Burgerpants was almost late for work again.
He punched the elevator button anxiously. He had to get to the seventeenth floor before 8 A.M. or his boss, Mettaton, would yell at him again. His self-esteem just couldn't take that anymore.
Where was the damn elevator?
Burgerpants froze as a rabbit monster with blue fur joined him in waiting. He'd seen this guy around before. He usually ran that Nice Cream stand across the street from the building Burgerpants worked in. He was sweet and cheerful and said hello to Burgerpants whenever they saw each other.
Burgerpants had been crushing so hard on the guy, it wasn't even funny.
Why was he even here? And why was he dressed in business casual attire? God, Burgerpants could feel himself going red. It got even worse when the rabbit smiled at him and said good morning. Burgerpants gave some semblance of a grin back and waved a little.
Finally the elevator arrived. Burgerpants bounced impatiently as it emptied, then ducked inside and hit the 17 button repeatedly.
"Oh, I'm going to the same floor, that's nice."
Burgerpants jumped; he'd forgotten the other monster was with him for a split second. He smiled weakly. "Oh. Yeah. That's uh. Pretty cool, I guess."
Both monsters leaned against opposite sides of the elevator as they traveled upwards silently.
Between the ninth and tenth floors, the cab stopped with a jolt, and the lights went out.
"No, no, no! What the hell—?" Burgerpants banged on the wall in distress. "I was already gonna be late—boss is gonna yell at me—god damn it—"
"Hey, hey, it'll be okay!" the rabbit monster tried to calm him. He took out his cell phone to illuminate the elevator.
"No, it won't be, I'll get yelled at, god it's so small in here, what if it falls, I don't want to die—" Burgerpants was in a full panic, falling down into a corner and curling up on himself, nearly hyperventilating.
"It'll be okay, I promise!" The other monster sat next to him and put an arm around his shoulders. "It's just stopped, it'll probably be running again in a few minutes. No one could reasonably blame you for being late because of a stopped elevator. You'll be fine."
Burgerpants stopped babbling, but remained breathless and wide-eyed. The rabbit continued talking quietly.
"My name's Everett. You already know I run the Nice Cream stand across the street, but it hasn't been making as much money as I need to pay bills and stuff, so I'm being interviewed for a job by Mettaton."
"Mettaton?" Burgerpants turned to Everett. "I work for Mettaton…"
"Yeah, I know. I see him yelling sometimes… anyway. If I get this job, we could end up working together! Which is pretty cool, to me anyway, because I've kinda wanted to get to know you more," Everett admitted. "You know, seeing the same people around every day—you just start wanting to talk, ask them about life. If you're gonna do the same thing every day, you might as well know the people you do it with."
"Yeah, that's… yeah." Burgerpants' brain seemed to have stopped working.
"So, uh, I hear Mettaton call you… Burgerpants?"
Burgerpants cringed. "Yeah… that's everyone's permanent nickname for me. I-it's a long story." His brain must have shut down completely because the next sentence that came out of his mouth was, "Do you wanna hear it?"
Everett laughed. "Sure, lay it on me."
Burgerpants' story didn't take long to tell, so he and Everett took turns telling bits about their lives and the people they knew until the elevator started up again.
Two hours had passed before they even realized it.
Burgerpants was feeling significantly more relaxed and confident now. He adjusted his uniform as he stood up. "Thanks for helping me out," he said warmly. "And good luck on that job interview."
Everett smiled cheerfully. "No problem! And thank you."
Finally they were on the seventeenth floor. Burgerpants' heart dropped into his stomach as the doors opened up to an impatient pink and black robot. "B-boss, the elevator—"
"Elevator stopped working, I know. Just get to work," Mettaton waved off his excuse, turning his attention to Everett. "You, you're Everett Lansky? You're lucky no one else was applying today. Come on."
Burgerpants exhaled, relieved he'd gotten off so easily. He shot a thumbs up to Everett, who returned it with a confident grin.
Burgerpants headed to his workplace, feeling more light-hearted than he could remember being for years. He'd escaped Mettaton's wrath and managed to talk to his crush for two whole hours, and the guy seemed to enjoy his company!
Things were starting to look up.