Movement at the front of the field drew the two monsters' attention, and Grillby brightened when he saw Gerson emerge from the line of tents to join a few other gathered monsters who were eagerly awaiting the promotions they were to receive. He stifled the reflex to wave childishly to him from where he stood. Grillby stuck out like a sore thumb. If Gerson hadn't noticed him by now, he was going blind. Gaster shifted on his feet beside the elemental, fidgeting impatiently as he waited for the ceremony to start. He had just enough time to open his mouth to say something to Grillby when a short trumpet blast shot through the air around them. A few monsters jumped, not expecting the sound. The general clamor of the crowd died down.

"Oooo, it's starting," Gaster hummed, and Grillby shushed him. He cast one last wary look up at they greying sky before focusing his attention on the monster stepping up to the podium. He was a large goat monster, some relative to the king. The current head of the camp, Commander Dreemurr. Grillby hadn't met the monster personally, but he'd seen his comings and goings on occasion. He had a friendly voice and a kind smile, Grillby remembered.

"Good morning my fellow monsters," the commander said, his voice carrying over the slowly silencing crowd, "We are gathered here on this fine morning to honor and celebrate the great acts of bravery and discipline that has set a number of our own apart from the rest. These monsters gathered with me today are to be honored by becoming a part of the commanding staff, to help lead and aid in the protection of our great people…"

And so it went. Dreemurr, Grillby had realized during several other of these affairs that he had seen, had a strong way with words. His speeches were inspiring, even though his voice remained calm and his demeanor poised. This speech held a particular pride for Grillby though, knowing his mentor and friend was the one receiving the praise and honor. The fire monster felt like his soul might burst for his friend, and he beamed happily from where he stood. Gaster, for what it was worth, managed to remain quiet and mostly still as the event progressed. He fidgeted a bit, occasionally shifting his weight from foot to foot and making silent motions with his hands.

"... and now without further adieu," Dreemurr said with a regal bow of his head, "I will bestow upon these fine monsters the honors and titles they have earned through their hard work and dedication. Step forward Javen."

One of the monsters who had been lined up patiently by the podium stepped forward and bowed. Dreemurr stepped forward to meet her, waving a hand over her head and shoulders and crowning her in a soft burst of fire magic.

"Rise, Javen, the Sword of Truth."

There was applause as Javen rose. The monster bowed to the onlooking crowd before stepping to the side.

"Step forward, Raphael."

The next monster in line stepped forward and bowed. The Commander crowned him in magic, naming him Raphael the Warbreaker. Then came Elwin the Valiant. Charon the Unyielding Shield. Saren the Rising Storm.

"Step forward, Gerson."

Grillby wished he had a proper mouth to grin with. He settled instead on brightening as much as he could, flaring to life brightly. He tried to ignore the handful of monsters that shuffled a step or two away from him when the air around him got hotter. He was a bit surprised when Gaster stayed in place - though he supposed if anyone would, it would be him.

"Rise Gerson, The Hammer of Justice."

There were a few whoops and cheers from the audience - some of the more rowdy of Gerson's old unit making a fuss from where they stood amalgamated with the rest of the crowd. Grillby didn't cheer, he was a bit too timid for that. But he clapped as enthusiastically as he could, sparking and crackling all the while. Gerson bowed politely to the crowd, and by the time he'd stepped aside he was grinning like a child. The crowd calmed down enough for Dreemurr to move on to the remaining monsters in the line, each new name being met with cheers and praise.

The Commander was on the second to last one when Grillby felt a prickle against his core. He flinched, shuddering off the feeling only for it to hit a second time. It stung slightly, like someone had poked him with a needle. Movement caught the corner of his eye and he glanced over at Gaster, who was holding a hand out experimentally - catching a raindrop on his finger bones. The skeleton frowned over at Grillby.

"Is rain a thing you can do?"

Grillby shook his head, flinching as another heavy drop landed on him.

"Should you leave?"

"I'll be fine," Grillby murmured, stoking himself a little hotter in the hopes of warding off some of the threatening drops, "It's just sprinkling. Just as long as this gets done with before a downpour starts-"

"Don't mean to put a damper on that," Gaster cut him off abruptly, "But if you have to fight through a crowd while it starts raining harder, that'll put you in a pretty sorry state."

Grillby gave a nervous flicker, his core churning around in his chest apprehensively. He glanced around at the crowd, and then forward at podium where the commander had finished with the naming as was going into a final speech about bravery in the face of adversity and some other such inspirational nonsense. It was starting to rain a little harder, a few monsters on the fringes of the parade grounds already ambling towards tents and shelters. Grillby shivered, a feeling of pins and needles jabbing at his head, neck and shoulders as more rain fell.

"If we leave now we might be able to get you back to your tent," Gaster offered, "It'll be a bit nicer than crashing in one of the traders' tents, or the mess hall. Or outside."

Grillby shifted on his feet uncomfortably. He wanted to stay and support Gerson. Though, he supposed he'd at least gotten to see the monster named and most of the ceremony take place. The rest now was just formality. And Gerson would never ask him to stay when his life could be in danger. He was probably wondering why Grillby was still there at all. The elemental huffed out a defeated sigh.

He still felt guilty though.

"I should leave," he finally conceded, his sentence ending in a fretful hiss when a drop of water landed just above his eye. He turned to make his way through the crowd, monsters attempting to part for him but inevitably running into too many people standing beside them to move far enough for Grillby to make his way comfortably. It was a strain trying to go through without touching anyone, and he earned himself a handful of nasty or shocked looks when he managed to brush into someone. Gaster followed like a shadow, watching Grillby move with a mix of mild concern and curiosity, absolutely rookish in how he towered over the elemental as he walked.

By the time they'd wormed their way back into open space again, the rain had started to pick up even more. Grillby dashed off as soon as he had the room to, hissing and wincing every other breath. The rain stung, prickling against his flame and making his core shudder. It helped that it wasn't raining quite hard enough to soak through his clothes, he had some small protection at least. But the parts of him that were exposed were beginning to ache from the stings, his fire starting to cool despite his attempts to stir it warmer. A tense whine shuddered it's way through his chest. This was absolutely miserable.

It was starting to rain harder.

For a few soul-splitting seconds, Grillby wondered if he would make it back to his tent before the skies let loose and a real downpour started. What an inglorious way to leave this world - snuffed out because of his own stupidity and stubbornness. He should've retreated inside as soon as the sky had clouded over. Grillby skid to a tremulous halt, looking around wildly for someplace to escape the weather. After a pause he realized he was missing someone. Grillby spun around in a circle, eyes flicking to and fro around the path he'd run down.

Gaster was nowhere to be seen.

Brilliant.

Grillby sighed bitterly to himself, turned and resumed his dash back towards his tent. The skeleton could find his own way back. It wasn't like Grillby could stick around to wait for him anyway. And for someone so clueless, Gaster sure had a way of popping up where you least expected him to be. If the skeleton could figure out where Grillby was, he could figure out where his own tent was.

Grillby was halfway across the camp when the downpour he'd been dreading finally decided to rear it's ugly head. The elemental watched it come, first as a grey haze that seemed to engulf the world in front of him. Then as a gust of wind that propelled some of the first droplets towards him. He wasn't even given a chance to react. There was a ping on his soul, and for a split second every part of his flame and his soul shone blue. Whatever magic that had clenched itself around him weighted him down for a moment before suddenly whisking him off of his feet. He hit the ground in a bitter skid, slipping into a nearby tent just before the downpour slammed into his new shelter.

Grillby lay there on his back, stunned, watching as the top of the tent shook as the rain hounded into it. What in the world.

Movement caught the elemental's peripheral, and he glanced over to see Gaster standing beside him. A grin split his face and he gave a quiet wave. Grillby sat up slowly, blinking up at Gaster.

"Was that you?" He asked incredulously.

The skeleton shrugged, "I mean, it wasn't not me if that's what you're thinking."

Grillby looked outside at the rain, gaze resting pointedly at where the line of water ended just before his feet, then back up at Gaster Back outside again. Back to Gaster.

"How?"

Gaster chuckled, "What do you mean, how?"

"You were gone!" Grillby exclaimed, finally pulling himself to his feet, "I checked, you'd disappeared! I'd lost you in the crowd back there! And now you're here. Before I got here."

Gaster didn't say anything. He just grinned mischievously, arms crossed over his chest in some mix of proud and smug.

"And then there was the…? Was that blue magic?" Grillby sputtered, "You said you only knew bone attacks."

"I also said I picked up a few things," Gaster pointed out, his voice content and the motions of his hands confident, "Parlor tricks. Remember?"

Grillby would have been gaping if he had a proper mouth to do it with. In place of that, his fire doused itself into pale whites and blues, sparks occasionally fizzling to life around him. He watched the skeleton for several long seconds.

"Monsters don't just… pick up blue attacks," Grillby paused a moment, and then added, "Or any strong attacks like that. That's boss monster material."

Gaster gave a helpless shrug, "I mean, all I did was pull your soul over here. It's not really that big of a deal."

"What other 'parlor tricks' do you know?"

Gaster laughed, "Oh come on Grillby. Don't ruin the surprise. Life get's boring that way."

He shifted on his feet uncomfortably for a second before saying, "Besides, it's… really not that big of a deal. Magic just comes easier to some of us."

Grillby looked unconvinced. He felt unconvinced.

"Anyway," Gaster smiled nervously down at Grillby, "I'm glad I found you quick enough. That could've gotten nasty huh? With the rain? I'm curious though. Why don't you wear something a little more… protective?"

Grillby tilted his head to the side questioningly.

"You know, a cloak, something with a hood. Something that's been water proofed maybe?"

Now it was Grillby's turn to shrug. He held his hands out helplessly.

"I guess… monsters are just worried I'll catch it on fire," Grillby mused, "I mean, waterproofing is done with oil or grease, which catches fire pretty easily. And water proofing magic wears off within a few uses. Not to mention the craftsmen who weave it aren't exactly cheap."

"Well a hood surely wouldn't do any harm," Gaster's voice pitched a little in worry, "Unless you're like a candle and you'll just snuff yourself out if we put a cap on your head."

Grillby shrugged, "Monsters just get scared. It's irrational, but fire scares people. It's not that big of a deal. I mean it only really rains like this in the autumn anyway. I don't -"

Gaster suddenly whisked forward, clapping a hand on either side of Grillby's fiery face. The elemental stiffened in an instant, biting off the end of his sentence with a terrified shriek. The skeleton peered down at him with fervently searching eyes, his teeth clenched in a questioning frown and the bony ridge above his unbroken eye lowered.

"... What. Are. You. Doing," Grillby demanded in a tense whisper, almost too afraid to breathe. With every fervent flutter of his core he begged his fire to cool as much as possible, his whole body pitching into molten, rapidly dimming and horror-stricken reds. Gaster ignored him, one hand resting on the side of the terrified elemental's face while his other slipped up to wave through the free-flowing flame that wisped from the top of his head.

"Huh," the skeleton finally tutted, stepping back after the longest and most intense seconds of Grillby's life. As soon as he did the elemental let out the pent up breath he'd been holding, his fire blooming back to a flustered strength and ferocious heat in seconds. For a few core-splitting moments Grillby thought he might pass out from relief.

"I don't get it," Gaster said with a confused frown, "You're not even hot. And I don't have a single hit point out of place."

"Are you insane?!" Grillby shouted, and Gaster jumped in surprise, flinching back a step.

"You don't do that," the elemental continued, his voice coming out much more ragged and emotional than he was expecting, but unable to help it, "Especially to me. You don't do that to me! It is hard enough making sure I don't accidentally burn things just by existing close enough to them, without monsters like you!"

Grillby jabbed a harsh finger at Gaster's chest, eliciting another start from the shocked skeleton, "Going out of their way to… to scare me at every turn, intrude on my personal space, prying at me like I'm… like…"

He let out a bitter growl, too angry to even explain himself.

"Especially you. Especially a monster like you who has the natural stats of a magpie! You've got what, two hp?!"

Gaster blinked at him, a nervous grin slowly meandering across his face.

"That's an exaggeration. I have at least seven."

Grillby let out an exasperated shout that tapered itself into a groan as he collapsed backwards, sitting on the ground with a terse sigh. He massaged where his temples would be with nervous hands, flickering violently. He heard more than saw Gaster shuffling awkwardly, trying to think of some way to amend the situation. The skeleton finally sank to the ground as well, for once making sure he was a comfortable distance away from the flustered elemental. He sat quietly for a bit, waiting for the feverish flickering from Grillby's flame to calm to something much closer to it's normal, smooth orange burn. For a short while at least, the only sound that kept Grillby company was the rain. He could almost pretend like Gaster wasn't even there.

"The '7 hp' thing was a joke."

Grillby looked up slowly, scowling at the nervous smile on the skeleton's face.

"I actually have much more than that. Skeletons just get the 'fragile' rep because our attack and defense doesn't tend to get very high. It's stupid to me how monsters tend to overreact about that."

Grillby didn't respond. He just continued to lock Gaster in a seething glare. Gaster sighed, dropping what was left of his smile to frown thoughtfully forward.

"Grillby, I've got a question for you."

"Oh joy."

Gaster's frown tugged a little lower. He paused for a second, his hands stalling as he considered whether he still wanted to ask. With a shrug, he continued anyway.

"When was the last time you burned someone?"

Grillby's flame gave an uncomfortable flicker.

"Recently."

Gaster paused reassessing the question in his head. He waved a hand, dismissing the answer as if it didn't matter.

He asked again, "When's the last time you burned someone accidentally?"

Grillby considered the skeleton for a moment, his glare softening a bit.

"Never, that I recall."

"Okay," Gaster continued, "When's the last time you burned something by accident."

Grillby's fire burned hot in a scowl, "What's it matter?"

"It matters," Gaster sighed, standing up, "You're scared of your own skin. Fire. Body. Being. Whatever you call it."

The elemental said nothing, choosing instead to look down at his feet as if they were the most interesting things in the world. Gaster waited, expecting some kind of response and getting nothing. They shared the same space in awkward silence, once again letting the rain speak through the silence for them. Grillby could feel the skeleton's eyes on him the entire time, soaking him in as if they were a spunge. Whether he was analyzing him for an answer or just staring to purposefully make Grillby uncomfortable, the elemental didn't know.

"What are you thinking?" Gaster asked.

Grillby glared up at him, scowling.

"Right now."

"I think you should leave me be," Grillby said finally, unable to contain the bitterness in his voice, "I'm exhausted and I'm not up to dealing with… whatever it is you intend to do next."

To his mild surprise, Gaster didn't respond. He just regarded the elemental coldly for a moment. Then without any further argument, he walked outside. Into the rain. That was still pouring in sheets. Grillby watched the doorway, waiting for some sign that the skeleton was going to come back and bug him again. His bitterness quickly congealing into something much more along the lines of worry when he didn't return. It was ferocious weather, even for a monster that wasn't an elemental. The kind that soaked you to the bone and made your soul sick.

With nothing better to do, Grillby got to his feet and paced, examining the strange tent he'd found himself in as he did so. It doubtlessly belonged to someone. There were belongings stacked cautiously on the ground, away from the edge of the tent so the rain couldn't soak them. Whoever it belonged to must have gotten caught out somewhere and had run for the nearest shelter they could find instead of backtracking all the way back here. Grillby felt strange and foreign, careful not to disturb anything as he paced. What a mess he'd gotten himself into.

He hoped the rain stopped soon.

Begrudgingly, he admitted to himself that maybe he shouldn't have snapped so harshly at Gaster. He definitely deserved to be yelled at for invading his personal space like that. And he desperately hoped the skeleton never did it again. But… Gaster had probably just saved his life. Or at least saved him a lot of pain. Even if he was trapped in some stranger's tent, stranded in the middle of a downpour. And maybe he'd been a little high strung about the close call, and got a little too angry when his comfort zone was ripped away.

Maybe Gaster was right and Grillby was worrying too much.

Grillby paused in his pacing. A sound struck up outside of the tent, quite obviously the sound of someone splashing through the torrential rain as it fell in buckets from the sky. Grillby frowned nervously, a thousand excuses coming to mind for whoever the owner was he'd have to apologize to. He relaxed, however, when it was actually Gaster. The skeleton slid inside, every inch of him soaked and dripping, forming a nice puddle around his feet in seconds. He scowled down at himself, his teeth clenching in a disgusted expression.

"Ah man," he groaned, "This isn't going to dry anytime soon."

"Why are you back here?" Grillby asked a little bit harsher than he intended to. Gaster frowned at him, making a show of rolling his eyes - as hard to catch of a gesture as it was, given his broken eye and lack of eyebrows.

"Because I'm considerate," came the curt reply as Gaster reached into his inventory. He produced a sheet of canvas that looked similar to what the tents were made of. It could have been torn right from one, in fact. He unfolded it carefully; making sure the water-proofed outside was where it was supposed to be. He abruptly threw it over Grillby like a blanket, earning a startled 'oof!' from the surprised elemental. Grillby pulled it off of his head, staring down at it confusedly. He ran his fingers gently across the fabric.

"What is this for?" He asked, blinking up at Gaster.

"You have somewhere to be this evening right?" Gaster asked, raising the bony ridge of his unbroken eye, "Your friend mentioned something when he dropped you off."

"Oh… well… yes," Grillby murmured more to himself than Gaster, "But…"

"You afraid you'll burn it?"

"Well… no," Grillby sighed.

"Would you rather go back to your tent…?"

"... no," Grillby said slowly, "It's just… it's raining a lot."

Gaster flashed Grillby a humorless smile. He grabbed the canvas off of Grillby, using his summoned hands instead of his own, firmly remaining several steps back away from the elemental. The hands pulled it taught and followed him as he stepped outside again. Grillby watched him go, confusion rippling his core. There was a ruffling from outside as he did something with his magic, followed by an expectant pause. Gaster peeked his head back in the tent again.

"Well are you coming?" He asked, a smirk jerking at the corners of his teeth. He disappeared outside again. Grillby stepped cautiously after him, hesitating just inside the opening of the tent. Gaster was standing in the rain, water rolling off of him in droves, though he really didn't seem to mind it. Instead he just smiled, pointing at a spot just above Grillby's head. Grillby leaned out of the tent and looked, surprised to find the canvas still being held by those ghostly summoned hands. He'd stretched it tight above the elemental, shielding him from the rain. Grillby cautiously stepped underneath it, watching in pensive wonder as it followed him, floating just a few inches above his head.

"Now," Gaster cleared his throat, "Where are we going exactly?"

Grillby blinked at him.

"Preferably before I drown."

"Uhm…" Grillby looked around and finally picked a direction. He muttered a timid, "This way," to Gaster and walked. They went slowly, Gaster directing the floating hands and canvas with enough precision that barely a handful of drops managed to hit Grillby as they walked. And Grillby, trying to be at least a little helpful, threw his fire into a white-hot glare, trying to keep the skeleton at least a little warm. If it helped at all, Gaster didn't mention anything.

Grillby sighed and waved his hands at the skeleton. Gaster blinked at him, barely able to hold back a grin as Grillby signed to him.

"You moved your right hand wrong," Gaster remarked dryly, "Apology wasn't necessary anyway."

Author's Notes

Still trying to figure out how to write these two whoops. Anyway! I've had this scene in mind for a while, and I'm glad to get it out of my system. I have a lot of scenes I really want to write for this, actually. Next one isn't for a bit though.

Anywho! Still fumbling around in the dark here a bit so if you guys have any suggestions or if something seems out of character, don't hesitate to tell meeeeeeee.