(Notes: I just want to say thank you to everyone that comments, reviews or leaves a kind word. Especially those that do so every chapter, they keep me going and I really, really appriciate it. Thank you so much.)
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Chapter 3: Kindling
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The door to the bar was flung open, "I AM HERE TO APOLOGIZE TO THE SMALL HUMAN!" Papyrus declared.
Sans hurried after him, closing the door and trying to catch Papyrus' arm, "bro this isn't the time-"
"IT IS NEVER TO EARLY OR TO LATE TO MAKE AMENDS!" Papyrus said walking up to the bar.
"i just think grillby needs some time to cool off."
Papyrus paused briefly, his eyes narrowing, "THAT WAS A PUN WASN'T IT?"
Sans couldn't resist a grin.
Papyrus turned back to the bar, Grillby was not there.
The purple duck pointed with one feathered wing to a piece of cardboard folded into a little triangle standee, it sign read, Ring for service. There was a small desk bell beside the note.
Papyrus went to ring the bell but his hand only hit wood. The bell slid across the counter, wreathed in blue magic.
Sans cupped his hand protectively over the bell, "i know you're gungho about this, so i'm not going to stop you-"
Papyrus opened his mouth.
"however-" Sans held up his hand, "while grillby's always been a good guy for as long as i've known him, rumor is he's one of the oldest and maybe strongest monsters in the underground, i heard he even fought in the war. just... try and be tactful."
"I AM ALWAYS TACTFUL!" Papyrus said indignantly, smacking the top of Sans hand so the bell chimed. That didn't produce and immediate response so he kept hitting it.
Sans snatching his hand out of the way and grabbed his brother's wrist, "that's the exact opposite of tact, bro."
Grillby came through the back door looking only mildly annoyed but he dropped all pretense of professionalism when he saw who it was. His fame flared into a deep angry red, briefly licking the ceiling.
Papyrus bravely held his ground, "I HAVE COME TO APOLOGIZE, TO THE SMALL HUMAN."
Grillby glared at him.
"I WAS NOT-" Papyrus began sweating, "-AWARE THEY WERE HURT." He tried to smile disarmingly, "WOWIE, YOU'RE VERY INTIMIDATING!"
Grillby's flames slowly relaxed and returned to their normal color. He walked over to the bar and grabbed the bell, setting it back beside the note and went back to the back hallway, leaving the door open behind him.
"come on," Sans said walking around Papyrus and heading for the door, "he wouldn't have left it open if he didn't want us to follow."
"ARE YOU SURE?" Papyrus followed a few steps behind, "BECAUSE I KNOW I'M FIREPROOF BUT MY CLOTHES ARE NOT AND I REALLY LIKE THIS OUTFIT!"
"pppff." Sans chuckled, "i'm sure. grillby's a monster of few words, if he leaves a door open its for a reason. and you're not magic-fire proof."
Papyrus stopped dead in his tracks a few steps before the door to Grillby's apartment.
Sans grinned, "come on, bro. you wanted to apologize right?"
"I CAN'T TELL IF YOU'RE JOKING OR NOT!"
"about the fire? i'm not. it'll be fine. nothing the great papyrus can't handle, right?"
Papyrus straightened his back, "WELL, OF COURSE! THE GREAT PAPYRUS NEVER BACKS DOWN FROM ANY CHALLENGE!"
Sans went inside, Papyrus following a few steps back.
Grillby was inside helping Frisk sit up on the couch, pulling the blanket up around them, checking their forehead for fever. Frisk coughed, their breathing crackling shallowly. Grillby pressed his palm to their chest, right below the collarbone, his hand taking on a slightly darker shade of red. Frisk's eyes closed and gradually their breathing became deeper and lost the crackling roughness.
Papyrus glanced down at Sans and anxiously fiddling with the edge of his cape. Sans watched Grillby.
Grillby sat back, checking Frisk's forehead again.
Frisk gave him tired smile.
Grillby nodded towards Sans and Papyrus.
Frisk followed his nod and blinked in surprise and waved excitedly before grimacing and coughing into their hand.
Grillby frowned at the brothers.
Sans nudged Papyrus, "bro."
"OH! UM!" Papyrus cleared his throat dramatically, "I'VE COME TO APOLOGIZE TO YOU. HUMAN. I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE UNWELL, YOU SHOULD HAVE SAID! I NEVER WOULD HAVE FOUGHT YOU IF I HAD KNOWN!"
Grillby narrowed his eyes.
"BUT!" Papyrus said hurriedly, "I AM VERY SORRY I DID!"
Grillby's expression didn't change.
"AND IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN!"
Grillby relaxed and nodded, standing up and heading for the door.
Papyrus and Sans quickly stepped out of the way.
Grillby paused briefly at the doorframe, pointing to Frisk.
"we'll look after them, no problem." Sans said quickly.
He looked sternly from one brother to the other, then left the room.
Papyrus wiped off the sweat beading on his forehead, "HE'S REALLY INTIMIDATING!"
"you already said that." Sans said walking over to the couch and slumping down on the end nearest the door.
"YES, BUT HE'S AS BAD AS UNDYNE WHEN SHE'S IN A BAD MOOD!" Papyrus said shuffling his boots on the wood floorboards.
Sans turned to Frisk, "you need anything kid?"
Frisk shook their head.
"you're going ok here? do you like grillby?"
They smiled and nodded.
"i don't think i've ever seen him get worked up like that before." Sans said, "he's usually so... contained."
Frisk patted the couch to get Papyrus' attention and then motioned for him to come closer.
He jumped slightly and practically ran over to them, dropping to his knees beside the couch, "YES, TINY HUMAN?"
They coughed and rubbed their throat, "...Can we be friends?" Frisk asked faintly.
"REALLY?!" Papyrus said excitedly, "YOU WANT TO BE FRIENDS, WITH ME?"
Frisk nodded.
"WOWIE! WE HAVEN'T EVEN HAD OUR FIRST DATE AND I'VE ALREADY MANAGED TO HIT THE FRIEND-ZONE!"
Sans half choked, half laughed, "what?"
"I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW, SANS, THAT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM QUITE THE CATCH! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!" He said with a flourish.
Frisk's cheeks flushed but they smiled and gave the tall skeleton a thumbs up.
Sans chuckled, "you're a catch and a half, bro."
Sans and Papyrus went quiet as Grillby's steps came back down the hallway and stepped back into the room, a large bowl in hand. He gave the bowl to Frisk and pulled a spoon from his vest pocket.
Frisk took the spoon and began eating the chickeny noodle soup.
"since when was soup on the menu?" Sans said.
Grillby didn't dignify him with a response, watching Frisk.
Frisk made a vague yum sound and smiled appreciatively.
Grillby went back to the door, leaning on the doorframe and glancing towards the bar occasionally, listening for the bell.
Sans dozed off almost immediately.
Papyrus fidgeted nervously wantin to say something but unable to muster the nerve. His phone piped an alarm and Papyrus clattered and fumbled dropping the phone in his haste. He snatched it off the floor and silenced it, clutching it tightly in both hands.
"you jumped out of your skin there, bro," Sans opened one eye and grinned. "you got somewhere you need to be?"
Papyrus wailed in despair, "WHAT AM I GOING TO DO SANS?! I'M SUPPOSED TO REPORT TO UNDYNE IN TWELVE MINUTES!"
Frisk lowered their spoon and glanced from Papyrus to Sans in concern, then up to Grillby who made a sharp hissing noise.
"twelve minutes?" Sans asked.
"THAT'S THE EXACT TIME IT TAKES ME TO GET FROM MY SENTRY POST TO WATERFALL, THAT'S NOT WHAT'S IMPORTANT SANS!" He gestured with the phone impatiently, "SHE'S GOING TO WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE HUMAN! WHAT SHOULD I DO?!"
Sans shook himself awake and sat forward with a sigh, "yeah..." he glanced at Grillby and explained, "my bro can't lie. well, he can, but he's really, really, really bad at it."
"SANS! I HAVE JUST MADE A NEW FRIEND AND NOW THEY ARE MORTAL ENEMIES FATED TO MEET ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE!" Papyrus lamented.
Frisk leaned over and patted Papyrus' shoulder comfortingly.
Grillby crossed his arms over his chest.
"just tell her the truth." Sans said, "i have the feeling she'd have to have to go through grillby to get to the kid anyway. i don't envy her chances."
Grillby's eyes narrowed and he frowned.
"WHY CAN'T ALL MY FRIENDS JUST BE FRIENDS!?" Papyrus' phone beeped a second alarm. He quickly turned it off, "I HAVE TO GO!"
Sans slid off the couch, "i'll come with. if the cap is headed this way i should probably get to my station so she doesn't chew me out."
"GOODBYE, TINY HUMAN!" Papyrus said with a wave. "WORRY NOT! THE GREAT PAPYRUS SHALL NOT BETRAY YOU!"
Sans nodded, "see ya around."
Frisk waved to the both of them.
Papyrus marched stiffly out of the bar and down the snowy street in agonized silence.
Sans half walked, half skipped to keep up, "you... gonna... be... ok?"
"...HM?" Papyrus glanced back and slowed down, "O-OF COURSE! THIS IS NOTHING FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS, FUTURE ROYAL GUARDSMEN!"
"right. you got this, bro." Sans said and grinned, patting his brothers arm and heading off towards his waterfall station.
Papyrus barely managed a nod, his pace slowing with every step that approached the ridge top that overlooked the path through Waterfall. His bones rattled when he saw the gleam of metal. She was wearing the full suit of armor, rather than just her regular few essential pieces.
"H-" Papyrus loudly cleared his throat, "-HI, UNDYNE! I'M HERE WITH MY DAILY REPORT!"
She was standing so still he wasn't sure she was listening.
He went on nervously, "...UH...REGARDING THAT HUMAN I CALLED YOU ABOUT EARLIER..."
She turned, her eye flashing out of her helmet. "Did you fight them?"
"DID I FIGHT THEM?" He crossed his arms and stared heroically into the light, "Y-YES!OF COURSE I DID! I FOUGHT THEM VALIANTLY!"
"Did you capture them?" she demanded.
"...WHAT?" He turned back to her sheepishly, "DID I CAPTURE THEM?..."
"Did. You. Capture. Them." She enunciated impatiently.
He focused on keeping his bones still, "W-W-WELL... NO. I TRIED VERY HARD BUT... THEY'RE- THE HUMAN IS SICK AND IT WOULD BE UNFAIR AND CRUEL AND UNHEROIC TO- TO-"
"Never mind!" Undyne snapped then sighed and shook her head, "I'll take the human's soul myself."
Papyrus froze and shook his head frantically. He walked up to Undyne, waving his hands placatingly, "BUT UNDYNE YOU DON'T HAVE TO DESTROY THEM! YOU SEE... YOU SEE.. THEY'RE VERY NICE-"
She turned to him, each word a hiss between her clenched teeth, as she jabbed his chest piece with her finger, "My god, did you BEFRIEND the human, Papyrus?!"
He froze, sweat beading on his forehead.
She turned away from him with a sigh, "...Go home. You're just going to get hurt."
Papyrus' face fell. His balled his hands tightly together. "...I UNDERSTAND. I'LL HELP YOU IN ANYWAY I CAN," He said sadly and hurried back to town.
Undyne clenched her gauntlets, "...Just one more..." She spun around as grass rustled below the cliff and walked to the cliff edge, forming a spear of pure sparking magical energy and raised her arm. The grass was quiet. She scanned the area and saw, the briefest glimpse of a little yellow monster, watching her with stars in their eyes. Undyne sighed, let the spear dissipate and stalked away.
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(Next Update: In 2 weeks, Thursday, 9/29/16.)