(Notes: Interesting factoid, 5 in numerology symbolizes fire. Sorry this is a week late. I've been struggling with it. This story wasn't planned to be this long actually. It should have ended already but I was enjoying it, now not so much. Which is to say that there will probably only be one more chapter and then a short epilogue. The ending will feel a bit abrupt but I promise it's not, it's just that the middle is so stretched out. I shouldn't excuse my bad pacing but I'm not going to do anything about it so~)
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5
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Frisk screwed their eyes up tight and swung their arm wildly. Soft black fabric skimmed across their knuckles and slowly came to a rest against something as hard as iron. Frisk hesitantly opened one eye and saw their fist gently resting against Undyne's stomach.
They looked up at her through a haze of smoke and smiled hopefully.
Undyne stared down at them in dismay, "What."
Frisk slowly pulled their hand back. Every breath made their lungs ache, their throat stung but they did their best to stay strong.
"That's the best you can manage?" She sighed, "Even attacking at full force..."
Frisk relaxed as they realized that, finally, Undyne would be their friend. They let a genuine smile creep onto their face and pulled their shirt up over their nose and mouth. It helped with the smoke and they stayed and listened because this was important.
Just as Undyne was suggesting they finally leave, the sound of the fire changed, like it was welcoming an old friend. Frisk's head jerked up at the change in the sound and spun on their heel towards the door, searching through the haze of smoke. They thought they felt a breeze and took a few hesitant steps towards it, running into Grillby's leg.
Frisk clung to the fabric and looked up through the smoke.
Grillby was not amused.
The fire hissed faintly. Grillby frowned, his own fire flickering with red and white as his brow furrowed. The fire around them began to writhe like an animal caught in a trap. The air filled with hissing, snapping and popping as it struggled and then went unnaturally silent.
The feeling of the fire changed, the color shifted and Frisk recognized Grillby's colors in the flames.
Grillby flicked his hand impatiently.
The fire dwindled and went out with a hiss.
Frisk coughed faintly.
Grillby dropped his hand on top of their head. Smoothing their brown hair and absently brushing it free of ash.
The walls were stained with smoke. Everywhere there were large scars of black charred wood reaching up to the ceiling. The stove, what was left of it, had half melted from the intensity of the fire and was now a crumpled lump of blackened metal.
Grillby stepped away from Frisk and walked over to the kitchen counter.
They followed only a few steps behind.
Undyne jumped back away from him, a spear forming in her hands instinctively.
He spared her a glance, narrowing his eyes in warning. Then returned to looking at what was left of the kitchen. He put his hand under his chin and looked down at Frisk in confusion. "...Traaiininng...?" He asked.
Frisk looked up morosely, "Spaghetti."
If Grillby had eyebrows they would've shot up. He looked back at the burnt counter still covered in the blackened veg and fruit Undyne had splattered across the surface, what was left of the pot, melted into the stove, and shook his head in mute horror.
He took Frisk's hand and headed towards the door. He looked at Undyne and impatiently gestured for her to follow.
Undyne was tight as a bowstring waiting for the worst and only tensed further at the gesture.
Frisk sighed and let go of Grillby's hand, running over to Undyne and grabbing her arm, knotted with muscle, and tugging on it with all their weight.
She let the spear disappear and lifted her arm up, Frisk still clinging to it until she could look them in the eye.
Frisk giggled, "Come. Please?"
Undyne narrowed her eye and scowled suspiciously but absently bounced Frisk on her arm before lowering them onto the ground with a sigh. "Alright." she nodded to Grillby.
He nodded back and stepped outside.
Frisk ran to join him, waiting as he picked up the large black umbrella he had set beside the door and carefully opened it. The handle was much longer than a normal umbrella, keeping it safely above his flames. Undyne followed after them, a few steps behind, still tense but settling into a sulk as Grillby led them to the ferry landing.
Grillby stared at the little boat with utter loathing and stepped aboard with great care.
Frisk followed and hurried to grab Grillby's hand, gripping it tight. Anxiety shot through them at the water all around them. They looked back at Undyne on the shore, eyes too wide with worry.
She forced nonchalance when she saw their expression. "I'm not gonna do anything, punk!" She snapped and stepped onto the boat with a wary delicacy that didn't come naturally to her.
Frisk beamed at her gratefully as the Riverperson guided them upstream back to Snowdin.
Grillby headed for the bar immediately.
Frisk grabbed Undyne's hand and pulled her along with them.
"What the HECK is going on, punk?!" Undyne asked even as she followed Frisk.
Frisk gave her a big, encouraging smile that Undyne couldn't stop herself from returning.
Grillby unlocked the bar and pushed the door open, waving Undyne in. He stopped Frisk with a hand on their shoulder and mimed placing a telephone to the side of his head.
Frisk pulled out their cellphone and held it out to him. He took it, flipping to Papyrus on the contracts, pointed to his name and made a quick beckoning motion with his finger.
Frisk nodded in understanding and called Papyrus as Grillby stepped inside after Undyne, the sconces lighting as he passed them on his way back to the back of the bar.
Papyrus picked up immediately, "GREETINGS, HUMAN!"
Frisk pulled the phone slightly back away from their ringing ears and quickly blurted, "Come to Grillby's?"
They waited for him to respond but head him running towards them instead, waving his arms over his head in greeting. Frisk grinned and waved back, stuffing their phone in their pocket.
"HUMAN!" Papyrus cried with joy and excitement, "THE GREAT PAPYRUS' FRIENDSHIP PLAN MUST HAVE BEEN A MAGNIFICENT SUCCESS?!"
Frisk supposed it was successful, sort of, if you ignored the part where Undyne's house almost burned to the ground. They gave him a thumbs up.
"REALLY?!" He gasped and swung them up into the air with all the exuberant joy in his bones.
Frisk giggled, clinging to his gloves until he sat them back onto the ground.
Their laughter was cut short by a deep, rattlingly cough that made their throat burn, reminding them that not long ago they had breathed for more smoke than was healthy.
"OH! OH!" Papyrus cried, sweeping them up and following Frisk's pointing fingers into the restaurant and to the kitchen.
Inside, Undyne was setting a pot half full of water onto the back iron cooktop while Grillby stood well back, his arms folded over his chest.
"MR. GRILLBY, SIR! THE HUMAN REQUIRES YOUR HELP!" Papyrus held Frisk out to him by the armpits, dangling like a kitten.
Grillby scooped them up with a halfhearted frown at Papyrus and pressed his hand to their back. Then sighed and shook his head.
"What now?!" Undyne snapped.
Grillby shot her a glare that made her mouth snap shut and cross her arms in front of her in a glower. He grabbed an empty glass and handed it to Papyrus, pointing to the small sink in the back of the kitchen and then to Frisk as he sat them on the edge of the table.
Papyrus quickly filled the glass and hurried over to Frisk who took it gratefully and sipped it slowly.
Grillby went back to his preparations and as Frisk watched, the work surface was soon filled with tomatoes, onions, garlic and a few sprigs of dried herbs. He handed Undyne and Papyrus each a knife and stood across from them.
They looked at one another.
"What the HECK is going on?!" Undyne said impatiently, stomping her foot.
Frisk thought they were being silly and lowered their glass, "Grillby's gonna teach you."
"TEACH US WHAT?" Papyrus asked.
Frisk sighed, "How to make spaghetti."
"I ALREADY know how to make spaghetti!"Undyne said in annoyance, her knife somehow ending up as a pointer and pointing straight at Grillby.
Grillby was really not impressed and pressed two fingers to the side of the blade.
Undyne yelped and dropped the knife as it heated.
Grillby picked up his own knife and gave them a pointed look.
Frisk said helpfully, "Watch."
Papyrus did with intense interest. Undyne crossed her arms and turned to the side, pretending not to care but watching from the side of her eye.
Frisk did not giggle at her but desperately wanted to. They pressed the glass of water to their mouth to hide their amusement.
Tomatoes were peeled and crushed. Minced garlic and onions and thyme were cooked in a pan, Papyrus and Undyne leaning over on either side of Grillby as he worked. Once softened, the tomatoes and a bit of salt, sugar and a pinch of basil were all added filling the air with a rich smell that made Frisk stomach rumble.
While the sauce slowly simmered, the pot of water beside was brought to a boil and Grillby put in the noodles, setting a timer and making both his students repeat back the time to him before he would let them relax.
He took out two pieces of paper and carefully copied down the recipe they had just made and handed a copy to them both before the noodles finished.
Undyne and Papyrus drained the noodles together, managing to keep a majority of it out of the sink. Grillby set out plates and forks, carefully portioning out the noodles and sauce, big servings for Undyne and Papyrus, small servings for Frisk and Grillby.
Frisk sighed into the first bite, it was wonderful, rich and smooth with a sour sweet tomato tang that blended into faint hints of garlic and herbs.
Both Undyne and Papyrus' eyes grew huge as they ate.
Papyrus teared up as he ate, saying between saucy mouthfuls."WOWIE! THIS IS THE BEST SPAGHETTI I'VE EVER HAD!"
Undyne nodded rapidly in agreement, never raising her head from the edge of the plate as she shoveled the spaghetti into her mouth.
Frisk spun a small bite onto their fork with a giggle.
"IF YOU SERVED THIS IN THE RESTAURANT I MIGHT EVEN EAT HERE!"
Undyne licked her plate clean, "Why don't you sell this, eh, Grillmyster?"
Grillby only paused briefly at the horrible nickname before taking their empty plates to the sink. Ash drifted down as he wiped his hand across the plates and then polished them clean with a towel.
Frisk looked down at their glass mournfully and held it up, nodding towards it.
"Oooh," Undyne said understanding, "Because of the water?"
Frisk gave a small thumbs up.
"I COULD HELP! I AM ONE HUNDRED PERCENT WATER-PROOF!" Papyrus said, putting a hand on his chest and posing for a breeze to whip his scarf out that never came.
Undyne perked up excitedly, "He could!"
Grillby put the last plate back with a soft click and turned to them.
"He's a fast learner and eager and he'd be-" she sought for another word that was not a lie, "-helpful?" Undyne grinned toothily.
Papyrus looked at Undyne, "BUT I AM GOING TO BE A ROYAL GUARDSMAN, FULL OF FRIENDSHIP AND KISSES. I'M THE GREAT PAPYRUS," his voice faulted, "FUTURE ROYAL GUARD PAPYRUS..."
"Right!" Undyne said quickly, "But THIS would be good too! AND there's a lot more friendship and kisses. Think of all the friends you'll make!"
Grillby looked at Undyne appraisingly as she frantically tried to convince both of them this was a good idea. His gaze moving to Papyrus who was looking torn between hopeful and unhappy.
"People love cooks! Even more than royal guardsmen."
"...I'M GOING TO BE A HERO, A CHAMPION OF JUSTICE..."
Undyne clasped his gloved hands tightly in hers, "A cook is a- a CHAMPION of stomachs! You'll feed the hearts of the people!"
Papyrus looked at her with big shiny puppy dog eyes.
Grillby sighed and leaned against the work top next to Frisk. He looked at them questioningly.
Frisk looked from Undyne to Grillby and offered quietly, "Part-time?"
Undyne held her breath, and Papyrus' hands so tightly he squirmed, while Grillby thought.
Grillby turned, stepped over to Papyrus whose back straightened to attention under his searching gaze. He nodded.
"YEEEEEAAAHHHHH!" Undyne crowed, picking Papyrus up over her head and doing a victory benchpress with the poor skeleton.
"UNDYNE PUT ME DOWN!" Papyrus squirmed.
She sat him on his feet, clapping him on the back so hard he stumbled into the counter. "So, mornings with you, afternoons on sentry duty?"
Grillby shook his head.
Undyne shrugged, still grinning like mad, "Mornings on sentry duty, afternoons here in the restaurant then!"
Grillby nodded.
"This is gonna be awesome!" Undyne said, smacking Papyrus on the back again.
"B-BOTH-?!" Papyrus said, stars shining in his eyes.
Grillby nodded again.
"CAN I TELL SANS?"
Grillby made a shooing motion with his hand and watched Papyrus and Undyne crowd out the door together. Grillby sighed and shook his head to himself.
Frisk offered him a smile and hopped down onto the floor, "Open?" they asked.
Grillby nodded and they went to the front of the restaurant together to flip on the sign.
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(Next update: November 10th)