From my list of Undertale Tickle Prompts on my DeviantArt page. Undertale belongs to Toby Fox. I own nothing.
A Friendly Fire
(Grillby and Frisk; platonic pairing)
Frisk opened the door of Grillby's restaurant and ran up to him, giving him a big hug that he gladly returned. "Hello, Frisk," he said. "You're here a bit early today."
She giggled. "Well, Dunkle Sans always meets me here, so this time, I beat him here," she said, making the fire monster chuckle.
"Surely you can't be the same little girl that I had to calm down all that time ago?" He said with a smile.
Sometime back in Snowdin, long before the Barrier was broken…
The little girl walked through Snowdin, keeping her eyes open for any monsters that were looking to FIGHT with her. She had been lucky that the other FIGHTs she had been in had ended with them agreeing to spare her and she spared them. She remembered Sans telling her that if she offered friendship, chances were the other monsters would reach for that friendship gladly instead of fighting.
Feeling hungry, she saw a restaurant up ahead named 'Grillby's' and she decided to see what they had for food. That way, she would save the food she had stored in her inventory for in case she needed it if a battle took longer than she'd hope.
A warm atmosphere greeted her and she stopped a moment to enjoy the warmth and glanced around. The restaurant was empty for some reason, but this made her hope that maybe she could avoid monsters looking for a fight while she ate. As she walked up to the bar counter, she saw a menu but didn't see a waiter and so decided to take a look at the menu and wait patiently for the waiter. She browsed the menu and saw one of the items was a grilled cheese sandwich with cheesy fries on the side and her stomach growled again as she nodded, deciding that's what she wanted.
"What would you like, little one?"
At the voice, Frisk jumped a little, but when she saw the fire monster standing behind the bar looking at her, she quickly scrambled off the stool and went to run, but being taller, he moved faster and she dodged to the side, quickly seeking shelter under one of the tables, curling up to stay hidden, but he found her. "What's wrong, little one?" He asked her curiously before he saw her curl up more.
"Please, leave me alone," she whispered fearfully. "I'll-I'll go. I-I don't want to fight."
Grillby's eyes widened as he realized something. "You're a human child," he said in surprise. He hadn't seen a human child since the little girl the king and queen had adopted had died, so this was a surprise to him.
Frisk whimpered a little and he blinked before moving closer and managing to get a gentle hold on her, making her give a frightened cry, but that didn't deter him from his plan to comfort her. "Shh, shh, shh, shh," he shushed her gently, sitting down and holding her in his arms while her head rested on his shoulder and she sniffled, shivering a little, but after a bit, Grillby's natural body heat made her calm down and he was rubbing her back with one hand, occasionally stroking her head too, making her think of Sans, who often did that for her when she was upset and scared. She sniffled before turning her head to look up at the fire monster.
Grillby, seeing she had mostly calmed down, gently rubbed the back of his fingers over her face, wiping away her tears, which evaporated at his touch. Frisk now clung to him, at first surprised that he was showing her kindness first instead of initiating a FIGHT sequence. Then again, Toriel had saved her from Flowey and Sans had befriended her too. Although Toriel had made her fight her because she wanted to keep Frisk safe, she had first shown kindness, which made the child see that while some monsters looked frightening, how they act might be different than what you expect.
"There," Grillby said, his voice soothing. "How are you feeling, little one?"
The ten-year-old took a moment before she answered. "I'm feeling okay," she said softly before her stomach growled.
The fire monster chuckled. "Ah, there's still that to take care of, hmm?" He asked before smiling. "In fact, I wonder…,"
Frisk began instantly giggling as he tickled her stomach with his hands. "Ah, so human children are still very ticklish on their tummies, hmm?" He asked teasingly, listening to her laughter.
"That tickles!" She exclaimed through her giggles.
"So I see," Grillby said with a warm chuckle as he then began gently poking her sides, ribs, and underarms. "What about this? And this? Maybe this?" He asked with each gentle poke before he held her in a hug and his hands reached for her knees, gently squeezing them, which made more giggles erupt out of her. "My, my. What a cute, ticklish, little girl."
As his fingers moved back to tickle Frisk's stomach, it gave a much louder growl that made the fire monster chuckle again in amusement before standing up and carrying her back over to her earlier seat. "Now, what did you decide on, little one?"
"May I have the grilled cheese sandwich with the cheesy fries?" She asked.
"Coming right up," he said, gently pinching the right side of her face, making her smile.
Present, Aboveground…
Frisk giggled. "Do you still have that on the menu?" She asked.
"I certainly do," he said. "It's quite a hit with the children."
She giggled again as he playfully tickled her stomach before she hugged him. "You're one of the best, Uncle Grillby," she said.
He smiled at that before looking up just in time to see Sans teleport to his usual spot and the skeleton stopped in shock at seeing Frisk already there. "What?" He asked in confusion. "How did you beat me here, kiddo?"
Frisk grinned. "Not telling," she said before giggling as Grillby tickled her stomach again before moving over to Sans, who grinned.
"Oh, I already know, kid," he said. "Papyrus happened to mention that he passed by here with you before I teleported here."
The brown-haired girl giggled happily. "What were you and Grillby talking about anyway, hmm?" He asked.
"He was remembering the first time I met him," the child answered him. "When I was scared he would start a FIGHT sequence with me, but he didn't."
"Ah, that day," Sans said with a smile. "He told me about that. It was the same day I learned you were ticklish."
Frisk giggled again as Sans caught her in a hug and tickled her stomach for a moment before Grillby came out with their orders and gently ruffling Frisk's hair. "Enjoy, you two," he said and went to take care of other customers.
Sans let the little girl up and she hugged him. "If it hadn't been for Grillby, I would have never known that fire could be friendly," she admitted.
"Yeah, he's a friendly fire monster," the skeleton agreed.
"Person," Frisk said. "He's a friendly fire person."
Sans smiled at that, ruffling her hair gently. "You've got that right, kiddo."
Just an idea about how Frisk might have first met Grillby in the Underground before she learned that Sans ate at the fire monster's restaurant. :)
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GoldGuardian2418