Meeting for the first time
Grillby
A gust of wind causes you to shiver and pull your jacket tighter around yourself. The cold numbs your ears and nose, making you more miserable by the second. This blasted season couldn't come to an end fast enough, you decide. Everything is dreary and lacking color, unlike when it is summer. In fact, you prefer the heat of summer to the chill of winter.
As you're walking down the sidewalk, brooding about the weather, you're thinking about where you could get a job. You recently became unemployed after an altercation at the restaurant you used to waitress at. Long story short, after watching the manager turn away a group of monsters simply because of what they were you not-so-politely told him to go to hell and that you quit. Now you're without a job, and by extension without an income.
You're pulled from your musings when you see a flashing, neon sign. It reads "Grillby's", which you find interesting. 'That's new. Looks like a pub," you think to yourself as you step up to the entrance. You decide to see what it's all about, and possibly drown your sorrows in some alcohol. As soon as you walk through the door you're hit with warmth. The pub is well lit, having an almost stuffy feel to it, but is very pleasant. You walk up to the bar, shimmying out of your jacket, and almost have a heart attack. For a split second you think the bartender is on fire, but then you realize that he's made of fire. He doesn't notice you right away, still occupied with cleaning a shot glass. You can't break your eyes from him, and almost fall on your butt when you attempt to sit on the barstool and miss. That catches his attention, and he turns to look at you with an equally as surprised look. Well, you think he's surprised. The flames at the top of his head flicker rapidly for a second before going back to its gentle flickering.
You give him what you hope is a friendly smile, and let your eyes focus on his glasses. "This is a really nice place you have," you chirp, hoping to start a conversation. When he just nods, you feel a little disappointed and even slightly awkward. 'Well,' you think, 'So much for that.' You clear your throat before asking for the strongest drink he has. He slowly sets the shot glass down, and places both his hands on the bar. For a second you lean back in fear, thinking he's going to make a scene because you're a human.
He leans forward and gently says, "Minors aren't allowed to purchase alcohol." You stare at him blankly for a second before cracking up with laughter. For some reason you find what he says absolutely hysterical and end up tearing up from laughing so much. You're still chuckling as you pull your wallet out and hand him your ID.
"As flattering as that is, I'm far from being a minor," you explain as he inspects the ID. He hands it back to you with a nod, and turns to fiddle with some bottles. You watch as he makes your drink, and within a minute there's a masterpiece sitting in front of you. It's a lovely light orange color that fades into red at the bottom. When you take a sip you taste mango with a hint of what tastes to be vodka. While it's not the strongest drink you've ever had, it's still quite tasty. When you tell him as such, the monster nods at you before going back to cleaning his shot glasses. You raise your eyebrow at his behavior, but shrug and go back to enjoying your drink.
Sans
"Eli, no."
"ELI, YES! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND (Y/N), I HAVE TO DEFEND MY TITLE OF HOTDOG-EATING-CHAMP!" You sigh as your friend yells at you, knowing he doesn't see what a terrible idea that is. Two of your friends, Eli and Sarah, had been talking about eating contests. One thing led to another, and Sarah challenged Eli to a hotdog eating contest. Now the two of them were dragging you around in search of a hotdog stand so that you could be the judge. You were having to apologize to someone every few seconds since you kept bumping into people. You notice that the beach is surprisingly crowded. Well, maybe it shouldn't be so surprising. Since monsters surfaced the population had skyrocketed, so lots of places tended to be a little more crowded.
Speaking of monsters, your friends had managed to hunt down a hotdog stand. Running the stand was a skeletal monster who looked quite bored, borderline asleep, but perked up when your two friends ran up. Since you were a few paces behind them, it takes you about thirty more seconds to get to the stand. By the time you do, both of them are already eating a hotdog, and have two more each sitting in front of them. You roll your eyes and hop up to sit on a free stool. The monster turns from watching your friends to look at you.
"Those two are bound to eat enough for me," you grumble, "I'm just here to declare the wiener of the contest." Your friends are too preoccupied to groan at your play on words, but the monster bursts out laughing. You smile too, happy that he could appreciate a good joke. In that moment you decide that you like him. Anyone who can appreciate a bad joke is alright in your books.
His laughter subsides to a chuckle and he leans on the counter to be eye level with you. "Frankly, it sounds like you're in quite the pickle." His voice is deep, and sends a shiver down your spine. "And you might beet here for a while."
You giggle before asking: "What do beets have to do with hotdogs?" He shrugs, still smiling at you. "Well, it was an ice try I suppose. I'm (y/n), by the way." Being the odd person that you are, you extend your hand out as a greeting. When he shakes your hand, you notice that his hand feels like how you would expect, but also radiates warmth.
"Sans. Sans the skeleton," he replies.
At this moment your friends demand more hotdogs. While he's helping them, you get a better look at him. Even though it's summer, and you're on a beach, he's wearing a jacket that's unzipped to show a white t-shirt underneath. Seeing as he's a skeleton, you're assuming he doesn't feel the heat. Instead of dwelling on the thought, you observe how fluid and natural his movements are, even though he doesn't have muscles or tendons. 'Magic is some powerful stuff,' you conclude as you both watch your friends down their hotdogs. Within a minute, Eli taps out. Sarah throws her arms up and yells out in triumph before letting her head fall with a 'thump' onto the stand. You chuckle and get up to pat her back.
"Well," you say to the monster as Eli hands him money, "This was fun. Maybe I'll see you around?"
"I relish the opportunity to ketchup at a later date," he replies with a wink.
Papyrus
You're sitting on your couch, messing around on pinterest, when you hear a series of knocks at your door. They're rather loud and rapid, causing you to run to the door and yank it open. Instead of somebody who's hurt, which is what you were expecting, you come face to face with a skeleton. A rather comical looking skeleton.
He's wearing a crop-top that has "cool dude" on it, as well as some sort of shorts. And are those basketballs on his shoulders? You shake your head slowly in wonder, completely dumbfounded by the monster in front of you. When he speaks, it's so loud that you jump in surprise.
"HELLO, HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE COME TO GIVE YOU A "WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD" GIFT!" He booms, thrusting a tupperware towards you. You stare at him blankly for a second, before you catch on to what he's saying. With an 'ooooh' of understanding, you place your hand on the container and push it gently back to him.
"You have it all backwards, Papyrus. You're the one that's new to the neighborhood, so it should be me giving you something," you explain gently, watching as his smile falters. "In fact," you continue, just as he looks as if he's about to say something. "I have a plate of cookies I was going to bring over later this afternoon. You can come in while I go grab them, if you'd like." You leave the door open as you turn to walk to the kitchen, just in case he decides to follow you.
You knew you had some new neighbors moving in, which is why you made a batch of cookies, but you didn't know that they were going to be monsters. Not that it bothered you, of course. Now that you knew, you were even more excited about having a new neighbor! After you grab the plate of cookies and wrap it in plastic wrap, you walk back in to the living room. Papyrus had come in after all, and was now standing behind your couch looking at your computer.
"WOWIE," He exclaims suddenly, "IS THAT SOME TYPE OF PASTA?" Before you jumped up to run to the door, you were looking at different recipes. The picture that was currently on your screen was of Chicken Alfredo, a personal favorite of yours. When you tell Papyrus this, and offer to cook it for him some time, he beams at you. "HUMAN, YOU MUST TEACH ME HOW TO MAKE IT! IF I AM TO BE A MASTER CHEF I MUST LEARN TO COOK ALL SORTS OF FOOD." You giggle, tell him that you will, and hand him the plate of cookies. In turn, he hands you the tupperware. "PLEASE HAVE THIS, HUMAN. IT'S NO LONGER A "WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD" GIFT, BUT A "THANK YOU FOR BEING A GOOD FRIEND" GIFT." Once he says this, he bounds over to your open door, and leaves with a wave. When he's gone, you realize you never told him your name.
Mettaton
Being a makeup artist can be hard sometimes. Most people don't really think about home much work goes in to it. You have to be a people person, be able to stand on your feet for hours at a time, and be a fast thinker. Of course, the hardest part of your job was dealing with high maintenance clients. Which is what you're currently doing.
You're applying Brittany's eyeliner for the third time in the last twenty minutes. She wasn't happy with it no matter what style you did, and you were about to blow a fuse. She was the last girl of five whose makeup you had to apply for tonight's performance, and she was the rudest of them all. Why she was making it such a big deal, you weren't sure. So what it was the first time some monster named Mettaton would be performing with a group of humans? Brittany was just a backup dancer, so it wasn't like she needed to look flawless. Nonetheless, you forced a grin and tried to do what she asked.
After a few more minutes of you bitting your tongue while she complained, you were just about to tell her off when she suddenly went silent. She had the typical 'deer in the headlights' look, and was staring at something behind you. Before you could turn to see what she was looking at, a hand is placed on your shoulder.
"Darling, you're an artist!" A voice gushes, squeezing your shoulder. You turn your head to see… a robot? While it looks slightly feminine, the voice makes you think it's male. You smile through your confusion.
"Thank you, but I can't take the compliment. An artist is nothing without a good canvas," you reply, inwardly cringing at your own words. Good canvas your foot! The robots 'tisks' before looking at Britanny (who's still staring at him with wide eyes).
"Nonsense, darling. You turned this cow into a dove! I don't suppose you could do something about her attitude too, can you?" he asks, flashing you a mischievous grin. Your eyes grow as wide as Brittany's, and you can't stop the giggle that leaves your lips. He nods in approval before saying to Britanny; "I think you owe this lovely woman an apology."
You can't help but feel amused when Brittany nods frantically and stumbles over herself in attempt to form an apology. As soon as a coherent 'sorry' leaves her lips, she rushes off to join the other performers. You're about to turn and tell the robot 'thank you' when a ghost floats up to you. It's as tall as you are, and looks rather adorable with earphones on its head. When it speaks, you decide it is also male.
"Mettaton," he mumbles, "We're needed on stage. Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt."
You barely manage to keep your eyes from bulging out of your sockets. So the robot is this Mettaton you've heard so much about! He nods at the ghost before smiling at you one last time. "I hope to see you around again, darling!" he says as he trots off with the ghost.
Napstablook
Work was really slow for once, and you were bored out of your mind. Usually the music store was bursting with people, but for some reason today only four people came in. You are debating on closing up early when a chime alerts you to the entrance of a customer. You turn to the door, smile already forming on your lips, ready to greet the person. You taken aback when you meet eyes with a ghost.
"Oh.. I'm sorry, should I leave?" a voice asks, sounding a little melancholy. You conclude by the voice that the monster must be male.
You shake your head rapidly and respond; "No, of course not! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to seem unwelcoming. You're the first monster to come in to the shop, so I was a little surprised," you explain, feeling frantic. "Feel free to look around! And please, let me know if there's anything I can help you with." You smile at him, hoping to coax him further in to the store. It looks as if he nods before he floats further in, and down an isle. You pry your eyes from him and go back to looking through a catalog.
It's silent for a few more minutes, and you forget he's even there. You're so caught up with looking at different records you could buy that when he suddenly speaks again, you jump up and let out a squeak.
"I'm sorry.. I didn't mean to frighten you.." he mumbles, watching as you settled back into your skin. You laugh gently and wave your hand, dismissing the entire thing.
"Don't worry about it! Now, what can I help you with?" you ask while leaning on the counter.
"Well I, uh, wanted to ask about human music. I'm supposed to DJ for M-Mettaton's debut performance, but I'm not really sure what humans like.. So I wanted to find some music to listen to, but I'm not sure where to start…" he trials off. You nod as you walk around the counter, and gesture for him to follow you.
"I can show you some of my personal favorites as well as what's been popular recently," you reply. As you walk down several isles you grab different discs, telling him about the artists, until you're content with the collection you've gathered. You turn to smile at the ghost, and you're surprised to see that he's completely focused on you and what you're saying. A slight blush makes its way on to your cheeks. "We have a place you can sit and listen to these, if you want," you explain to the ghost. "It's right up at the front."
"I'd, um, like that. Thank you.." He replies. Once you get him set up at one of the tables, you go back to looking at your catalog. You can't keep the smile from your lips as you glance over at him occasionally.
Muffet
You were in desperate need for some cake. Or a donut. Or anything that was sugary and totally unhealthy for you. At this point, you wouldn't be too picky.
It had been a long day, and it was only getting worse with each passing second. To start it off you had slept in, and when you finally made it to work (half an hour late, mind you) you were instantly hassled by rude customers and annoyed coworkers. When break time finally rolled around, you couldn't get out of there fast enough. You were this close to pulling your hair out in frustration.
While you were walking away from work, seething silently to yourself, you glanced at each shop you passed. Since it was past noon there wasn't any donut shops you knew of that would still be open. And most of the local cafes were too pricy for you. Since monsters had broke out from under the mountain, the price for everything had skyrocketed. That was societies way of saying, "Go away, you dang monsters. We don't want you." All it did, though, was make life harder on lower income people such as yourself.
Just as you were about to lose hope of having a decent break, full of unhealthy but yummy sweets, you remembered that a friend of yours had mentioned a monster owned cafe that was recently opened not too far from where you worked. 'It should be a little further down the road,' you think to yourself and you pick up a faster pace. Your break was only so long, and you wanted to be sure you could get something before having to go back to that retched place. Plus, you were super excited about trying monster food. Not only was it supposed to be super cheap, but it also had some sort of magical healing powers that you hoped could get rid of the crick in your neck.
In a matter of minutes you're standing in front of a small shop. Above the door is a purple and white banner that reads: Muffet's Spider Cafe. You squint at that, wondering why in the world the owner would put the word 'spider' in their shop's name. It sort of spooked you, as well as many others (you were sure). With a shrug you push the door open, and receive a chime in response. The inside stuck to the purple and white theme of the banner, but also has some black mixed in. Not to mention it was highly influenced by all things spiders.
'Are those webs decorating the walls?' you think to yourself as you hesitantly walk in further and close the door. While you are not a full blown arachnophobe, spiders weren't exactly your favorite things in the world, either. You liked them so long as they stayed at least ten feet away from you. So imagine your surprise when your eyes land on a human sized spider behind the counter.
"Uhhh," you say stupidly, staring at.. her? Yes, you decide, she is definitely a her. She's quite adorable for a spider, and some of your fear dissipates. You clear your throat as you walk up to the counter, nervously shoving your hands in your jacket pockets. "I heard about your shop from a friend, and wanted to come and experience it for myself. I've been craving something sweet all day," you explain with a smile. She lets out an 'ahuhuhuhuh' before responding.
"Of course, deary~," her voice reminds you of sugar. "I have just what you need to sate that sweet tooth."
UF! Sans (Red)
To say you were in a bad mood was an understatement. You were absolutely livid, which is why you took a walk to cool down. The night air was crisp, and chilled you to your bone, but it did its job. It helped to cool you off, and in a matter of minutes your step was less of a stomp and had more spring to it. You started to hum as you starred up at the sky, mesmerized by the stars. No matter what, they stayed the same. They were the only constant thing in your life, and it was nice to just stare at them some times.
But walking around at night and staring up at the stars (rather than watching where you're going) is a terrible idea. One second you're smiling up at the constillation known as The Big Dipper, and the next you're sitting on the ground with your butt being rather sore.
"Watch it, you stupid lady!" A voice from above you growls out. You glare up at said voice and see someone who looks to be a couple of inches taller than you, and also seems rather broad. His face is covered by the hood of his jacket, which is zipped up to fight off the cold, and he's wearing a pair of black basketball shorts. You inwardly snicker at how contradictory he's dressed, but stop when you look further down and see bones. Where his calves should be there are two bones with a decent size gap between them. You get a pretty good view of them as they're walking away.
You stare at him dumbly as he walks away, grumbling to himself. "I'm sorry about that!" You call out to the retreating figure. He stops mid stride, and turns his head to look back at you. As he does so, his hood falls thus revealing his face. His skull is how you would picture a skeleton's to look, but you're shocked to see that his teeth are pointy. And is that a gold fang? His expression screams shock and confusion, so as you're standing and dusting yourself off you elaborate. "I didn't mean to run into you. The stars were just so breathtaking that I couldn't keep my eyes off them!" His head tilts back a little, so that he can look at the sky, but then he quickly turns back and shakes his head.
"Yeah, whatever," he mumbles as he walks away, which you only hear because the wind carries it to you. You stare at him quizzically, curious as to what made him so angry, but then decide to brush it off. Oh well, it's not really your business anyways. Not like you'll see him again, right?