the food tables with their food and forks. They stood before the sea of people in chairs, sat at full tables, and full volume of noise… Most people—except for a small number of politicians and the sort—hadn’t RSVP’d. Therefore… finding a place to sit would be rough. Grillby stared off into that sea.

 “ooh…” Sans winced, seemingly arriving towards the same conclusion. He contorted even looking at the large number of people. “uh, maybe we can go find paps and met? He might’ve saved a seat.”

 “That sounds alright, do you know where they are?”

 Sans hummed considerably. “mmm, uh—considering it’s the great papyrus and the big mt, probably the center of the room, wherever people are.”

 Grillby nodded, and they began to search. However, their search didn’t take too long, and was more like walking in one direction until they heard an excited crowd of people in a large area of the mansion. Sans was right, they were at the largest table there, along with some internet and undernet celebrities. Suddenly Grillby was a bit intimidated by the thought of sitting down in the two chairs that Papyrus actually had saved for them. Sans smiled back at him assuredly, and so Grillby would trust him. 

 “hey pap. nice work out on the floor earlier, you two.” Sans called out.

 “I know!” Mettaton gasped dramatically, leaning closer to papyrus, who blushed and smiled next to him, bright and happy together. “Papyrus really knows how to capture a crowd, we worked on the choreography for days!” He flaunted.

 “INDEED!!” Papyrus agreed, “NOW SIT, YOU TWO!!! NO NEED TO STAND AROUND!!!”

 Grillby smiled, at how enthusiastic they are and how much of a calm vibe the couple were to be around even if they seem loud at first. He seated himself right beside Sans, and on the other side was Papyrus and Mettaton. He was much less anxious now that he was being welcomed, and sat next to Sans. The table was round and finely decorated like a restaurant with a candle in the center and a table runner. He also felt how all around him was surrounded by strangers, but that was customary. Oddly, it did feel like a restaurant double date if he wasn’t thinking about the fact he was in King Asgore’s house.

 He picked up his fork and knife and began to eat quietly. He wanted to start a conversation, because when was the last time he got to talk to Papyrus and Mettaton? But, he was moreso eager to eat since he hadn’t eaten before the party… Perhaps the last time had been before he’d met Sans at the shop earlier that day? 

 Grillby glanced over at Sans after a few minutes of Papyrus chatting to only himself about how special Mettaton was with the mentioned robot blushing violently, and then did a surprised double take when he found Sans was still looking and poking at his food, rather than eating it, lost in thought perhaps?

 “You know that isn’t… poison, right?” He joked.

 “i know- it’s just,” he smiled about it, and shrugged, before defaulting to a line for a mouth. “i dunno, kinda looks like it, or somethin’.”

 “Sans, you may be wearing a child’s suit but there is no reason to be acting—“ Grillby teased with a giggle, before he was messily shut up by boney hands waving at him to stop and pushing against his mouth.

 “fine, look, i’ll try it. here, see?” He quickly sputtered out, and he ate a piece, and swallowed without savoring it. Then, his eyes suddenly lit up, as he took another bite, and this time he effortlessly enjoyed it.

 Grillby shot a slight cocky smirk at Sans once it dawned on the other that maybe Grillby had been right about the food. Grillby chuckled, securing his victory. “……See now?”

 Sans stayed quiet for a second, “i think i’d still rather have your hotdogs but…… i mean, is this on your menu? Or something?—”

 Grillby laughed, like really laughed. Crackles of fire and flame sparked and flew as he did so, and he felt himself, his soul, living. “……no, but I suppose I can add it.”

 They laughed a bit together, and as Sans smiled warmly at him, Grillby soon noticed that Mettaton was whispering into Grillby’s ear… and… pointing? Was he saying something about them? It was quite obvious, if he was trying to be sneaky about it. Grillby’s thoughts raced to all possibilities as to what they could’ve possibly been whispering to each other about. The said robot glanced back at him, then looked at him with soft surprise. Mettaton quickly dropped his hand, and he and Papyrus quickly moved to seem like nothing was wrong. Peculiar… And definitely suspicious.

 Mettaton swung his leg over his other, and fashionably lifted his hair out of his face. “So, you two have been very close all night… Also seem to be matching, hmm…?” He rested his hand on his chin. ”Any reason why?”

 Oh goodness… that was why they were whispering. Ugh, they were completely getting the wrong idea. Worst of all Papyrus knew about Grillby’s silly fancy. The brother. 

 “Ah, we just………” he said, his voice slightly obscured by bashful flames. “I helped him get a suit……I happened to also need a new one……” 

 Papyrus’ eyes lit up—and with that clear emotion he always carried—mischeviously. “OH? I THOUGHT SANS ALREADY HAD A SUIT. . . ?” He raised an eyebrow.

 Sans’ eyes widened at that, but despite what his eyes told, he smirked sheepishly with a shrug, “that suit is from a hundred years ago, bro.”

 “ARE YOU SURE…?” Papyrus said with a half smirk half smile, and raising his metaphorical eyebrow further.

 Metatton chimed in, and quite unhelpfully so, as he reapplied his sparkly pink lipstick, “mm, it’s probably nothing, Darling. Of course he’d like to go shopping with his fiery friend, who wouldn’t? Besides, weren’t they just adorable out there? Dancing, chatting, spinning each other around…” he softly giggled to himself.

 It was then that the same soft blue would appear on Sans’ face, and also when Grillby’s flames would once again burn brighter, feeling as hot as the sun. Embarrassed? Flustered? Confused? He was feeling everything and everything was feeling. He took Sans’ hand from under the table, which probably didn’t help their case, but it definitely leveled Sans a bit more.

 Sans chuckled, brushing it off as best he could. “heh, yea, but not like how you guys were. man, how long did it take to choreograph all that again…? uh, days?” 

 Well, at least one of them can be good at deflection. Grillby, on the other hand, was still in shock, feeling like the conversation was passing him by while he was still stuck on the previous words spoken. Had… Sans noticed? His flames burned brighter and he could feel himself sweating (or well, what he thought sweating would feel like) at the thought; thoughts of Sans distancing himself out of discomfort began to swim in his mind along with… other scenarios. Suddenly his meal didn’t taste as sweet. He wanted to vomit.

 He had to calm himself down, so he took inconspicuous deep breaths and listened quietly, like he did at his bar, to their quick and rapidly paced topics. It was an oddly aggressive back and forth between Sans, speeding through to distract from the earlier allegations, and the other two desperately trying to get back to their teasing game.

 “ya know, i heard you guys were planning on doing a speech tonight?” Sans then mentioned.

 “Mm, yes,” Mettaton replied with a proud slight curve of his lips, “but really, you two should’ve done a speech! There may even still be time,” he smirked, as the neverending battle continued. 

 Sans glanced back at Grillby. For way too long of a second, the flame was afraid Sans’ eyes would be devoid of that fun and feeling he’d cherished all day—or for all those years of knowing him. To his relief, however, Sans mostly seemed playfully annoyed, enjoying being near his brother even if he was being teased quite heavily by him and the taller skeleton’s boyfriend. But then… it descended into a worried expression as he continued to look at the very silent flame.

 Sans turned his head back to his brother. “yo, paps, I think I left something in the car, mind watching our food for us?” 

 Mettaton and Papyrus froze, staring at him in quite an unrealistic way that Grillby hadn’t seen from either of them before, and they both laid silent. Then, they looked at each other, communicated Stars knows what through eye contact, then they both nodded, with the most largest and delighted and… perhaps mischievous smile Grillby had ever seen on either of them. Whatever these guys were up to, was way beyond Grillby’s immediate comprehension. 

 “ALRIGHTY!! WE’LL…… SEE YOU WHEN YOU GET BACK!!” He smiled joyously—almost too joyously. Concern settled in Grillby’s soul, however, he wasn’t too concerned just yet. Papyrus was an interesting skeleton, and Sans’ brother whom he didn’t want to judge, so he could be joyously smiling about anything…!

 Sans slid out of the chair as if he was sliding off his usual bar stool back at Grillby’s. He put his hands in his pockets and walked away without looking back. The further Sans stepped away, the more of a bad feeling he felt come to a boil in his chest, pounding on his insides, begging him to not leave Sans alone. Was he overthinking? Unnecessarily concerned? Possibly. But why did it hurt this much more at this moment? 

 He tapped his fingers anxiously against the table, putting small, almost unnoticeable dents in the wood. It got faster and faster as his vision only focused on the figure of Sans. He tugged at his collar. The feeling over by the very pushy two began to fade from calm to uncomfortable as Grillby stayed put. Rather than look to see their faces, he kept his eyes on Sans, and decided to just go. 

 “Ah, maybe I’ll go with him.” Grillby finally spoke up, before jumping out of his seat eagerly and walking off to follow Sans.

 “OKAY!!!! SEE YOU LATER!!!!!! NYEHEHEHEEH!!!!!” Papyrus yelled at an unneeded volume, hoping that Grillby would hear him as he got further away from their table. But it wasn’t that far away, so he still would’ve been able to hear it at a normal volume…

 He maneuvered his way through the crowd, Sans sometimes nearly escaping his view. He was small for sure, but his suit color gave him away effortlessly. Grillby felt his soul start to ease a little bit once he started to follow Sans, like this was the correct choice in his mind, like he was putting his worries to rest by being there for him. 

 Sans pushed the front door of the mansion open, and Grillby followed suit. Once they were outside, the rush of chilling winds against his body and the cold air immediately hit him—dear god it was not the nicest wake up call. However, he wasn’t going to let cold air stop him from comforting his boyfriend—, ahem, friend.

 All sound stopped. Or what felt like all sound. They were alone now, and the silence was a nice touch. Grillby breathed heavily, and could hear the sound of his own worry, how much energy it took to follow the small skeleton in the crowd. He stared for seconds, the sound of his panting in his ears, the wind brushing against him, Sans turning to face him with confusion written all over his face, asking the question “why did you follow me?”.

 However, nobody spoke a word, or they would’ve, if not for the sound of a door slamming right behind them both. In the frosted silence, the sound of the slamming shattered their silent moment they both started to ease into. Grillby jolted the doorknob around, but no matter how hard he twisted it, it seemed to have locked them out. 

 Grillby paused. He wasn’t about to truly panic, but he was damn near close.

 He turned back to look at Sans, still holding the same confused expression and exaggerating it more as he stared. He could hear his breathing, hear the muffled sounds of the party inside, and most importantly, hear the quiet but heavy thump of Sans’ soul. It was so subtle; but it was so lively. 

 “......Are you okay?”

 His question rang through Sans’ head as he glanced down at Sans, face filled with worry, for Sans and for the fact they couldn’t get back into the party.

 Sans’ thoughts couldn’t stop racing, though they were much more manageable out here, in this sweet serene quietness he didn’t know he missed until he even went outside. Trying to think and trying to not puke out of nervousness was a little hard in an environment you couldn’t handle. Not to mention the temperature out here was more his style, since the cold, but nice night reminded him of Snowdin. Sans could sense the effect that cold had on Grillby. Even if he hadn’t known the other was following him, he felt a guilt inside his soul for making him suffer.

 Well, it was his fault. He could’ve warped, without anyone having a clue as to where he went off to. It was quite easy to warp, so why? …He could’ve, but maybe, he secretly knew deep down in his soul that he wanted someone to follow him. He knew it would’ve been Grillby that would follow him. But, if that is true, then this ended up being more of a mess than he needed it to be, especially now that the door had been locked. Damn.

 Finally, Sans left his noisy head, realizing that he hadn’t answered Grillby’s question, and the longer he left the flame without an answer the more he worried. “oh, yea, im good. just needed a break from the party, ya know?”

 Grillby softly nodded. “I understand. I would go back inside, but, the door…”

 “nah, it's okay. you can stay, since… it's you.” Sans shrugged nonchalantly, even though he suddenly felt a wave of panic once he realized what he had just said. Deciding not to torture himself like his brother and Mettaton had back inside, he walked off to the side of the mansion and found his way to a comfortable patch of grass to sit on. Grillby followed, and hesitantly sat down next to him. 

 …Locked out, a bit confused, a bit nauseous, and a lot nervous… All these emotions swirled in his soul like a storm and none of them made him feel a single amount of good. Sans sat with Grillby. He quietly felt like he was waiting, for what it was he didn’t know, as he stared at the soft, spring grass before them. The entire day led up to this, and right now it was all a stupid blur, and his soul was being stupid about this. All day—a cycle of “what should I do?” , “Why am I doing this?” and unfortunately mixed in with “Because I love—”

 And that last one sent fear within him, much more than the other uncertainties. The fear he’ll never get over. That feeling. Because that was certain. Sans was never one to be… good at this stuff. The crushing, flirting, dating—it wasn’t his strong suit, and he knew that far too well. He was just too lazy to worry about such emotions.

 …Grillby made him—and everything he was made of—want to try. A new spark of motivation light within him, just for him. But he couldn’t… could he? 

 This whole day, this party, it all happened because he and Grillby are friends. Friends. Grillby wanted to go to the party with him since Sans was his friend.  He helped put on his suit because he was struggling with it, and they were friends. There was no other explanation, and any that Sans comes up with is just a sad lie, twisting the truth he didn’t want to face, because he wanted to try.

 That certainty that he actually did love the flame next to him was just going to end up hurting like a bitch, whether he decided to tell him and face the consequences of losing him for good, or never do so, and sit with these feelings for another decade or two—or forever, rotting away silently, eating away at his soul, until he couldn’t bear the pain anymore or it eventually numbs. He could pretend he was just too lazy to make a move, that’s easy, but he really was… afraid of the unknown. He enjoyed his sedentary lifestyle for being the predictable everyday, but this…

 “It was… a bit much, even for me in there…” Grillby said quietly, catching Sans’ attention. The skeleton sighed, smiling lazily back up at the other.

 “eh yeah-”

 “But I had fun…” Grilby suddenly added, with a smile faint on his lips, and his eyes gazing distantly as if recalling the earlier events. Sans looked up, worries fading into the back of his mind quietly—like they were silencing themselves willingly to make room for the two of them at this moment. 

Grillby continued, “I had fun today, and yesterday. It was……nice, spending time with you.”

 Sans ignored the way his breath caught at that subtly, and he nodded with a casual smile, “yea, it was great. thanks.”

 Grillby… frowned at that, and the worries started to push back into his mind all of a sudden—

 “I liked going to the shop with you as well, and I liked… laughing with you.” The taller scoffed, with a bright smile on his face. “I don’t know… I’m not sure what I’m… even trying to say.”

 Crickets chirped in bushes all around them, white noise complementing the strangely nice but also nerve-wracking silence they shared. The shining stars gazing down at them with love. Sans couldn’t speak, more like he couldn’t find any words in his throat. Instead, he waited in silence for Grillby’s next words.

 “Sans, I enjoyed this. I had more fun these past two nights than I have had in years. I don’t…” His brightness faltered, “I don’t want it to end.”

 Sans raised an eyebrow, nervous, “i— i mean it doesn’t have to-”

 “—I love you, Sans—.” Grillby seemingly blurted out, without much of a thought.

 Love is the right word. It was the certain word. 

“......Is that…” the flame hesitated, once his words finally seemed to register in his brain. His flame expanded. “Is that alright…?”

 Sans fell silent, and only breathed in once, because it was. 

 He wondered if this was reality. What was the reason that everything went so perfectly? He couldn’t fathom the answer. He didn’t need an answer, because it had to be. His light grounding him, like it had for years and would continue to for more—He needed Grillby. He couldn’t describe this feeling in his soul, but it was almost like his own soul started to reach out to Grillby’s on its own. It felt soft, loving, and most of all natural. It was meant to be.

 “i do too.” He answered—then did a double take- ”you, i mean… yeah, i love you too.”

 And Sans would never see anything more beautiful than how Grillby would shine at that. To say he wouldn’t forget the way Grillby looked, was more than correct. Fire crackling wildly with his own lovely laughter and himself emitting a nice heat even amidst his body in the cold, before he embraced the surprised skeleton in the warmest hug he’d ever received from Grillby, his soul beating against Sans’ own in a combined rhythm of closeness. It didn’t take long for Sans to hug him back, either. Certain, that this was real. They’d do this together. They were real.

 Pulling away, Sans still felt a lingering warmth, like the other’s arms were still wrapped tightly around him. They laughed, like they did, and they did so a bit awkwardly now that things were finally right. 

 Above them shone the stars, in the vast and deep blue sky bright and mellow, large and small, in patterns of constellations he’d have plenty of time to tell Grillby all about. The two laid on their backs in the grass, their hands sliding towards the others direction until they finally interlocked in nostalgia and love.

 “Do you want to stay like this forever?”

 “er, on the grass? or-”

 “......You know what I mean.”