The silence killed me as we ate dinner, I had no rebuttal for the revelation Gorel had just dropped on me, the thoughts buzzed through my head like a hive of bees as I wondered what that's even like to have your soul – sorry, SOUL, absorbed into another creature.

I think he wasn't speaking for my sake, he saw the look on my face and decided he would let me break the silence first... of course, we would only be so lucky.

"HELLO MY FRIENDS!" A voice all but screamed as I heard the window open, I nearly choked on my food before it just kind of melted in my mouth into nothingness, then immediately put my hood on and slammed the mask on my face... so hard that I popped myself in the jaw. I was too busy rubbing my chin and re-adjusting my mask to turn around to see who came in.

Gorel was trying desperately to not look amused at my reaction, instead turning his attention to the guest, "Coming in through the window again, Colon?" He said as if this was usual.

"Hey, at least I didn't jump through it this time, Relly-boy." I pretty much stopped caring about the pain at that, too weirded out by the newcomer, I turned to look at them and almost screamed when I saw they were a human skeleton wearing a suit of armor way too large for them, though I did fall out of my chair.

"Uh... monster?" I said as I picked myself up, looking to Gorel, he just chuckled and nodded.

"That's Colonna, the captain of the royal guard and a good friend." Gorel responded.

"Greetings human, good to see you've recovered." His accent was... hard to describe, like he was trying hard to sound elegant but just wound up sounding messy, and a little hard to understand.

"How does he...?" I looked back towards Gorel, who was still trying hard to not chuckle, "He was with me in Snowdin woods when I found you, it's okay, he's fine with you." He looked up at him, and narrowed his eyes into a glare, the first time I've seen him make that particular expression and one that made my blood chill, "And he's not a human, he's a Boss Monster like me, right, Colon?"

The skeleton rattled in his armor and saluted, "R-right, Boss Monster, right." He finally proceeded to – not so gracefully – scale through the rest of the window, "You know you could have pulled back out and come in the door, right?" I said.

"But I was already halfway in the window, so why not?" I didn't give that a rebuttal, he was already giving me a headache, I turn back to my food and take a bite. "Hey, why is it when I started choking the food disappeared?" I said, looking at the lump of meat, what animal it was from I didn't know and didn't want to know.

"Oh yes, that's right, you haven't eaten much in the way of monster food yet." Gorel responds, "Well, that's quite simple really, it's because-" "Because monster food is made by magic and doesn't have to digest, as long as it's in your body long enough it turns into pure energy!" Colon cut in. Gorel gave an exasperated sigh, the kind that told me that he does this often, but he tolerates it because of their friendship, the sight brought a smile to my face.

"Huh, you cook with magic, your food's made of magic, you guys are made of magic... the longer I stay, the more I realize that I've stumbled into an entirely different world." I chuckled softly as I considered my situation.

"Hey, Colon, doesn't the missus need you back home?" Gorel cut in.

"Oh no! I completely forgot about that, you two have a nice rest of the night, byeeee!" At that, he then proceeded to dive full force out the window he came in.

The window that had closed behind him.

I winced at the loud glass breaking sound, then looked to Gorel, who looked completely unaffected by it. "That frequent?" I asked, deadpan. He responded with a nod as he chewed his food, equally deadpan.

"Mentioning his wife is a good way to get rid of him right now, especially since she's expecting." He said casually, I blinked, my mouth falling open slightly, "What." "Monsters are weird." He responded, as if he himself gave up on questioning it.

"He keeps the monsters who make glassware in business, all by himself." He says. The thought of that got me to laugh, I realized that it was the first time since I had come to the underground that I had actually laughed instead of a subdued snicker or nervous chuckle.

Minutes passed with the mood lightened, then something came to mind that made me frown.

"Hey, about earlier." I said, he looked up at me, "Sorry for uh, that look I gave you." I sighed.

"Don't worry about it, it's natural." He responded, not angrily or dismissively, rather like he understood. "That you didn't run away, just that little shock, that was enough to tell me you trusted me enough, I appreciate that." His face cracked into a small smile. I tried to not react to the sight of his teeth, it was getting easier every time to not.

"So, what happens to me now?" I asked, "Well, what would you like to do? I'm sure the library could use some new scribes, or perhaps there would be a job around the palace for you to take up." he responded.

I took another bite and folded my arms as I thought, "Well, can't say no to an honest job. Would you mind if I lived here, at least until I grow used to everything?" He looked at me and smiled, "Given everything, I'd be disappointed if you didn't, at least until you're confident enough in your place down here to purchase your own." I couldn't help but smile back, "Thank you, big guy."

"Dear Diary: So, talking skeletons, everything is made of magic, this place gets stranger every day, and yet I'm satisfied here, I'm going to see if anyone has use of a scholar, maybe I wouldn't be able to catalog human history, but if I can scribble some Monster history, that's good too, I can at least get A name out there.

Gorel's offered to let me live in his place for as long as I want, he's offered to teach me how to cook as well as how to act more like I should if I'm pretending to be a monster.

It's an odd twist my life has taken, a few days ago I was still walking down a dirt road getting shaken down by cutthroats... I don't think I miss it, and I miss it less every day.

Still, despite everything, there's a feeling I just can't shake, one that makes my spine tingle.

- Ralochs."

The thoughts of the life ahead of me, one where I'd live as a monster instead of a human, the twists and turns, the friends I would make... they all filled me with determination.

So... at this point, things start to move, I managed to become the royal librarian and live a comfy life for six years until things changed enough for me to be worth retelling.

I'm gonna grab a drink, you want anything? Hm, Golden Sunflower tea? Interesting choice. Alright, I'll order us some and continue once I've finished drinking, you're a pretty good listener by the way.