A Day at The Ruins

Toriel awoke to small feet jumping on her bed. She rolled over and smiled a tired smile at her son, Asriel. He was always full of energy, even in the mornings. Toriel had no idea how. Slowly she got up and received a 'Good Morning' hug from the boy. He ran out and Toriel followed, with the intent on making coffee first thing. On her way to the kitchen, Toriel thought she heard a croak. She followed the noise until she met the bathroom door, upon opening said door Toriel found a small Froggit in the tub.

"What are you doing there, hmm?" Toriel asked, placing a hand on her hip. Her answer was one singular rib-bit. "Mm-hmm. Asriel!"

The boy quickly ran into the kitchen, shock on his face. Then terror. "Oh, a F-Froggit. How did that get in?"

"Asriel, what did we say about taking in stray Froggits?" Toriel was now lifting up the creature and was determined to put it outside.

"'If they don't like pie, don't let them in'" Asriel said, sadly.

"No, honey. The one about responsibility?"

"Oh, 'If I can't run the diner, I can't have a pet'?"

"Yes, that one." Toriel had set the Froggit out on the window and it happily jumped away.

"But I can run the store! I promise."

"What about last time? When you threw a flowerpot at a customer?"

"He didn't like your pie. Also he was a big creep!"

Toriel sighed, "Asriel, until you get your temper under control I'm afraid I can't let you run the diner. But, you can help me with the pies for today's menu. How do Butterscotch, Cinnamon, and Chocolate Pies sound?"

"Yay! I'll start on the crusts!" Asriel quickly fled to the kitchen to get what they would need.

Asriel unlocked and opened the backdoor for his mother, as she was currently carrying ten pies and two bags. Five pies and one bag on each arm. Toriel thanked him and they went inside. As Toriel prepared the bar and booths, Asriel turned on all the lights and equipment. When they had come in, Toriel had noticed Kid was gone. She could only hope he went back to the orphanage and not some garage or dump. After everything was set and cleaned Toriel tied her apron around her and Asriel turned the door sign to 'Open'. Slowly the morning customers trickled in, ready to have some cheap (but delicious) coffee and pie. Toriel had gotten to work on cooking up some bacon and eggs for those customers who didn't eat breakfast at home and Asriel took orders while periodically refilling the patrons on coffee. It was a quaint setting that many monsters took comfort in, no need to worry about fighting here or even a slight stealing, everyone was too tired to really do anything but eat. Eventually, little Frisk entered. Toriel was happy to see them, but this was earlier than their other visits. This was around the time Tok came by to check up on her. Frisk and Tok had never met before, and Toriel wasn't sure if the knew each other at all, but she didn't want to risk a fight breaking out. Asriel quickly ran up to Frisk, hugged them, and dragged them to the counter where Frisk ordered their usual milk and eggs. As Frisk and Asriel chatted, well Frisk used sign language, Tok came in. Her fedora was hanging over one eye and she looked more tired than usual. Toriel excused herself for a moment and Asriel went to take orders while she talked with Tok.

"Tok, what's wrong? You seem sleep-deprived." Toriel asked as she sat Tok in a booth far away from Frisk.

"I was up late last night working on today's show." Tok yawned, "Met doesn't like to leave until it's perfect."

"Well, I'll fix you up with some coffee. Oh, speaking of fixing…"

"The jukebox broke again?" Tok guess, rubbing her mechanical eye.

"Yes, it would be wonderful if you could fix it again. But if you're too tired, I would understand."

"No, no. Never too tired to tinker. But you really should just buy a new one."

"This one was a gift, I'll only get rid of it when it explodes." Toriel left after saying that, to make sure Tok got her coffee and to make sure Asriel didn't burn down the kitchen.

"It's pretty close to that, honestly." Tok mumbled and pushed herself up from the booth. As she walked over to the jukebox, which was only a few feet away, she wondered what the problem was this time. After reaching it, unplugging it, and opening up the machine she saw the problem instantly. "Cord's been pushed out." she mumbled. She pushed it back in and looked around for anything else. After finding nothing, she closed it back up and plugged it in again. Then she took out a quarter and selected some Elvis, her favorite human singer at the moment. Turning away from the jukebox she saw Asriel talking to another kid, one whom Tok had never seen before. She decided to go say hi while waiting for her coffee. Tok fixed her hat so it covered her left eye, the broken one, and went over to the kids. She saw they were using sign language to communicate, Tok picked up on only a few phrases but not that much. Once she reached the bar, Tok tapped Asriel on the shoulder and he turned to her. Smiling and jumping into her arms once he did.

"Tok! I didn't even know you were here!" he shouted excitingly. "This is perfect, you can meet Frisk now!"

"Oh, is that who this is? Well, it's nice to meet you Frisk." Tok held out her hand and Frisk shook it with a small smile on her face. Her hair covered her eyes, but her smile seemed genuine.

Frisk signed; Hello, nice to meet you too, Tok. I haven't seen you before, do you work here?

"No, I don't work here. Just come in to check up on Toriel and Asriel, and fix the jukebox." Tok answered, taking the seat on the other side of Frisk. "I actually work for Ms. Muffet, you know, the gal who runs the bar down the street?"

Frisk seemed to stare at Tok for a second, her lips in a tight line, then signed she had to get going. "Oh, well bye Frisk." Asriel said and they both went off, Frisk out the door and Asriel behind the counter.

Toriel handed Tok her coffee, "Don't mind Frisk, they're pretty busy."

"How busy can a kid be?" Tok asked sipping the coffee, letting it warm up her circuits. She didn't need food or drinks, but she could still taste.

"They don't tell much about it, it's just important to them." Toriel was now cleaning the counter and Tok glanced at the clock behind her.

"Oh, I got to get to work soon. Bye Tori!" Tok paid and ran out the door.

Toriel chuckled to herself as she put the needed money in the register and the tips in the jar. Asriel was looking at the door while watering his new flower, "Someday, something's gonna happen. And she's gonna be the one who starts it."

"What was that, darling?" Toriel called.

"Nothing, Mom!"