(So this isn't the last chapter like I thought it would be. I had an idea and the inspiration for this chapter which should help ease into the ending better. If I can think of an idea for Mettaton and/or Muffet, there will be two more chapters, otherwise just one more. Thank you for all your support!)
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Chapter 6: Candlelit
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Frisk took a deep breath and looked up at Grillby. He had his arms crossed over his chest and was watching them calmly, waiting for them to give him he could start. Frisk nodded and Grillby sent out a wave of fire, so faint it was nearly translucent and Frisk knew it would only leave a lingering warmth if it hit them, but that wasn't the point. The point was not to get hit. They dodged through the elaborate pattern, feeling the heat on their skin when the flames got close, then swiftly turned back to Grillby at the ready for the next wave. He attacked three more times, getting a little faster, a little more elaborate each time. Frisk didn't get hit once.
He nodded with a faint smile and Frisk grinned. They knew Grillby still wanted to train them in attacking as well, he had tried to press them to keep a weapon with them but Frisk always shook their head no. Frisk would take a weapon when they left, just to be safe, but so long as they were here, they felt safe just to dodge and offer mercy until the other monster left them alone.
They were afraid they would have to leave sometime soon. More and more monsters kept showing up, to see the human, to talk to the human, to attack the human. Grillby didn't tolerate the last but he never hurt the monsters that attacked Frisk too badly. Still, it felt like Frisk was running out of time, that sooner or later they would have to go and see the king and see if they could talk with him. They didn't want to. Frisk wished they could stay here forever.
Undyne ran up, a wicked grin on her face. She was wearing casual clothes and had been staying at Papyrus' house until her own could be repaired. Grillby had been teaching her close combat after he finished training Frisk. Once, he had even let Undyne spar with Frisk. Ut had been fun deflecting all the spears she had thrown at them. Frisk thought that Undyne might have even been a little impressed when they stopped.
They leaned back against the restaurant and watched as Grillby demonstrated a twisting grab on Undyne. Frisk plucked at the thin chain around their neck and carefully pulled it up and out from under their shirt. On the end of the chain was a crystal, it looked like quartz but it was orange with hints of yellow and red and it seemed to flicker like there was a flame in the center of it. Frisk curled their hands around the stone and felt their palms fill with a gentle pulsing heat.
Grillby had given it to them a few days ago and when they wore it against their skin it was a little bit like Grillby's magic and they could go a lot longer without needing him to heal them. Their lungs were almost all healed anyway, they only had a faint cough left and only had trouble breathing in the morning when they first woke up. Soon they would be back to normal, or at least as normal as they could be. Frisk dropped the crystal back under their shirt and pressed their hand over it.
Undyne was laying facedown in the street with Grillby's knee in her back. She was struggling and cursing into the cold snow. Grillby was grinning.
The restaurant door opened and Papyrus leaned out, "MR. GRILLBY, SIR!" Papyrus said, "TWO ORDERS FOR BURG AND FRIES?"
Grillby released Undyne somewhat reluctantly and stood up, straightening his clothes and pulling Undyne up, before hurrying into the restaurant after Papyrus. Frisk followed him and Undyne followed Frisk, shouting after Grillby's back, "Make it THREE orders! I'm starving!"
Undyne hopped onto an empty stool and plucked Frisk up and sat them beside her with a grin. Frisk grinned back. They liked being Undyne's friend.
Undyne was gushing about Alphys again. Undyne liked Alphys very much and it seemed like Alphys liked Undyne very much. Undyne had brought Alphys to visit twice and the yellow lizard had been so shy and nervous but when she was with Undyne, Undyne always seemed to know just what to say to make Alphys light up about her science projects or anime. What Frisk couldn't understand was why they weren't a couple when they obviously adored one another.
Papyrus burst out to the kitchen with two plates that he carried out to the booth and the pair of snow bunnies waiting there. Grillby didn't let Papyrus do much cooking yet. He cleaned, took orders and served but Grillby only let him near the stove with strict supervision. What was really nice, was how him working in the restaurant, had doubled the size of the menu. The soups Grillby had made Frisk were now available all the time and a couple pasta dishes as well, now that Papyrus could handle the water and Grillby wouldn't have to risk himself.
Frisk spun on their stool and looked around the bar. Dogeressa and Dogamy waved and Frisk waved back, which caused Doggo to wave once he could see them. The two snow bunnies at the booth were feeding each other french fries and looking lovey-dovey, they seemed to be on some sort of date. Frisk blinked and gasped.
"What is it, punk?" Undyne asked.
Frisk shook their head at her, jumping off their stool and running back to the kitchen. Grillby was plating Undyne's order and Frisk practically bounced with anticipation waiting for him to finish.
Grillby raised his brows as he handed the plate to Papyrus.
Frisk rushed up to him, tugging on the bottom of his vest.
He knelt down so he was level with them.
Frisk waited until Papyrus was gone with the order then said in an excited whisper, "Alphys and Undyne should go on a date!"
Grillby seemed surprised for a moment and then smiled and nodded.
"A romantic one," Frisk added.
Grillby nodded again and mussed their hair fondly. He thought for a moment then held up two fingers.
Frisk nodded in two days.
They left the food up to Grillby and recruited Sans and Papyrus to help get Alphys and Undyne to come to the restaurant at the right time. Papyrus told Undyne to come and taste his cooking and Sans convinced Alphys to come to some sort of sciencey brainstorming hang out sesh.
Grillby closed the restaurant early on the night of operation Romantic Date. Undyne came first and Papyrus hurriedly ushered her into the restaurant.
Frisk pressed their ear to the door to listen in.
"Geez, Papyrus!" Undyne said, "Quit pulling ya big dork! Why'd you insist I were cool clothes anyway?"
Papyrus said a little nervously, though Undyne didn't seem to notice, "COOL CLOTHES ARE NECESSARY FOR COOL FOOD!"
Undyne said, "Yeah, well, I'm sure anything you make'll be awesome!"
Frisk nodded to themselves and ran out the back door, hurrying to the ferry landing. The met Sans and Alphys as they were hopping off. Alphys was wearing a cute polka-dot dress and looking nervous even as Sans easily engaged her in a complicated conversation where the math seemed to have a lot more letters than numbers in it.
"O-oh, hi, Frisk." Alphys said with a wobbly smile as Frisk joined them.
Frisk smiled and waved.
Sans was grinning with a gloating cat-that-got-the-cream sort of expression that made Frisk glare at him briefly.
"Um, I k-know you insisted I dress nice-" Alphys scales hued red, "-but I d-don't really know why?"
Sans shrugged, "eh, you'll see."
They reached the restaurant and Sans didn't bother with the rest of the farce, giving Frisk a brief salute and then disappearing around the side the building with a wink.
"S-Sans?!" Alphys stepped after him.
Frisk grabbed her hand and quickly pulled her inside before she could go after him.
Inside all the tables had been pushed out of the way and the smallest one had been moved to the middle of the room, already set with fine delicate plates and two wine glasses. The sconces on the wall were flickering with a softer yellow light.
Papyrus shoved a bunch of slightly battered flowers into Undyne's hands with a not so subtle wink and skipped back to the kitchen.
Undyne said, "What the HECK am I suppos-" She saw Alphys and blushed.
"O-Oh n-no-" Alphys said in a tiny panicked whisper. "I-I c-can't-! Frisk!"
Frisk gripped her hand harder and pulled her along, pushing her in front of Undyne. They were both blushing furiously.
Undyne swallowed hard and stiffly held out the flowers.
Alphys took them awkwardly, almost dropping them, "Th-thank you..."
Grillby came out with a bottle of wine, a white cloth draped over his arm. He carefully poured a measured amount into both glasses, not too much, but maybe enough for them to relax.
He stood back.
Alphys and Undyne were both still froze in stricken embarrassment.
Grillby made a snapping, cracking fireplace sound and they both jumped. Grillby glared at Undyne and looked pointedly at Alphy's chair.
Undyne snapped to attention and hurried over to pull out Alphys chair for her.
Frisk carefully took Alphys' flowers for her and put them into the vase in the center of the table, then backed up to stand with Grillby.
Alphys sat and then Undyne rushed to the other chair, practically throwing herself into it.
Grillby offered them both a small hand-written menu.
Undyne ordered the spaghetti bolognese and Alphys offered a tiny squeaky, "S-same."
Grillby guided Frisk out of the room ahead of him, a hand on their shoulder to keep them from lingering.
Frisk was put with Papyrus, to help him cook the spaghetti noodles while Grillby made the sauce. Grillby had made the noodles himself ahead of time and they were done cooking before Grillby was done with the sauce. Frisk took the opportunity to sneak past Grillby out to the hallway, pushing the door open just a crack to peer inside and see how it was going.
Undyne was gesturing wildly and gushing while Alphys blushed and looked nervous and maybe a little upset. Frisk frowned. Alphys was supposed to be happy and having fun, not be upset. Frisk wondered if they had done the wrong thing.
They glanced back as Grillby emerged from the kitchen with a large tray, walking past them and out into the restaurant. When he returned, with the tray tucked under one arm, he caught Frisk's shoulder and gently guided them back to the kitchen.
Grillby had made enough spaghetti bolognese for them too and they all ate it around the work counter. Grillby was calm but Frisk and Papyrus fidgeted with anxiety.
"DO YOU THINK IT WILL GO WELL?!" Papyrus asked with a bit of a squeak in his voice.
Frisk tried to smile reassuringly but it came out a little strained.
Papyrus fiddled with his new apron, "I REALLY, SUPER, WANT IT TO GO WELL. IT WOULD MAKE UNDYNE SO HAPPY!"
Frisk nodded in agreement.
Grillby reached out on either side of him and squeezed both their shoulders. He headed toward the door and Frisk went to follow him but he stopped them with a look and a shake of his head. So Frisk waited.
Papyrus lifted them up and let them sit on the work table while he enthusiastically cleaned everything he could in an effort to distract himself.
Frisk and Papyrus turned towards the door as Grillby came back in with the empty plates.
He shook his head slightly in exasperation, caught Frisk's eye and nodded towards the door.
Frisk quickly jumped down and ran outside. Papyrus tried to follow, Grillby pushed the dirty plates and silverware into his arms and looked pointedly at the sink.
Frisk hurried out to the street and then, ran towards the ferry, catching Alphys halfway there.
She startled when Frisk ran up and then smiled hesitantly, "H-Hi Frisk. Thanks for tonight."
Frisk nodded encouragingly.
"O-Oh! Well... It went well, really!" She smiled weakly, "I-I just have to take care of something. I..." Her voice trailed off and she looked worried.
Frisk reached out and caught her hand and held it tightly.
"Th-thanks, Frisk." She said, pausing by the ferry, "I just- I just want to be worthy of her so..." she cleared her throat, "...so I have to take care of something... b-be brave... It's n-not really my thing."
Frisk squeezed and Alphys relaxed a little.
"I'll t-text you, in a couple days?" she said, "M-my friend, Mettaton, wants to meet you a-and I promised I would introduce you if that's ok?"
Frisk nodded and let go of her hand as she stepped onto the ferry. They waved to her until she was out of sight and then headed back to Grillby's.
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(Next Update: Nov. 24th, 2016.)
