This was it. This was the day Papyrus' life would be changed forever for all the better. He, his brother Sans, and every other monster who were trapped Underground were freed all thanks to a tiny human named Frisk.
It's been about three weeks since the liberation of monster kind, and the humans were fairly surprised to say the least that the monsters had managed to blend in so well to their society, especially after being trapped under the surface for as long as anyone could remember. Of course the monsters had a lot of catching up to do with modern time as most of the technology, content, and other things they had at their disposal were decades old. Thankfully, the monsters knew how to adapt, and they had no trouble catching up with humanity.
After a few days of monsters coexisting with humans, Frisk had visited Buttercup Village's mayor, and their adopted mother Toriel went with them. Since Frisk was the ambassador of monster kind, it was their job to help monsters slip snugly into human society, so they held a meeting with the major. Once it was concluded, the human child was more than excited to announce that monsters were granted freedom to open their own businesses if they so chose provided they had enough Gold to pay for rent and other necessities. Turns out their Gold was very special and elusive, so they had a lot of worth to humans; each piece of Gold added up to about $50, and the monsters had a lot of Gold to spare.
A few monsters here and there opened their own businesses as others decided to take jobs in human-built businesses. Toriel, for instance, finally managed to open her very own school as Grillby and Muffet opened their own restaurant and bakery, respectively.
Now here comes the super cool part: each monster business was hiring both monsters and humans to work for them - and of course more monsters than humans took up these opportunities - and Papyrus decided to sign up for a position as chef for Grillby's new restaurant. Since he couldn't be a member of the Royal Guard anymore, he'd might as well make a living out of his back-up dream. And guess what? He was hired!
Today was Papyrus' first day of training, and needless to say he was practically bouncing off the walls in excitement for his first day. He just couldn't wait to show everyone how well he can make spaghetti, and he was also eager to learn recipes of many other dishes - even if they didn't have anything to do with pasta.
The skeletal monster was currently slipping on his work uniform Grillby gave him a few days ago, and he had to say he was pleased with it. The black and red really brought out the whiteness of his bones. Placing on his chef hat and grinning confidently in the mirror installed in his bedroom, checking to make sure everything was in order, he trotted out of his bedroom and down the stairs to the living room.
"Heya, bro," Sans' voice greeted from behind him. Papyrus turned around to see Sans leaning against the kitchen door frame, grinning lazily as he sipped at a ketchup bottle. "Man, you're lookin' good."
"Thank you, brother!" Papyrus grinned brightly. "Today is the first day of my new job, so it's important that I look my best!"
"Yeah, you sure do look Sans-ational," the older brother joked with a wink.
It was all Papyrus could to do choke down an annoyed screech. Sure, he could deal with a few puns now and then no matter how bad they may be, but dear God, was he getting sick and tired of that same pun. Sans was overusing it - scratch that, it's been overused ever since the sixth time he said it! What was worse was he was now dating Toriel, so whenever she came over to spend time with Sans he wouldn't be able to catch a break from the awful puns and jokes.
"Anyway," Papyrus grunted with a metaphorical roll of the eyes, "I must leave in a few minutes for training. Please don't lounge about doing nothing today and do something productive, and whatever you do-"
"Don't forget to feed Rocky," Sans finished with a lazy chuckle, looking over briefly to his pet rock laying on a table on the other side of the room. "Don't worry, bro, I'll feed him, promise. And I'm not going to stay cooped up in here, either. I actually gotta meet up with Toriel at Muffet's shop in a couple hours, so that'll keep me busy."
"Well, make sure you meet the appointment," Papyrus huffed.
"Alright, alright, I will, just go to your trainin' thing," Sans dismissed with a lazy grin and a wave of a hand.
Papyrus huffed, but he complied. Bidding farewell to his brother, the younger brother left the house and made his short jog down the street to the newly opened restaurant.
Soon enough, the restaurant came into view. It was a rather large restaurant, about four times as big as Grillby's first restaurant from the Underground - at least from the outside. The exterior had nice shades of browns, oranges, and reds that contrasted to the white and gray houses and the lush green trees. There was something new about it, though; the bold shining letters on the front of the establishment didn't read Grillby's, but John's Grill. Papyrus furrowed his brows in confusion, but he quickly shrugged it off and trotted in.
Inside looked so much different from Grillby's Snowdin restaurant. There were many new red and brown tables, chairs, and booths that looked to be a bit too fancy for Grillby's taste. There was a rather large bar on the left side with a large flat-screen TV over it, which was currently turned off. The decorations on the walls were very fancy and attractive as well, yet there was no jukebox anywhere to be seen.
"Hello?" Papyrus called out as he walked around. "It is I, the Great Papyrus! I have applied for a job and was thus hired, and I am here to begin my training as chef!"
"Hello there, Papyrus," a familiar voice greeted in a low wispy tone.
"Grillby!" The skeletal monster jogged over to the fire elemental, who was standing outside the kitchen. "It is wonderful to see you again! I am ready to begin my training!"
"Yes..." Grillby muttered, looking very troubled. Before Papyrus could question what was wrong, he spoke up. "Well, we are currently waiting on the manager to arrive, so for now the staff are all assembled in the kitchen."
"Manager?" Papyrus echoed. "But you're the manager! You're the one who opened this restaurant!"
"I'll explain later. For now, come meet your teammates."
Millions of questions flashed through the skeletal monster's head all at once, almost dizzying him. Why wasn't Grillby the manager? Why is the restaurant called John's Grill? Who even is John? Papyrus shook his head a bit to push these questions to the back of his mind as he followed the fire elemental into the kitchen.
In the kitchen were about ten employees dressed in the same attire Grillby and Papyrus were. Only, to Papyrus' surprise, all of them were human. Of course, there was nothing wrong with that, Papyrus liked both monsters and humans. It's just that he remembered Grillby telling him there were going to be more monsters than humans applying for jobs here. What on earth is going on here?
"You're the fourth chef, right?" a woman asked Papyrus. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Denise. You're, uh... Papyrus, right?"
"Oh, yes, that is I!" Papyrus grinned. "It's a pleasure making your acquaintance, Denise!"
"Too bad you're two minutes late," a man sneered. "John's not gonna be happy about that."
"I apologize, I was talking to my brother before coming here-"
"Well, good luck explaining that to John and getting away with it. He's so incredibly strict and won't tolerate mistakes on the job. Jeez, your first day of training and you already screwed up."
"Leave him alone, Chris," Denise hissed. "He didn't know. This is his first time working for John."
"I keep hearing of this John character, but I don't know who he is," Papyrus confessed. "Who is he?"
"He would be me."
Papyrus followed everyone else's gazes to a man standing behind them. He was not wearing the usual chef or waiter attire, but rather a black suit with a black-and-gray striped tie and a white undershirt.
"Oh, hello!" Papyrus grinned, waving to the man. "My name is-"
"Papyrus the skeleton, I know who you are," John finished. "I read your résumé. You seem to have an... interesting talent in preparing spaghetti."
"Oh, yes, I do!" Papyrus shouted excitedly. "The former captain of the Royal Guard taught me how! She's a wonderful teacher, and a wonderful friend, too!"
"Fascinating," John grunted dismissively. "Now are you going to let me do my job or are you just gonna keep talking until the cows come home?"
Papyrus didn't seem to pick up on the manager's rather rude tone, but he nodded anyway and stayed silent.
John proceeded to introduce himself as manager of the restaurant. Papyrus tried to ask why Grillby wasn't the manager, but he was only shushed by the fellow staff members. The manager explained a list of rules each employee needed to follow, including washing hands after leaving the work area for any reason, always work with a smile, and things of the like. He went on to explain the roles of each staff member; there were eight waiters and four chefs. Each waiter had to always be polite and tolerable to each and every customer as the chefs had to work together to cook the food. He assigned Chris to be head chef as Papyrus, Grillby, and Denise were the regulars. Why Grillby shouldn't at least be head chef Papyrus didn't understand either, and he found that he was beginning to be unfairly treated. After all, this was his restaurant.
"Your team captains have worked for me before, so they will be the ones to train you in your fields," John finished. "Waiters, go with Terrance. Chefs, go with Chris." Before he dismissed everyone, he turned to Papyrus and Grillby. "Can I talk to you two privately for a few minutes?"
"Of course!" Papyrus grinned eagerly, trotting after the manager as the fire elemental followed at a much slower pace.
Once they were all secluded, John huffed a bit and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Okay, you two. You're new to our world, so I'll let you two off with a warning: don't get on my nerves."
"Excuse me?" Grillby questioned.
"If it were up to me, this would be a human-only restaurant. Unfortunately, it isn't up to me, so I was forced to have to accept at least two monsters to work here by the mayor. That doesn't mean I can't fire you if either of you slip up, so watch your step. I've held a reputation for multiple years of managing only the best restaurants this country's ever visited, and I'll be damned if my streak is ruined by a walking torch and the living dead. You two freaks better do what Chris tells you to, or else I'll want to hear about it."
Papyrus didn't understand. Surely every human should be acceptant of monsters living among them by now. However, it seems they're still being put on a lower step than humans by some. But he refused to let this put a damper on his mood. If some humans didn't like monsters, he's just going to have to work hard to prove that monsters are just as qualified to live on the surface and share the same privileges and rights as humans. He was determined to prove his worth!
"You needn't worry about a thing, John!" Papyrus declared, saluting him with a self-assured grin. "The Great Papyrus will not fail you!"
John narrowed his eyes at the skeletal monster and ignored his comment. "Grillby, you are dismissed. Papyrus, stay for a little longer."
Once Grillby bid a soft, polite farewell and left for the kitchen, John glared at Papyrus. "You're walking on very thin ice with me here, Skeletor. Tone down the voice and stop with the outbursts."
"Firstly, my name is Papyrus; I'm not sure who Skeletor is, but I assure you that is not me," Papyrus replied in confusion. "Also, I'm afraid I cannot help my tone. I was born with a loud, confident voice to fit my personality."
"I don't give a damn!" John snapped, actually getting the skeletal monster to flinch with his harsh tone. "Fix your issues or kiss your job goodbye! Now go to your group!"
"Y-Yes, sir," Papyrus stammered, taken aback by the manager's hostility. He frowned a bit as John walked away without another word, and for the first time in years he began to feel a bit discouraged. This abnormal feeling for the monster quickly evaporated and was replaced with determination to prove himself a worthy employee. Grinning brightly, he made his way back to the kitchen.
At the end of the day as Papyrus made his way back home, he was certain he was going to cry.
A/N: I hope this chapter came out alright. I honestly know next to nothing about how to manage restaurants, so I don't know if they're allowed to be this openly rude or racist to employees. This is a fictional story in a town different from actual typical civilization, so I suppose it could be normal on their standards.