Grillby woke up on the floor. Frisk was nestled in the crook of his arm and Sans was curled around his hip. He stared around the messy room, spilled food scattered around the floor.

His tidy brain ticked at the mess. He considered getting up when Frisk shifted, grumbled and sat up.

Grillby smiled and ruffled their hair. They mumbled some more and stood up. Grillby sat up while Frisk moved sluggishly to the bathroom.

The elemental rested his hand lovingly on Sans' skull, recalling the events of last night. Frisk had woken up when they returned. They had watched another movie, ate some food and talked for the remainder of the night.

Sans didn't react to Grillby's hand and slept on peacefully. Grillby stood up and began to clean.

Frisk came out of the bathroom looking much more lively, and changed out of their pyjamas. They noticed Grillby cleaning and helped.

Sans woke up while his friends were bustling around him. The skeleton silently went and sat on the couch, 'helping' by sweeping the crumbs onto the floor.

Grillby stuffed the rest of the garbage into his trash can, standing up and running his hand through his flames. He made his way to the couch and collapsed next to Frisk, who had sat down earlier.

"Well, that was fun." Sans leaned forward and ruffled Frisk's hair. "Right, Kiddo?"

Frisk giggled and nodded, leaning into Sans, who had sometime in the night retrieved his hoodie.

Grillby sunk down into the visions of his worn couch, grumbling. He smiled tiredly at his friends, and they smiled back.

"Wanna go for a walk? We can dig through the dump." He stood up to retrieve his coat.

Frisk bounded up and down to the door, "yea! The duuuuump!" They sang as they opened the door and twirled into the empty diner.

Sans moved next to Grillby, anxiety written on his face beside the grin failing to hide it.

"Ya sure? Waterfall isn't your favourite place."

Grillby grinned. "I'll be fine Sans, just make sure Frisk doesn't knock me down."

As he said this a faint 'thump' resounded from the diner, followed by Frisk making a small squeak of surprise.

Sans went to the door to look out, only to see Frisk struggling to push a chair up from where it fell.

The skeleton chuckled and went to help them, as Grillby put on his coat and grabbed an Umbrella. He pulled on his rubber boots and they left.

Frisk already had rubber boots from when they fell, and Sans insisted he was fine with his slippers.

They made their way to waterfall, successfully avoiding Papyrus, who would attempt to capture Frisk.

Grillby could tell Sans was also keeping them apart for another reason, no matter how many times either he or the skeleton has tried to convince him it wouldn't happen.

As they went alongside the river, Grillby opened his umbrella to Frisk's confusion. Sans chuckled and placed a hand on their shoulder.

"He's immune to his shower, not all water." He pointed out.

Frisk made a small noise of realization and smiled at the elemental. Grillby grinned back and offered his hand for the child to hold.

He wasn't entirely sure why.

Frisk took it regardless, and Sans walked on Grillby's other side.

They crossed the barrier of Snowdin into Waterfall, and Grillby eventually noticed his umbrella echoing with the sound of raindrops hitting it.

He cringed at the noise. His soul racing before Frisk squeezed his hand, and Grillby looked down at the child. Frisk was staring ahead with fear.

Grillby felt Sans stiffen and start to push Grillby behind a nearby trash heap.

"Get down." He muttered before crouching down beside Grillby.

Grillby followed the action, wincing at the moist ground. Frisk was huddled beside him.

He lowered his flame as dim as he could while Sans gazed around the pile. They were agonizingly silent.

One minute ticked by.

Grillby shuffled his feet.

Two minutes.

Three.

Four before Sans sighed and stood up. He motioned for the others to do the same.

Grillby stiffly stood, rolling out the kinks in his shoulders.

"Who was that?" Frisk's voice shook as they spoke.

Grillby looked questioningly at Sans. He hadn't seen whoever had made Frisk and Sans act that way.

The skeleton glanced around one final time, presumably to check for whoever it was. He then plastered a grin on his face that didn't reach his eyes.

"S'no one kiddo. Let's keep going."

Grillby looked skeptically at Sans, who was already walking down the path again.

Frisk glanced at Grillby nervously before following the skeleton.

Grillby sighed, adjusted his umbrella, and followed his friends.

Back beside the lone trash pile, everything was still.

The distant sound of footsteps and echo flowers could be heard.

A rapidly-spreading glitch appeared, and a familiar figure stood.

He was tall, taller than any of the friends that are just out of sight.

He was thin, but his shoulders were hunched, his head low. It gave him the impression of a snake about to strike.

He was still.

His pinprick eyes gazed at the retreating figures up the path.

He had two fractures on his skull, one above his right eye, and one below his left.

His right eye sagged at half-mast, though it didn't appear to impare his vision.

His face suddenly split in a wide grin, his shoulders shaking in deep laughter.

He spoke softly. "Maybe.. Just maybe.. That walking tinderbox, lazy bone-bag and oblivious child can help me." The insults flowed out of his mouth without emotion.

He turned towards Snowdin.

"Now, I must visit an old friend." His voice was breaking apart.

The glitches engulfed him suddenly, and he was gone a moment later, not as much as a footprint staining the slushy road.