You are awoken by a heavy, fluffy lump settling down on your chest.
"Fuck… Chewie… Get off uh me…" You grumble, pushing the gray cat off your chest and into the blanket beside you. Chewie doesn't get the hint and climbs right back on top of you. Her tail brushes your nose as she turns, making herself comfortable. You decide that this is not a winning battle and that it's probably best to get up.
Ahh. Saturday. And no plans! It was going to be a wonderfully lazy day.
You decide to take a bubble bath instead of your usual morning shower. You play some soothing music on your phone. You relax in the tub for about 20 minutes, covered in the warm fragrant bubbles. It's been a while since you last did this. It's nice.
You dry yourself off and put on some sweatpants and a T-shirt. As you enter the kitchen, you have the sudden urge to make chocolate chip waffles. The thought of warm waffles oozing with chocolate fills you with determination.
Looking out the window, you notice the absence of your dad's car in the driveway.
He never came home last night.
Figures.
You gather up all of the ingredients you need. Flour, sugar, eggs, milk, oil, baking soda, and of course: chocolate chips. While you're in the middle of mixing the waffle batter, your phone goes off, startling you.
It's Dr. Kaeden.
Fuck.
"Hello?" You answer.
"Hi, _. I had a question for you."
"Yeah?"
"Do you still babysit?" He asks. You have been babysitting since you were 14. It's always been a source of easy income for you. All you really have to do is sit around and make sure the kid doesn't get into any trouble. Occasionally you have to cook something or order pizza. You suppose that 22 is probably too old to be babysitting, but you're not about to pass up easy money.
"Yah, I sure do! I didn't think you had kids though?"
"Oh no no, it's not for me. All of the health and wellness staff from the school are meeting to discuss the issue of student health services during the summer months. Our new nurse, Toriel, has a child and needs a babysitter. I told her I would ask you if you were available and willing to sit for her tonight."
"Um, yah sure. What's the kid's name?"
"It's Frisk I believe. Also, I think they're mute. You know ASL, right?
"Um a little bit… I took a class once."
"That should be fine. The meeting is at 7:00. Toriel would need you to be at her house at 6:30. Is that alright? I'll text you the address"
"Yah that works, I guess."
You continue making your waffle batter after you hang up. You pull out the waffle iron and turn it on so that it can heat up. You add the final ingredient, the chocolate chips. Right as you're about to pour the batter into the waffle iron, your phone goes off again. So much for a lazy Saturday…
"Auggie :D"
You sigh and answer the phone.
"Hey August. What's up?"
"Hey _. Just wanted to chat. Whatcha up to right now?"
"I'm making waffles. I just got a phone call from Dr. Kaeden. I guess I'm babysitting some monster's kid tonight. Oh and it looks like my dad has disappeared again…." You sigh. You hate the fact that this is now considered normal.
"I want waffles! Can I come over?! Oh…. and I'm sorry about your dad…"
"Yah you can come over. Some company would be nice. It's kind of weird being all alone in this house. And Eh… It's okay. Not much I can do. He barely even talks to me anymore. God only knows what he's been up to."
"Alright. I'll be there in 15 minutes. My waffles better be ready, woman!" he jokes. You giggle at him and hang up the phone.
When August arrives, you're just about done making the waffles.
"Oh my god, they smell so good!" he enthuses. You prepare a couple of plates for the two of you and turn to find the syrup in the cupboard. You drown your waffles with syrup and August gives you a judgmental look.
"What's that look for?" You ask him, frowning a little.
"You want some waffles with your syrup?" He grins at you mischievously and snatches the syrup bottle from your hands. He then continues to pour an ungodly amount of syrup on his own waffles.
"Hypocrite." You snort at him. He just continues to grin at you.
"So are you looking forward to that monster party this weekend?" He smiles at you and bites a piece of waffle, chocolate oozing as he does so.
"It's not just monsters, I'm sure there's going to be other humans too, like your new girlfriend." You laugh at him. He blushes at your last word.
"She's not my girlfriend. We've only been seeing each other for a few weeks…"
"Yah, yah, I know. I hope that she sticks around though. I can tell that you're happy and she seems really sweet." You smirk at him, watching him try to talk over a mouthful of waffle.
"…Fanks…." is all he manages to get out. You snort at his response and he grumbles a little.
"Anyways, yah. I am really looking forward to the party. It'll be nice to meet some new people. I can't just be hanging out with you all the time." You wink at him.
"You're not going to be uncomfortable being one of the only humans at this party? Agatha said that there may be one other human there, but that's it. Everyone else, monsters." He looks at you, a little anxiously.
"Eh. I'm sure it'll be fine. Aren't you used to being surrounded by Monsters by now? I mean, Morrison is brimming with them. And Agatha seems to like these people. Don't you trust her?"
"Yah of course I do. And you're right about the monsters. It's just hard for me sometimes… I guess I just get anxious about new things. You know me…" He looks down. The expression on his face is a little embarrassed. Poor thing. His anxiety had always been pretty bad. More than once, you've had to drag a sobbing Auggie out of a room that was 'too crowded' or out of an elevator that 'made a funny noise.' There have been times that you've been forced to exit off the highway, before you had to, because of his panic attacks. You'd eventually learned it's best just to take the stairs and avoid the highway in the first place.
"Yah," you sigh, "I do. But trust me, everything is going to be fine."
"Promise?"
"I promise, Auggie."
August's smile quickly shifts to a playful glare. He grabs you from up from your chair and pulls you into a rough hug.